Culinary Chronicles by Chef Vince Fazi
Traditional Nashville Hot Chicken has undoubtedly made its mark in the flavor landscape. However, we’re now seeing an increasing amount of new and emerging hot chicken cultural remixes ranging from Taiwanese flavors like Tianjin chili to Mexican spices. We’ll take a look at a few restaurants that have injected their global and cultural roots into the dish.
Eric Huang’s Pecking House in Queens, NY takes cues from Taiwan to bring a Chinese take on Nashville Hot Chicken. He keeps things traditional by still marinating the chicken in buttermilk but pulls from Taiwan with the use of Tianjin chilies, Szechuan Peppers, MSG, and a modified wheat dextrin called EverCrisp for the breading. The Tianjin chilies add a musty, hot sensation with a spicy aroma when paired with the lip numbing Szechuan peppers giving a two-toned, heat packed punch. The addition of EverCrisp also makes for an incredible, crispy fried chicken.
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In ATL, Fred’s Meat & Bread’s Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich uses traditional Korean ingredients. In addition to a crispy, fried chicken they build this sandwich with Kimchi, which is the spicy fermented condiment made from cabbage. They add savory, umami flavor by making a Doenjang aioli. Doenjang is the byproduct of soy sauce and is essentially Miso’s assertive cousin. To help cut through all this fried chicken, they top it off with spicy cucumber made with gochugaru chili, rice vinegar and sugar.
Last but not least, Rojo’s Hot Chicken’s Mexican Hot Chicken sandwich in Anaheim, CA brings Mexican flavor to the Nashville Hot Chicken. They use spices and herbs like Mexican oregano, chipotle pepper and cayenne pepper. The bread is the traditional bolillo, which is the smaller Mexican version of a French baguette. A unique and great addition is the charred nopal. Nopal is the pad of the prickly pear cacti that is peeled and charred for a smoky, fresh vegetal flavor. They finish the sandwich with a spicy slaw, bread pickles and, of course, a slice of American cheese.
I love the personalization and global influences each of these give. It goes to show how we adapt and take dishes to a whole new level and I’ll take it.
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