KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — There’s something wickedly good about fried chicken, especially one that is well prepared with a crispy skin that cracks once you bite into it. Underneath that golden skin you will find succulent and juicy meat. Maybe that is why some stall owners have decided to offer the fried variant versus the usual poached or roasted chicken to create a niche for their stalls.
Most stalls including chap fan or economy rice places already offer fried chicken as a dish but we have excluded those places. What we reckon qualifies for this listing are stalls that pair fried chicken with a plate of fragrant fluffy rice cooked in a savoury chicken stock and a chilli sauce with a tangy kick. Some stalls even drizzle the fried chicken with their special sauce, usually a mix of sesame oil and soy sauce to give it extra flavour. Others serve it with a bowl of soup made from the chicken bones and vegetables.
Fried Chicken Stall, Persiaran Segambut Tengah (Opposite Lian Huat Kilang Kopi), KL. Tel:018-6650664. Open:11am to 3pm. Closed on Fridays and Sundays.
One can understand why this nameless shack with almost 40 years of heritage wins hands-down in the fried chicken game. Their fried chicken is so finger licking good that you will want seconds. Bite into a thin golden crackly crust to reveal juicy but not overly greasy flesh underneath it. You will forgive them for being spartan with their offerings, as all you get is a plate of rice, a few sliced cucumbers and side sauces with your fried chicken. The rice is equally good — fluffy with a light fragrance of margarine. Pour on the chilli sauce, a tangy garlic version that is appetising. As the fried chicken is served without sauce, you can add your own soy sauce mixed with sesame oil from the plastic bottles placed on the tables.
Gerai Ah Kow, Stall No. 2, Medan Selera Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Lorong Raja Muda, Kg Baru, KL. Open: 9am to 4pm. Closed on Sundays.
This Chinese food stall is a hidden gem within a food court that is dominated by Malay and Indian food stalls. As it’s the nearest eatery to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, you will see nurses walking around the food court to grab lunch or a light bite. During the mornings, you get to order curry noodles or their mee kicap or blanched noodles tossed in dark soy sauce served with fishballs plus pickled green chillies. From 11am onwards, they serve their famous sesame fried chicken — chicken legs covered with a crunchy golden batter studded with sesame seeds with a slight nutty flavour. Relish each piece of the chicken slowly with their fragrant rice which has a light savoury taste. It’s delicious on its own so you won’t need any of their tangy chilli sauce on the side. The stall also serves roasted and poached chicken but believe us, the winner is their sesame fried chicken.
Chicken King & Chicken Rice Stall, Kedai Makanan Uco, 1 Jalan Prima Setapak 3, (Opposite Pasar Jalan Genting Klang), KL. Open: 9am to 2pm. Closed on Mondays.
Previously located in a shack on the Fourth Mile along Jalan Gombak, this stall is a popular one with the old timers around Setapak. The stall offers fried chicken, poached chicken and char siew. They only serve whole chicken legs. Each order is served with a plate of piping hot fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock and a bowl of soup. On the side, there is soy sauce and garlic chilli sauce. The char siew tends to be on the leaner side but it’s still rather delicious with slight caramelised bits.
Restoran Hoe Fong Chicken Rice, 25, Jalan 21/17, Seapark, PJ. Open: 8am to 4pm. Closed alternate Wednesdays.
This old school place is now run by the second generation of the family. The draw here is the fried chicken sans batter but with the lightest touch of soy sauce and five-spice powder. Equally good is the fried lorbak with the crispy crackly skin and a delicious pork stuffing. Relish the juicy chicken with a plate of their fluffy light yellow rice. You can also add dark soy sauce for a sweeter taste, or amp up the spice levels with their thick chilli garlic sauce topped with a dollop of pungent ginger puree. The chicken rice is also served with a bowl of comforting chicken soup.
Restoran Jiang He, Jalan Padang Walter Grenier, KL. Open: 11am to 2pm. Available only on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The regulars know the drill here, as the regular pan mee stall owner would allocate two special days in a week to serve their fried chicken rice, a throwback to those days when they ran an economy rice stall. The chicken pieces — a choice of whole leg, thigh, leg and forequarter — is coated with a batter and fried to a golden crackly crust. That same batter also coats thick potato wedges for a crispier bite. Other options are also available, like steamed chicken legs, char siew, siu yoke or roast pork and blanched chicken spare parts like liver and gizzards. The fried chicken is served with rice tinged a pale yellow. You get a choice of three types of sauces — a tangy chilli sauce, the juices from the steamed chicken, and soy sauce. Most customers like to add the delicious chicken juices to the rice to give it more flavour. If you prefer an airy space, opt for the outdoors sitting area located within the carpark opposite and under the trees.
