Da Ja Chicken

When it comes to fried chicken, I don’t think I’ve had a deeper connection like this with anything or anyone else. There is something about the way the coating crunches upon biting in, followed by the succulent chicken meat, that just makes you feel all giddy inside. Putting my love for fried chicken aside for a minute, let me tell you about Da Ja Chicken.

Da Ja Chicken a.k.a big fried chicken is a street food vendor specialising in, well, big fried chicken but with an Asian touch. Of course, I had to try it out so I headed to down to KERB a few weeks ago to check it out. I also had another one of their boxes again today for lunch to, you know, increase the reliability of my results!

You can go for either the “Tender Box” or their “Nosh Box”, which are made with boneless breast and thigh pieces respectively.

The first time I visited Da Ja Chicken, I tried out a mix of both the breast and thigh pieces, with the spicy sauce and mayonnaise on the side. Second time round, I went for the Tender box with alllll the trimmings.

Upon biting in, I was impressed with how juicy the chicken tenders were and remained throughout lunch. The seasoning was spot on, but perhaps a little more in the batter would have given a real punch of flavour to the chicken. I was also disappointed to find that the chicken did not have that crunchy exterior that is oh-so-delicious when it comes to fried chicken. I would suggest going for the Nosh box made with the thighs as it has a slight meaty flavour, in comparison to the breast pieces.

The accompaniments were great: crispy seasoned fries, slightly spicy gochujang sauce, creamy teriyaki mayonnaise, and salad, as well as chopped spring onions and chillies which added a nice sharpness to the chicken.

A full box will set you back £8 and although the portions are hefty, this is still considered to be a lunch-time splurge. Sure, it wasn’t the best street food fried chicken I have had (see Motherclucker), but I love that Da Ja Chicken focus heavily on using free-range chicken as well as frying in groundnut oil, a healthier alternative to vegetable oil. It is one of the better fried chicken street food vendors in London and definitely worth a try!

Follow Da Ja Chicken here: http://dajachicken.com/