2 DAYS / 8 TRADERS / 1 WINNER… and here’s ALL EIGHT fried chicken bosses who’ll be contending at KERB’s Bucket List this weekend. From Taiwanese to Filipino, Malaysian to Venezuelan, American Deep South to NYC – and restaurant vs street food vs classic, old school chicken shop classic Morley’s – who’ll win your vote with the best chicken creation and claim the golden cock / KERB Colonel title 2018?
T H E C O N T E N D E R S:
Morley’s
Dish: SIGNATURE SPICY DEEP FRIED CHICKEN WINGS
About: South London’s original / FAVOURITE fried chicken chain, Morley’s have been in the chicken game since 1985. Simple, dirty, classic fried chicken. (Above: ‘Yoda’ at the original Sydenham branch). “Morley’s born in South London…made by the People”
Petare
Dish: VENEZUELAN GUAVA-GLAZE MASA FRIED THIGH WITH GARLIC AND HABANERO MAYO
About: Winner of #KEBRSBUCKETLIST 2017 (AND #LivinOnTheVeg) – can Rotsen of Petare do it again? This guy has so much energy, the whole family on board and we can’t get enough of the South American spirit.
Bian Dang
Dish: GENERAL TSO’S SWEET & TANGY TAIWANESE DRUMSTICKS
About: Bian Dang, our top-grossing lunch market trader and one of our oldest. Famous for his Taiwanese beast boxes (sweet potato crumbed oyster mushroom / pork and fried chicken mix rice box with marinaded tea egg and Taiwanese gravy pickles), this year Tristains stepping into the arena recreating the world-famous “General Tso” drums. Not heard of them before? Watch this:
BUTCHIES
Dish: CHICKEN STRIP WITH BONE BROTH GRAVY
About: Known for their (free-range) buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches, with a permanent spot in Shoreditch and Saturday one at Broadway Market the Butchies gang stated out on as street food traders back in 2013 after founder Garret and his wife set out on multiple research trips to New York to create London’s ultimate fried chicken sandwich. Here’s a photo of their “Cheesy Rider” one of our top dishes on the KERB fired chicken taste map (voted by Growler’s Charlie)… we can’t wait to try their bone broth gravy strips, a brand new dish not done yet on the streets.
Thunderbird Chicken
(KERB Alumni, formerly know as BBQ Lab – here’s a photo of Matt when he traded with us on the kerb)…
Dish: BLUE CHEESE & TRUFFLE “CHIPUFFALO” WINGS
About: Matt left for America to pursue a racing car dream in 2008. But when his sponsorship evaporated he decided to make the most out of his visa a tour the Deep South. He sampled everything the Southern States’ kitchens had to offer, then returned to the UK, did a degree, but got into cooking and never stopped. “Cooking filled the gap that racing had left -and taking inspiration from my travels, my cooking focussed on soul food. Things took a turn for the extreme when I bought an American ambulance, converted it into a catering van and quit my job. BBQ Lab was open for business. We served fine dining inspired American BBQ gone turbo… the kitchen was full of flamethrowers, liquid nitrogen, and lab equipment that I can barely pronounce, let alone spell. The goal was to make the best BBQ we could, by any means necessary”. One day he put wings on the menu and 3 months later they won WingFest so they dropped the ribs and went WINGS AND FRIED CHICKEN… Thunderbird was born.
From NYC wings to Korean…
Mother Flipper
Dish: KOREAN GOCHUJANG BASTED CHILLI WINGS
About: One of our long-standing KERBanists, know for his incredible candy bacon double stacks Manuel and his brother are perfectionists at everything they do and loved wings so much they recently started a side biz…
And from Korean to FILIPINO…
BBQ DREAMZ
Dish: ADOBO GLAZED WINGS WITH SOY VINEGAR, FRESH CHILLI AND CREME FRAICHE CALAMANSI AIOLI
About: KERB Team’s favourites and the heart & soul of street food – Filipino Lee and Irish Sinead do backyard Filipino BBQ better than anyone. We love their Day Dreamerz and adopted diabetic cat – who they found on the side of the M40, George Forty.
Dish: OCTO VINAIGRETTE AND YUZU PEPPER MAYO MALAYSIAN FRIED CHICKEN (“the perfect balance of savoury, sweet, sour and spicy with creamy mayo with gorgeous citrus notes”).
About: Our fried chicken Qween! Lani of daja chicken, who joined our inKERBator scheme last year (after coming to a KERB Workshop and embarking on her street food dream to bring PROPER Asian fried chicken to London streets) – she’s travelled all over Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and China studying and trying it this is really authentic stuff.
