On 5 July, Korean chicken restaurant Mexicana Chicken unveiled their new selection of “Stoplight Chicken” which are small pieces of boneless chicken coated in flavored powders colored red, yellow, and green.

Apparently emboldened by the previous success of chicken nuggets coated in cheese powder, Mexicana has decided to go all out and add strawberry, banana, and melon to the available flavors for their fried chicken. However, according to online reaction, the result is not great.

According to the website Soompi reaction to Stoplight Chicken in Korea has been less than positive, with various criticisms appearing online. In particular, mukbang – which is both my new favorite word and online Korean shows in which people eat something and talk about it – have been harsh.

Here’s Wang Ju’s take on strawberry and banana flavors of chicken.

The video is fairly long so I’ll give you the gist: Throughout the 30 minutes that this video lasts she only eats about four and a half pieces (1 strawberry, 3 1/2 banana) and spends much of the time picking at it, trying to shake off the fruit flavored powder, and making a phone call.

For comparison’s sake, here she is taking on a large box of regular fried chicken a month before. Notice the lack of sniffing or fiddling with the food, Wang Ju gets right down to business here and doesn’t stop chowing down.

Adding fruit to chicken doesn’t seem like such a far-out idea. Usually a touch of lemon, lime, orange or cranberry goes really well with such a dish. However, the unique choices of strawberry, banana, and melon are much harder to imagine.

One thing is for sure: They do make for some purdy pictures!

https://instagram.com/p/4vFBKRgxZo/

https://instagram.com/p/4WNFE1yDdr/

https://instagram.com/p/4twvUENHM0/

https://instagram.com/p/4tk_jmskoM/

Good or bad, it’s definitely intriguing. Perhaps some of our Korean readers can give some further insight into how Mexicana Chicken’s Stoplight Chicken tastes. Failing that, I’m going to try to make my own with some Lawson Karaage-kun and Kool Aid packets.

Source: Mexicana Chicken, Insight (Korean) via Soompi (English) 
Video: YouTube – TV WangJu 1, 2,