This meal available at KFC stores in Taiwan apparently draws its inspiration from a popular Japanese dish that you usually wouldn’t associate with chicken.

We’ve found out recently that the KFC chain in Taiwan has been promoting an item based on okonomiyaki, a well-loved Japanese food that resembles a savory pancake typically topped with sauce and mayonnaise.

The “Okonomiyaki Boneless Chicken” (大阪燒無骨大口脆雞) , which has been on KFC Taiwan’s menu since June 23, is being promoted along the lines of “You may not be able to travel now, but don’t despair. If you’re craving a taste of Osaka, come to KFC!”

▼ Advertising refers to the new menu item as “Osakayaki Boneless”, but it’s written as “Okonomiyaki Boneless” in English on the official KFC Taiwan site.

We were’t sure exactly how they intended to create something evocative of okonomiyaki out of chicken, but we certainly wanted to find out, so we went to a KFC in Taiwan and bought an order of the Okonomiyaki Boneless Chicken, which cost 118 Taiwan Dollars (US$4) and came in a package decorated with cute chicken illustrations.

We opened the box in anticipation, wondering what the oknomiyaki chicken would look like. What we found inside were round pieces of chicken which looked more like takoyaki (octopus balls also created from pancake-like batter) instead of okonomiyaki, which are usually shaped flat.

▼ The box contained six round pieces of chicken and a serving of rice in an onigiri (rice ball) shape, topped with a special sauce, mustard-flavored mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes and aonori (dried green seaweed).

Okay, we were interested in the round pieces of okonomiyaki chicken, but we have to say we were also surprised and fascinated by the unexpected rice ball.

With our curiosity piqued, we proceeded to taste the okonomiyaki chicken. We took a bite and found that the bonito flakes gave it a typically Japanese flavor. Combine that with the rich sauce and mayonnaise topping, and yes, it did taste like okonomiyaki! And to our delight, all the flavors seemed to complement the chicken quite well.

Plus, the rice ball, which contained bonito flakes, ground sesame and small pieces of cut seaweed was definitely a welcome addition, as it made for a mild yet tasty companion to the flavorful chicken.

In fact, although we were initially surprised that the okonomiyaki chicken was served with rice, by the time we finished, we found ourselves impressed with how naturally the rice and chicken complemented each other.

▼ Yup, a bite of chicken followed by a mouthful of rice — we could go on forever.

So, was it like real okonomiyaki? Well, it is chicken after all, so it wasn’t really like having an actual okonomiyaki, but with all the right toppings, it definitely did taste like okonomiyaki-flavored chicken.

▼ Here’s a YouTube video of an ad for the Okonomiyaki Boneless Chicken. It certainly seems to have gained plenty of attention, as the ad has been viewed over 450,000 times

We love that KFC is crossing borders to bring new flavors to their stores in different parts of the world. We only hope we can continue to see more creative offerings from them, and oh, we wouldn’t mind more of their all-you-can-eat campaigns either!

Related: KFC Taiwan
Photos: ©SoraNews24
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