Fried chicken is Japan’s favorite Christmas dinner, and KFC wants to make sure fans get the most out of their meal.

No one’s exactly sure how the tradition started, but pretty much everyone in Japan wants to eat fried chicken on Christmas Eve. And we’re not talking about some elitist artisanal version of the dish, but simple, good old-fashioned orthodox fried chicken.

That makes this the busiest time of the year for KFC Japan, but the chain still managed to find time to send out a very important tweet containing the official guide for how to eat KFC chicken.

The diagram is titled “How to Deliciously Eat Original Recipe Chicken,” though it seems like the techniques should be applicable to any other variety KFC sells (or, just between you and us, even fried chicken sold by other restaurants). For the purposes of the guide, eating the chicken “deliciously” includes being able to get to the meat with a minimum of hassle and mess, which makes perfect sense if you follow the very sound logic that the most delicious way to eat fried chicken is to eat it as soon as possible, as per modern economists’ principles of the time value of fried food.

The numbered sections of the diagram correspond to different types of pieces, so let’s learn the techniques one by one.

1. Keel (KFC cuts its chicken breasts into three portions, with the center piece being called the keel)
● Step 1: Remove the two bones, one on the left and one on the right, which can be seen right underneath the breading.
● Step 2: Pull pieces of meat out from between the bits of cartilage (eat the cartilage too, or leave it, according to preference)

2. Wing
● Step 1: Remove the chunk of meat at the base of the wing and eat it
● Step 2: Hold the wing in both hands, with the tips curving away from you.
● Step 3: Pull the wing into two pieces.
● Step 4: Eat the larger piece as is. Remove the two bones from the smaller piece, then hold the piece while biting its meat.

3. Thigh
● Step 1: Hold the piece in both hands, with one hand gripping the bone that protrudes out of one point of the triangle. Pull the bone upwards while twisting it.
● Step 2: Continue pulling until the bone is removed. The remaining piece can be eaten in its entirety.

4. Drumstick
● Step 1: Hold the drumstick in both hands and bite into the meat while rotating the piece. The cartilage can be eaten like this as well.

5. Rib (side section of the breast)
● Step 1: Hold the piece in both hands, with the meaty side facing towards you and the bony side facing away.
● Step 2: Bite into the meat while holding the piece. The bones are also delicious if sucked on.

You might have noticed how often the word “cartilage” comes up in the guide. While those firm and crunchy bits might be considered an unwelcome obstacle on the way to the meat in some cultures, chicken cartilage is pretty broadly popular in Japan, where it’s called nankotsu, and you can get whole skewers of the stuff at yakitori restaurants.

With Christmas Eve here and visions of fried chicken rather than sugar plums dancing in Japanese people’s heads, several appreciative Twitter users were grateful for the illustrated guide, leaving comments like:

“Aaaaand saved!”
“Definitely the sort of document you should hold on to.”
“Gonna be referring to this while eating Christmas Eve dinner with the family.”
“Maybe they could give you a print-out with your chicken?”
“This would be useful to have as part of the KFC app.”

That last one seems like a good idea, until you remember that greasy fingertips and smartphone touchscreens aren’t such a great combination, so make sure to do any studying before you start eating.

Source: Twitter/@KFC_jp via IT Media
Photos ©SoraNews24
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