Consider it a new kind of rubber chicken. Operations are stretching the familiar bird in fresh ways to offer versions that are neither ho-hum nor the usual “crispy” variety (translation: fried, but with a name that sounds a bit healthier).
Here are a few instances of how restaurant chains are using chicken in novel ways—preparations that could translate well to noncommercial.
Since Colonel Sanders brought his “fried” chicken to the masses, a quest has been underway among quick-service concepts to find a preparation that delivers the same flavor and consistency without actually frying the meat. (Ironically, Harland Sanders cooked his birds in pressure cookers rather than fryers, despite the name he gave his enterprise.)
The latest iteration is Boston Market’s new Oven Crisp Chicken, a boneless breast that’s hand-coated with seasoned breading and baked rather than fried. It’s being offered whole as an entree item or sandwich ingredient, as well as sliced for salads and wraps.
Yes, it’s back—though in a slightly different form. Roughly a year after Taco Bell introduced a taco shell formed out of fried chicken, select units of the chain are using the U-shaped deep-fried breast as the carrier for a chalupa in at least two markets.
Note the name—the Naked Chicken Chalupa—a nod to concerns about the item being too heavy. The “naked” refers to the use of just chicken, lettuce, cheese and sauce, without any cornmeal shell to weigh the item down.
Umami Burger has added its first ground-chicken item, coyly given the bi-gender name of the Manly Chick (one of its signature burgers is the Manly Burger).
True to Umami Burger’s commitment to simplicity and “clean” choices, the chain uses just six ingredients in the sandwich: ketchup, mustard, cheese, bacon, onion strings and the chicken patty. The components of the patty itself are not revealed, just as Umami has closely guarded the specific components of its umami-rich beef burgers.
A cornerstone of Bob Evans' turnaround plan under a prior regime was the promotion of broasted chicken, or chicken cooked under high pressures (a la the Colonel’s big idea) to provide it with a crispy exterior but a moist interior. The promise was chicken that tasted and felt like fried chicken, without the usual fat and health detriments.
The chain hasn’t crowed recently about the broasted chicken, but it has continued to extend the line with the introduction of broasted chicken fingers.
Chicken similarly figures prominently in the turnaround efforts of the Famous Dave’s barbecue chain. On Sundays only, it now offers a fried chicken dinner, Famous Dave’s Famous Fried Chicken, for $10. The one-night special was intended to be a limited-time offer that ended in January. But the traffic, sales and profits of the chicken convinced the ribs chain to keep the promotion going, at least in the Greater New York market.
Mincing chicken into a drinkable form has yet to be embraced by any operation we’ve encountered, but it may be only a matter of time, given the attention chicken smoothies are getting on the internet.
The catalyst appears to be the embrace of pourable poultry by movie heartthrob Zac Efron. According to the buzz, the 28-year-old needed to bulk up by 17 pounds, apparently for a role, and it was tough to eat that much protein. So he started blending chicken breasts and drinking the goop.
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