Fried Fourth
Rockabilly band "Southern Culture on the Skids" throws it at their shows. Filmmaker Woody Allen shows its repulsively sexy side in his comedic movie, "Bullets over Broadway". Recently, a Florida couple was followed home and robbed at gun point for a bucket of it.
When perfectly fried, this finger food is a tantalizing mix of barely-there grease atop a crispy wrapper, enveloping a demurely moist and meaty inside. Paradoxically, this classic come-on-over-for-Sunday-supper-after-church protein has also been known to incite desire and embody lust.
You know what time it is –give it up: Fried Chicken.
Fried chicken isn’t health food. And it often comes from chain restaurants (gasp!) that have developed their recipes and cooking techniques over decades. Most of us limit our intake of golden thighs and pearly white meat breasts to special occasions, though I'm a wing lover myself.
It’s the one thing I have in common with both Snoop Dog and Martha Stewart.
The Fourth of July seems like a fitting time to indulge in this iconic American fast food. After all, The Colonial invented quick-serve, pressure-cooked fried chicken in the back of a gas station over 50 years ago, and Lee's Fried Chicken is a spin-off chicken shack started by a relative of the founder of KFC. Conveniently, both of my favorite places to pick up fried chicken in RVA are close to Dogwood Dell and offer side dishes for takeaway as well.
Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken
Order the "original" honey dipped, pressure-cooked fried chicken here. What makes Lee's original recipe chicken unique is its slightly sweet breading applied with subtle black pepper and grainy meal coating. The crispy skin slips off the meat like a limp beach towel falling to the floor – easily.
This is fried chicken Nirvana.
Bonus: pressure-cooked chicken absorbs less fat than deep fried chicken. At about 10 grams of fat per wing, it’s practically health food.
The Sides
Lee’s biscuits are fluffy, yet dense and buttery. No, they don't taste like grandma's, more like movie popcorn in biscuit form. I am also fond of the potato wedges at Lee’s, which taste as if they are dipped in the same egg-y, honey-tinged batter as the chicken.
The coleslaw, composed of the sharply- flavored white cabbage, is notable for its almost horseradish-like bite, but it pales when compared to the slaw at Popeyes. Also worth picking up are the sweet, slow-cooked baked beans. Especially if you add your own chopped onions to them once you get home.
Popeyes
The chicken at Popeyes is deep fried, with a spicy crust that crackles under tooth, and it doesn't yield easily. After eating a batch of Popeyes chicken, you'll need a clean T-shirt, unless you've thought ahead and worn brown so that the crumbs blend in.
The recipe for their batter is kept secret, but rumor says it contains cornflakes, though a local Popeyes manager insists that it doesn’t. For fried chicken in Richmond, the Popeyes on Midlothian Turnpike is my wings-down favorite. Their holy mix of Cajun-style seasonings leaves my lips tingling. And they serve fountain Dr. Pepper. Check out their website above to download coupons before you visit.
The Sides
The coleslaw at this Cajun chicken box is a milky blend of white and green cabbage, erratically cut and studded with slivered carrot, with a sweet and savory finish. It is decadently rich and creamy, so much so, that I usually eat my coleslaw for dessert. I also enjoy their red beans and rice. The beans are cooked to mush and then poured over white rice in a molten, liquid-smoke filled river. The biscuits, however, arrive heavy and leaden and are a far cry from Lee’s.
Honorable Mention
The Chicken Box serves up delicious fried chicken and falls somewhere between Lee’s and Popeyes on the flavor scale. It isn’t as spicy as Popeyes, or as sweet as Lee’s. But, who’s kidding, I go here for the Big Chix sammich or livers, not fried chicken. And it’s nowhere close to the fireworks.
Please sign in to respond | | Register