KFB Asian Odyssey Part 3: Thailand

We're going to start with an apology. Despite a valiant effort, we're
ashamed to report that we were unable to sample KFC in Vietnam due to
inaccurate closing times listed on the website. No amount of pleading
with the confused security guard was going to change his mind.

In light of our failure, we decided to get KFC immediately upon
arrival in Thailand. As luck would have it we came across The Colonel
in Bangkok's old DMK airport. Having sampled KFC before in Thailand we
felt it only right to try something new this time.

Behold the Twister Crispy Nachos (and behold its slightly Cheesestring-esque chicken in the promo standee above). We've seen nachos added to the mix
on previous occasions but never before in a Twister. Contents were as
follows: 2 chicken pieces covered in what tasted like Original Recipe
coating, lettuce, a BBQ like sauce and nachos.

As with previous Thailand experiences the chicken here was seemingly
of the thigh meat variety but strangely tasteless. The BBQ sauce was
nothing to write home about and the lettuce was...well, lettuce. The
nachos fared a little better, adding some much needed flavour and
crunch. Overall though, we were disappointed by this limited edition
offering as we've sampled much better in the UK (interestingly the
fries were similar to the new, thinner UK type).

At 89baht for the Twister itself (around £1.80) we didn't really feel
it offered particularly great value for money. The only real saving
grace was that a fellow reviewer sampled the Zinger Burger which we're
glad to report was given a big thumbs up.

Taste: 4
Value: 4
Overall: 4

Toasted twister home recreation: attempt 1

Sometimes, as Albad rightly pointed out, a trip to KFC, no matter how tempting, is simply impossible. You might be in an area with no KFC's within the minimum 20 mile radius, you might be unable to leave the house, or, like me; you were curious- you wanted to walk the zen path of KFC and recreate the colonels early experimental years yourself, attempting to make delicious chicken dishes nearly as good as could be served to you in any upstanding kfcookery in the kfcountry.

Ingredients for attempt 1 (again, all available at Sainsburys for the sake of tradition (not every ingredient is necessary for variants))

Southern fried chicken breast fillets
Sainsburys hot salsa
Bacon
Ranch dressing
Salad
Cheese -here I'm using red Leicester
Mayo, pepper (for KFC's signature pepper mayo, see right)
tortilla wraps.

I had more than enough ingredients pictured here to make multiple toasted twister variants - namely the original, salsa and the new melted BLT. Obviously ingrediants will vary based on your choice of what to construct.

Construction


This was a more experimental affair than previous documentation
on this site of reKFCreations, so subsequent attempts should prove neater and more reasonably portioned than this. I'll initially describe how to prepare the new melted BLT variant.

Begin by starting to cook the chicken, which should take around 20 minutes. Around the last 5 minutes of cooking, you should be putting on the bacon to cook - ensure that it's crispy and firm by the time you want to place it in your wrap. I advise grilling, especially as you'll need to gently toast your wrap later.

While you're waiting for all your ingredients to cook, it might be a good idea to start preparing the wrap. Wash your salad and chop your cheese (or remove it from it's packaging) as well as laying out your tortilla wrap.

When the chicken is cooked, remove it and slice it thinly enough to fit in your wrap. Add a little salad on top, the bacon slices, a little
salsa to recreate the original dishes tomato, and finally a drizzle of ranch dressing for authenticity. Now close up the wrap and toast it gently (overtoast it and it will become brittle as an osteogenesis imperfecta patients bones... have I been watching too much House again?). And... voila! it should be finished.

The verdict 6.5/10 + 7.5/10


While obviously the same complaints as always apply - chiefly the chicken not being up to the colonels high standards, the overall effect, taste and presentation-wise was extremely similar to the real wraps. The original toasted twister salsa recipe had a slight edge over it's rival however (just remove the cheese and bacon and add the pepper mayo seen above), but this may have been due to the fact that both the portion size and cooking times were slightly adjusted for the latter wrap, whereas the melted BLT was a giant even by stomach standards - the thing took two hands to lift, two tortilla wraps to hold it and literally two people to eat it. Hold back on the portions used KFC fans - you'll end up with a better wrap out of it. Subsequent attempts might show the melted blt to be the superior wrap with the greater experience gleaned from this experimental feastery.


This weekend, while in the process of seeking out the vast amounts of food necessary to support my titantic, KFC-and-lager wrought body, I'll be providing both a review of one of Brighton's 2 KFC branches as well as an overview of the real melted BLT toasted twister at the same time. See you then!

Melted BLT Toasted Twister

Get down your local chicken eatery because the colonel has a special treat in store for you: the Melted BLT Toasted Twister. Promotional material suggests this fresh addition is a variation on the long-standing Toasted Twister, but with added bacon, cheese and ranch dressing. Conceptually, the bacon-cheese combination is a firm favourite amongst us KFBloggers, while the new ranch sauce (presumably replacing the Twister's signature pepper mayo) seems like a natural accompaniment. So how does the new kid on the block taste? Watch this space for our full review, coming soon!