There are lots of different chicken franchises around the world. KFC is certainly the most famous, with the most locations around the world. Of course there are many more famous ones including Popeye’s Chicken, Hungry Lion from Africa, and Jollibee from the Philippines just to name a few.
Here in South Korea we have a lot of chicken franchises. They seemed to have sprung up over the last 10 to 15 years. Before that, it was more local Mom and Pop stores that sold whole fried chickens. While those still exist, the chains have largely pushed them out of the way.
One of the more popular and growing chicken franchises here in South Korea is Mom’s Touch. A very popular franchise for students due to their lower prices and very large chicken burger meals, they also sell a wide range of chicken options.
Feeling hungry, and deciding I wanted some fried chicken, I decided to go to the local Mom’s Touch to see what was interesting on the menu.
As I entered, the store seemed a little small, and there were no other customers. While this could be a bad sign, it was a little early for dinner, and students have not been going to school much these days.
Taking a look at the menu, I decided to try a half order of garlic soy sauce chicken, and something that looked new to me, a whole leg of Nashville Hot Chicken.
The order took about 20 minutes to make, which was good because at least I knew that it would be fresh and not sitting on some heat rack with the other left-over chicken pieces.
On a whim, I decided to get some ranch sauce as it was advertised on the poster in the store. The staff packaged up my order, included some free pickles radish cubes, and I was on my way home to enjoy the chicken.
Fortunately, I don’t live too far away from the store, so the food was still nice and hot by the time got home.
I took all the different items out of the bags, and I was very impressed that you could stand up the Mom’s Touch logo on all the boxes. It made the boxes look like little stores!
The first thing I was impressed with was the Nashville Hot Chicken Whole Leg. It looked very substantial, which is good because many times the chicken pieces from the chain stores are not very large.
A case in point is the half order of the Garlic Soy Sauce Chicken. While there were around 8 or 9 pieces, they were not particularly large, and didn’t have a huge amount of meat on them.
I tried the Garlic Soy Sauce Chicken first. There was a thick, sticky sauce on the chicken, and little pieces of toasted garlic. The flavor was really good, although a tad sweet. The garlic was not overpowering, and the chicken was cooked well. As I mentioned, I wish the pieces would have been a bit bigger, but at least it was tasty.
Next was the Nashville Hot Chicken Whole Leg. The chicken had a nice crust on the skin, and you could smell the vinegar-y sauce on it. Picking up the large piece and biting in, the skin was crispy, and the meat was juicy and tender! It was SO good! It had a nice level of heat to it, and when you paired it with the ranch sauce it was outstanding!
The ranch sauce really took the Nashville Hot Chicken up to a whole new level. I have had ranch or blue cheese dressing with chicken wings in America, and Mom’s Touch has done a great job to include this as an option.
Now, I have never had chicken in Nashville, or Nashville Hot Chicken before, so I cannot tell if the recipe or the taste is accurate or authentic.
What I do know is that for me the Nashville Hot Chicken at Mom’s Touch is delicious! The fact that it is also substantial in the size of the chicken is a definite plus. I would absolutely recommend trying this if you get the chance!