Let's face it: fried chicken is everywhere. In recent years, this flavourful and boldly textured delicacy has seen a massive spike in consumption. From chicken tenders to Nashville hot chicken to even vegan counterparts in the form of fried mushrooms and such, it is no secret that this dish is well and truly a global phenomenon.
Toronto, with its vastly diverse food scene, has seen plenty of fried chicken places arrive and become local favourites. The latest addition to the landscape vying to become a household establishment, NeNe Chicken, comes all the way from South Korea. Located at 4891 Yonge St., the restaurant will open its doors to the public on Dec. 10 with its grand opening day.
Since first opening in 1999, this international fried chicken franchise based in East Asia has opened over 1,200 stores across the world, becoming one of South Korea's most reputable restaurant chains. With most of the franchise restaurants in either East Asia or Australia, NeNe Chicken has only a few outposts out West, with two in Vancouver and the latest Toronto outlet soon to become the third.
"NeNe" means "Yes Yes" in Korean, an expression used to express enthusiasm and the willingness to be helpful and friendly. As for its connection the fried chicken, it is a way of telling people to enjoy their meals, be happy as much as they can be and, of course, always treat fried chicken with gusto and enthusiasm.
Adding to the vibrant culinary ecosystem that is Toronto, the franchise is aiming to introduce the people of this city to the many bounties of Korean food and the joyful culture surrounding it.
Being the torchbearer for an entire nation's fried chicken culture, NeNe has its work out for it. Thankfully, it is well-equipped to take on the responsibilities of feeding and pleasing its new and (hopefully) soon-to-be-loyal client base. With its secret "batter-tip" brought from South Korea, the fried chicken is guaranteed to be crispy and crunchy on the outside with a soft and juicy interior.
While traditional American fried chicken is usually brined and dredged in flour and buttermilk, giving it a thicker skin, Korean fried chicken tends to be lighter, more airy and crispy with a paper-like skin that is not as heavily battered. The addition of potato starch in the batter and double frying the chicken gives it that super crispy texture, creating almost a veritable explosion of textures and flavours in your mouth.
With perfectly cooked chicken at its base, NeNe will offer a vast variety of flavours to its customers, some of which include the Original (featuring a house blend of spices), Swicy (sweet and spicy sauce), Hot Bling (spicy chilli sauce) and Soy Garlic chicken. The flavours that are currently the most popular are the CreamyOn (featuring NeNe's creamion sauce) and the Green Onion (NeNe's garlic sauce with green onions on top.)
The offerings at NeNe include boneless chicken, bone-in chicken and chicken burgers or sandwiches, depending on what you call them. Try it with the pickled radish known as "mou" which provides an acidic freshness to the meal, really rounding it off.
Combining the kind of cult-like following that fried chicken already has with NeNe's tried and tested recipe and testimonials spanning continents and decades, it is hard to think of any reason why its first venture into Ontario would be anything but a raging success. One thing is for sure, we can't wait to try it out.
NeNe's Chicken will open its first Ontario location on Dec. 10 at 4891 Yonge St. in North York. For more information, follow the South Korean franchise on Instagram.
