タム6000
"Chicken Nanban Bento - Large (Using Coupon 624 Yen)" I purchased lunch for teleworking at home from a local source. It was my second visit to "Sakura Shouten," a takeout fried chicken specialty store that I had a good impression of on my first visit. By the way, it seems like the pattern of these fried chicken specialty stores that appear to be individual shops but are actually part of a franchise, which has been growing recently. Well, whether it's a franchise or not, as long as it's delicious, it's fine.
I visited after the lunchtime peak, so there were only one customer before and one customer after me. Last time, I ordered the soy sauce and salt flavored fried chicken bento, so today I went for "Chicken Nanban." When I placed my order, they already had pre-fried large pieces of chicken (different from the fried chicken for bento or single pieces), which they cut into chunks and placed in a container. They generously poured sweet vinegar sauce and tartar sauce over it, then sealed the lid. As I had learned that plastic bags were not provided for free last time, this time I brought my own insulated bag.
Now, let's open it at home. Well, as expected, it's quite substantial, costing more than 100 yen than the basic fried chicken bento! As mentioned earlier, the fried chicken for Chicken Nanban is a generous single piece of thigh. It's probably around 200g. The batter is different too, I think. The regular fried chicken had a crispy and light texture due to the blend of potato starch, but the Chicken Nanban version uses a thick batter made from mixed flour, resulting in a crunchier texture. It's cut into four pieces. In this kind of store, they could easily use commercial tube tartar sauce, but this one looks homemade. It has finely chopped boiled eggs, onions, and mayo. By chance, there were hardly any onions in it, and I wish it had a bit more refreshing taste. The sweet vinegar sauce is thick and rich, and when mixed with tartar sauce, it becomes extremely flavorful and creamy, something that would delight guys.
The thigh meat is juicy with the skin on (to put it differently, it's quite oily), and the batter is thick, so it feels quite heavy. Well, from an older guy's perspective, it's clearly a calorie monster, but I like this unmistakably heavy feeling, which is characteristic of Chicken Nanban! Last time, the rice was too soft and not good at all, but this time it's improved to a firmer texture. Since it's the large size, it has a substantial volume of nearly 300g, which can stand up to the generous amount of Chicken Nanban. The side dishes are common to the bento menu, including kinpira gobou (burdock root) and pickled radish. Because I went overboard with the sweet vinegar and tartar sauce, the kinpira gobou, which should have been a palate cleanser, also became like a kinpira Nanban with sauce all over it. It's so flavorful that I couldn't take a break from eating it with chopsticks. If it's going to be like this, I don't need the kinpira, so I'd be happier if they just gave me two lettuce leaves to use as a base.
So, despite feeling a bit overwhelmed by the intensity of the flavors and richness, I'm satisfied and full. Yeah, it's definitely a dish where the eater and their appetite matter, but the Chicken Nanban, which is truly satisfying, was good. It's also nice that it's a large serving for free. The salarymen before and after me all ordered this Chicken Nanban, so it might already be a popular menu item.