Sparklette Magazine » Portuguese

KFC Egg Tarts Come Added with Mandarin Orange for Chinese New Year!

Veron Ang — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 03:00:05 +0000

I’m a big fan of the KFC egg tarts. Even so, I can’t help but baulk when I read about what new ingredient the fast food company has added to these egg tarts for Chinese New Year.

Mandarin orange! Now that’s an odd pairing. Gimmick or not, I know I have to try it. It’s not everyday you get to taste Mandarin orange egg tarts.

With a quiet determination, I scamper off to the nearest KFC outlet that I can find selling the newly fruity egg tarts. A box of half a dozen is yours at 8 bucks, slightly pricier than their regular egg tarts which cost S$7.50 for the same quantity. One box to go, please.

Mandarin orange egg tarts
S$2.80 for a box of 2 / S$8 for a box of 6
Rating:

The pastries look almost exactly like Portuguese egg tarts but with less burnt spots, and with morsels of tangerine added. Happily, these sweet treats retain the same delightfully crisp fluffy crust and creamy custardy goodness as the usual KFC egg tarts.

The addition of tangerine brings a tinge of tartness to the mix, which I reckon is about 30% tangerine, 70% egg custard. It’s a bold play with flavours that actually works. I like it. Amazingly, the sliced pieces of fruit are as soft as the custard, so the texture is consistently smooth throughout.

It may read like an odd pairing on paper, but once again, KFC has exceeded expectations with these Mandarin orange egg tarts. As Chinese New Year goodies, they sure make interesting snacks if you are having guests over at your house.

Update: Sparklette reader Avriila shares that she would really love to see egg tarts filled with nian gao (a Chinese New Year cake made with glutinous rice), describing the ones she had in Taiwan as “heavenly”. What would you like to see in your egg tarts? (Shameless plug: Don’t forget to ‘Like’ Sparklette on Facebook and join in the conversations there!)

Have Your Say!

What do you think of the KFC Mandarin orange egg tarts? Would you eat them or are they too weird? Have you had any unusual Chinese New Year food this festive season? Let us know in the comments!

KFC ( )
Available at selected outlets
Website

Available until February 17, 2011 or while stocks last.

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The KFC Portuguese Egg Tarts Are Surprisingly Good!

Veron Ang — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:05:28 +0000

When I first heard about the KFC Portuguese egg tarts, I was quite skeptical. Skeptical, but curious enough to buy a half dozen of these to try out. Surprisingly, the tarts turn out much better than expected!

These creamy egg tart pastries are not to be confused with the traditional egg tarts which have a crumbly crust and an even yellow custard top. For Portuguese egg tarts, brown burn spots crater the caramelised surface (like crème brûlée). They first came about in Lisbon, Portugal, and are known there as pastéis de nata.

Portuguese egg tarts
S$1.30 each / S$7.50 for a box of 6
Rating:

The KFC egg tarts have a puffy pastry casing that is thick, but delightfully light and fluffy. Even hours later (I did have 6 of these to finish), the crust remains flakey and crispy.

While the custard is not as soft as Madeleine’s egg tarts, it is still beautifully smooth. The egg flavour is quite apparent, tinged with the more subtle sweet taste of caramel.

I heard that these egg tarts are available in three flavours in KFC Taiwan. Can anyone confirm this?

While you can purchase the egg tarts individually, a half dozen of this costs slightly less, and are packaged in a nice carrier box with a handle on top. From the Chinese characters on the box, it seems that these egg tarts are a Mid-Autumn Festival promotion. You can also have them home-delivered in boxes of 2.

I have never been a fan of KFC’s fried chicken, preferring the likes of Arnold’s and Popeyes. But their Portuguese egg tarts have certainly exceeded expectations!

The KFC egg tarts are available only at selected outlets. So before you go running off to the nearest outlet, do check to make sure that the tarts are sold there.

Update: Also check out my review of the KFC Mandarin orange egg tarts, available during Chinese New Year.

Have Your Say!

Which type of egg tart — Portuguese or the traditional — do you prefer? What is your favourite drink to go along with these tarts? Share with us in the comments!

KFC ( )
Available at selected outlets
Website

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http://sparklette.net/food/kfc-egg-tarts/ | 15 comments

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Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Restaurant – Peri Me Away

Veron Ang — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:29:27 +0000

I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a short trip last week. One of the things on my to-do list was to dine at Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Restaurant, the UK fast food franchise specialising in the Afro-Portuguese peri peri (or piri piri) chicken. (Whoa, that’s one multi-national chicken!)

My first peri peri experience was at AJ’s Piri Piri Chicken, another UK franchise that is modelled after Nando’s. Their chicken didn’t wow me. So I was very much looking forward to checking out one of the many Nando’s outlets scattered across Malaysia.

The spicy chicken here even comes with a cute little flag that indicates the spiciness level on the “Peri-O-Meter”. That’s like what some people do for burgers!

¼ chicken with 2 sidelines
RM$14.50+ + 5% government tax
Rating:

I order the classic chicken to get a taste of the peri peri sauce. For a quarter chicken, the size is ample. Even though there may be no visible sauce on the dish, the meat certainly is packed with flavour, the result of 24 hours of marination before being flame-grilled to perfection.

If you like your food salty, sour and spicy, then you would absolutely love peri peri chicken. For me personally, I do prefer some sweetness in my spices and curries, so I haven’t really taken a liking to it. I’m just glad that the sweetness of the coleslaw balances out the sourness.

As indicated by the coloured flag, the “mild” spiciness level is really comfortable. I think most people, first-timers included, can handle the next degree of spiciness, “hot”, well.

All chicken meals here come with two side dishes. I choose peri chips and coleslaw, among others like old style chips, Mediterranean rice, peri corn, peri potato salad, grilled veggies and fresh salad.

The chips are sprinkled with peri powder. If you are like me, you would definitely need some sauce to dip the chips.

Each table comes with four different types of sauce — ketchup, extra hot, hot and garlic peri peri sauces. After sampling the latter three, I find that they aren’t THAT spicy!

Here’s the aforementioned Peri-o-metre that allows you to “choose your heat before you eat”. Despite what they say, the “mild” sauce is unexciting and does not provide much of an adventure. I find myself reaching for the extra hot peri peri sauce most of the time!

I think I must be among the minority that aren’t a fan of the peri peri chicken. Heck, they don’t need my business anyway; the restaurants are already packed all the time!

Attached Nando’s menu here for your reference. Dine happy!

Nando’s ( )
All outlets
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Website

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http://sparklette.net/travel/malaysia/nandos/ | 32 comments

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AJ’s Piri Piri Chicken – Afro-Portuguese Flavours [Closed]

Veron Ang — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:46:23 +0000

How does this sound to you: a well marinaded and perfectly grilled chicken, drenched in a fiery hot African sauce? I don’t know about you, but that sure made me salivate!

As soon as I hear that the UK fast food chain, AJ’s Piri Piri Chicken, has set up its first franchise outlet in Singapore that promises to bring us the aforementioned chicken, I make a mad rush down to grab a piece. It’s on the 5th level of Iluma, the new shopping mall at Bugis.

So what is piri piri? It’s a tiny red chilli pepper that is found in Africa. The Portuguese blend it with various herbs and spices and voila! There’s your hot hot piri piri sauce!

The restaurant serves the Afro-Portuguese chicken in different tantalising styles like hot plate, burgers, wraps, pastas and more.

¼ Piri Piri Chicken
S$7.20+
Rating:

Of course, a virgin taste test should start off with the piri piri chicken in all its naked glory. So I order the quarter-chicken with fries on the side, but you can opt for sweet corn if you wish. With 3 different sauces to choose from — mild, very spicy and lemon herb — I go for the first. When unsure, always err on the safer side.

For S$7.20, the lone piece of chicken thigh sure looks puny! I tell myself that quality is more important than quantity. But disappointingly the sauce is nothing to shout about. It is more salty than anything else, without any hint of other herbs. This can’t be what the real piri piri sauce tastes like, can it?

On top of it all there is way too little sauce. It would help a lot if the dish comes with a small tub of the sauce on the side.

Super Slimmer chicken wrap
S$6.80+
Rating:

Thankfully, the Super Slimmer chicken wrap fares much better. Again, the chunk of chicken in the wrap is pretty small. But it also tastes very good, with the seasoned flavours penetrating all the way to the centre of the flesh.

This also happens to be a healthier dish, where the less fattening chicken breast meat is used and layered with vegetables.

Earlier on, I’ve asked for warm water as I’m nursing a nasty cough. Unfortunately they are unwilling to do that. (The staff asked the manager, who said no right in front of me.)

The soreness soon dissipates when I make my payment and notice a 25% discount on my bill. Suddenly the meal seems a whole lot more reasonably priced! They are “not sure” when this promotion would end, so do take advantage of the discount while you can!

Click to enlarge

Clearly, the restaurant’s isolated position in an already uncrowded mall does not work to its advantage. It is overshadowed by the Filmgarde cinema on the same level and an entire level of eateries just one floor down. Most people would simply head straight to the more accessible restaurants and miss it altogether.

I hear that Nando’s is the “original” fast food chain that specialises in piri piri chicken. Here’s my review of Nando’s in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Gotta check out the one in Singapore soon!

Is there any other eatery in Singapore that sells piri piri chicken?

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/aj-piri-piri-chicken/ | 28 comments

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Macau Express – Expressway to Macau!

Veron Ang — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:09:43 +0000

With the tens of thousands of people thronging the Singapore expo every weekend, the food outlets there must enjoy brisk business! Of these dozen or so restaurants that get to see a steady stream of diners, one of them is Macau express, a no-frills eatery promising Macanese cuisine.

While Macanese cuisine does sound exotic, it is actually quite similar to Hong Kong cuisine, due to the close proximity between the two cities. During my ’05 trip to Hong Kong, I made a quick stop at the neighbouring Macau. Back then, Macanese food didn’t exactly seem that unique to me. Rather, it was the beautiful architecture that made a lasting impression.

At Macau Express, I was pleasantly surprised to see the colourful wall murals depicting the street buildings in Macau. Towards the right-hand side is the old ruins of St. Paul’s, a famous Macanese historic landmark. All this, along with a quick write-up of its history, offers diners a quick glance of Macau without having to physically be there!

As Macau used to be a Portuguese colony, remnants of the Portuguese influence can still be seen in its architecture today. Hints of it appear in the food as well.

Baked Half Chicken (with Spaghetti)
S$7.90
Rating:

That probably explains why the house specialty item at Macau Express is the baked half chicken, prepared Portuguese style and served in a thick pepper gravy. The chicken flesh is particularly moist and tender, going extremely well with a combination of the gravy and chilli sauce. How tasty! You can choose to have it with either rice, spaghetti or bread.

Baked Fish Fillet Spaghetti
S$7.90
Rating:

On the other hand, the baked fish fillet spaghetti leans towards the bland side. It would probably appeal to those with milder palates, though something as mild as this totally does not appeal to me; it’s practically tasteless!

Besides these dishes, there are also a range of standard Hong Kong fares available such as yuan yang and thick toast. I’m a little curious about the Macau steamed milk too. They have it both plain and ginger-flavoured. I didn’t get to try it so if anyone knows what it’s like, do share with us!

For Singaporeans looking for affordable food and fuss-free dining, they would probably like it at Macau Express. Just don’t go in there expecting good service (there is no service charge); you have to queue up to order and pay for your food, and then wait for it to be served. When I asked for a refund after realising I had been charged for something I didn’t order, the waitresses were rude and grouchy, even trying to pin the fault on me (!!!).

This is a place worth checking out only if you happen to be at the expo. But I certainly wouldn’t be jumping up and down to make a special trip there just for it. Well, not just yet anyway.

Macau Express
Singapore Expo
1 Expo Drive
#01-43 Singapore 486150
Tel: +65 6822 7883

View the original article and join the discussion at:
http://sparklette.net/food/macau-express/ | 10 comments

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Sparklette Magazine » Portuguese

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Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Restaurant – Peri Me Away

AJ’s Piri Piri Chicken – Afro-Portuguese Flavours [Closed]

Macau Express – Expressway to Macau!