Hot Star is possibly one of the most flocked to fast food joints in Taipei. I first came across it at Taipei's famous Shilin night market a few years ago.
The speciality is fried chicken steak or XXL chicken, is a flattened chicken breast coated in a mixture of tapioca flour and spices and then deep-fried.
Although Hot Star in Australia uses locally-sourced chickens its other ingredients (like flour and spices) are imported from Taiwan in order to replicate the flavours of its famous product sold over there.
I didn't want to venture to Sydney's Hot Star alone so I enlisted The Apprentice to make the sojourn with me for lunch. The Apprentice knows his fried chicken. He used to live on the American fried chicken stuff so much so that he was once the splitting image of Meatloaf. After some hard yakka (and cold turkey resisting The Colonel's eerie smile), he now has the figure of the Statute of David. Dragging him along took some coaxing because he thought that one whiff may lead to a fried chicken bender where there would be no escape.
Campsie's Hot Star Chicken is set in a small street front space with just enough room for staff to cook, season and bag.
The menu features the Large Fried Chicken but also some sides (for smaller appetites who don't want to go XXL or those who want to really increase their cholesterol levels and have then as an accompaniment). These sides are curly fries; chicken bites; fried sweet potato and fried mushrooms. You can get even get a XXL chicken and a soft drink combo.
The large fried chicken is true to Taiwanese form - the batter was crispy and well seasoned and succulent and juicy inside.
It brought back memories of the original experience at Shilin and even my daughters (who only have such foods as rare treats) gave it the thumbs up sharing half each. read more