Another Taiwanese food tradition comes to Vancouver

Photo by Jerrison Oracion

New chicken place offers huge and juicy chicken

By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist

 

When I visited Toronto in 2016, I went to a chicken restaurant on Yonge Street called Star King. Naturally I got the chicken, which came in a very big piece that was not sliced. When I tried it, the chicken was very delicious, crunchy, and had the right amount of seasonings that made it flavourful. I also tried the spicy version of the chicken, finding it quite hot but delicious.

While Taiwan is famous for inventing bubble tea, they also have another delectable culinary invention: Fried chicken steak. A fried chicken steak is a big chicken breast, with bone, that is butterflied to make a large steak. As the name suggests, it is seasoned, deep fried, and served in one whole piece to make sure that the chicken is still juicy. While a few Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland offer fried chicken steaks, they do not offer them quite the way Taiwan does.

Recently, however, a new chicken place in Vancouver on Robson Street, called Big G, has opened up. Big G also has a location in Richmond and has appeared at Richmond’s night markets before, but this new store makes the famous chicken steak finally readily available in the Lower Mainland.

Big G offers the signature fried chicken steak as well as different variations of it, such as a boneless mini version and an even bigger chunky version. The fried chicken steak can either have a traditional salt and pepper seasoning or no seasoning at all. In my opinion, it is very delicious with the seasoning. You can also choose to season the chicken with spicy powder or seaweed powder, marinate it in BBQ sauce or hot sauce, and put cheese in the chicken.

I ordered the fried chicken steak with spicy powder, fries, a drink, and chili sauce, which is optional. The seasoning and the spicy powder made the chicken very delectable while still not too spicy. The meat is very juicy and while the bone is in the middle of the chicken steak, it has a lot of meat. The chili sauce makes the chicken sweeter and spicier.

A combo costs $16, however, the fried chicken steak is a huge cut of meat that, by itself, has everything you could want from a piece of chicken.

Recently another Taiwanese chicken chain called Hot-Star also opened a location in Richmond, which is a hint that more chicken places are sure to appear in the Lower Mainland.

Big G offers fried chicken steaks that are delicious, full of flavour, and can be customized to how you like to eat them. Plus, like good food should, the sizeable chicken steak fills you up.