- People have been using rice cookers and a few ingredients to 'hack' Kentucky Fried Chicken's signature dish into a flavorful, rice-based meal.
- Although it's unclear who created this "hack," it seemed to pick up steam after it was tweeted out by the Japanese publication Get News in December.
- The dish was easy to make, but it didn't taste as flavorful as I thought it would, especially since 11 herbs and spices are used to season KFC's fried chicken.
- Ultimately, I could definitely see myself making this meal again, but I would add more seasoning and vegetables.
- I also think this dish is perfect for meal prepping and for people on a budget.
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There's a new way to enjoy a Kentucky Fried Chicken's signature dish, and it goes beyond pairing it with a side of fries and a buttery biscuit.
In Japan, fans of the fried-chicken chain have been using four ingredients and a rice cooker to turn this fast-food dish into a home-cooked meal that some are calling "KFC Japanese Rice."
Although it's unclear who created this rice-cooker "hack," it seemed to pick up steam in December after it was tweeted out by the Japanese publication Get News.
Since it seemed simple enough, I decided to give it a try. Here's how it all panned out.
I pretty much had all of the ingredients — I just needed to pick up some chicken.
According to Get News, the only ingredients I needed were soy sauce, chicken stock (or broth), rice, and KFC's original fried chicken.
Fortunately, all of the ingredients — except for the chicken— were already in my kitchen. And I already owned a rice cooker.
I quickly caught on to how simple this dish was to make.
The first step was measuring out some rice, so I just poured my desired amount in the cooker and calculated how much liquid I would need to add in order to cook it.
Instead of using water, I measured out chicken stock and poured it in.
Then, I added in a bit of soy sauce.
Get News didn't specify exactly how much soy sauce to add, so I just used a big splash of it.
Before turning the rice cooker on, I placed the two pieces of chicken inside.
Notably, the version of the hack listed on Get News seemed to imply you can use as much chicken as you'd like — but I opted for two pieces.
The two-piece fried-chicken meal from KFC cost me just under $6, and it was the only thing I had to buy to make this dish since I had the other ingredients.
After all of the ingredients were placed inside, I turned on my rice cooker and let it work its magic.
The one thing that kind of threw me off after it had been cooking for a while, however, was how the dish smelled.
After turning on the rice cooker, I briefly left my apartment — and when I returned, my home didn't have a bad smell, just one that wasn't as tantalizing as I expected it'd be, especially since I was making a chicken-based meal.
The smell dissipated, and the cooking finished. Now it was time to shred the chicken.
After the rice was done cooking, I began to shred the fried chicken with two forks and mix it together with the rice. I also easily removed the bones from the chicken.
These steps really were as easy as they sound.
I couldn't wait to give this finished dish a try because it reminded me of the chicken and rice meal my mom made when I was a kid, although she didn't use KFC's chicken.
By the time I was ready to taste the dish, I was expecting it to be bursting with flavor.
Although it wasn't prepared exactly like how my mom makes her chicken and rice meal, this version didn't disappoint me too much. That said, these results were just subpar to me.
Some others who have tried the hack raved about how flavorful the dish turns out to be, attributing the bursts of flavor to the signature 11 herbs and spices that are used in KFC's signature chicken.
In my opinion, it didn't taste as flavorful as I thought it would, especially considering how many herbs and spices were supposedly in the dish.
On the bright side, the chicken was extremely moist after being cooked in the chicken stock — that was definitely a win.
After my initial taste test, I decided to personalize this recipe to make it more flavorful.
To try to make this dish more flavorful, I added a bit of salt and pepper, as recommended in the Get News version of this "hack."
I also topped it off with a drizzle more of soy sauce and a few shakes of hot sauce. I threw a dollop of butter in it, too.
After mixing everything together, I finally felt like the dish was on the right track to becoming something that I would normally make for dinner.
Ultimately, I could definitely see myself making this meal again — with a few adjustments.
Although it wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked it to be on its own, this dish was really easy to customize.
For example, I feel like this dish would be even better if I added vegetables and more seasonings. I also feel like it could be fun to try swapping out the KFC fried chicken with variations from other fast-food chains, like Popeyes or Bojangles.
Plus, this dish was cheap to make and quick to prepare — so I think it'd be an especially great option for those who like to meal prep or even those who just need a quick meal to feed their family during the week.
Overall, I think this "hack" is definitely worth trying if you have a rice cooker — just be prepared to customize it to your liking.
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