With all due respect to the Colonel, there's another type of KFC rocking my world. Korean Fried Chicken is an irresistible feast of crispy skin, glazed thighs, juicy breasts, savoury-sweet soy sauce and fiery gochujang marinade.
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It's twice-fried in kettles, and the secret herbs and spices lend a decidedly Asian flavour to the moreish meat, which is served everywhere from street carts to upscale restaurants in South Korea.
In the country's capital Seoul, Korean Fried Chicken is as ubiquitous as K-pop boy bands and traditional temples. Students snack on it while preparing for exams, colleagues gobble it down together after a Friday night bender and many families have their own treasured recipe.
On my first evening in the busy Myeong-dong district, I spot chicken restaurants everywhere, four or five on one city block. I ask a nightclub doorman (AKA guardian of the street, keeper of the culinary recommendations) to point out the very best chook money can buy. With a double thumbs-up and a smile, the beefed-up foodie directs me to Chicken Mania.
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Ascending a staircase to the second-floor restaurant, I notice a few things all at once. There's soccer playing on huge TV screens. Waiters deliver plates piled high with succulent fried chicken to hungry diners. Steins of icy cold Cass draft beer are being downed at a rate you might expect in an outback Australian pub.
I'm the only Caucasian foreigner and the only woman on her own (in fact, the only solo diner at a table for one), but nobody takes any notice. We're all here for the same thing, a chicken fix.
When it arrives, the crispy skin glistens with a sweet chilli dressing that tingles on the lips. The boneless chicken is served with chewy tteokbokki rice cakes. I take one bite, then another, devouring more pieces than I had intended to. It's simply irresistible.
Shut up and take my money.
