Panda Express is testing an item called Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken at select locations in Los Angeles County as well as Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix and Reno.<\/p>\n
The dish is made with dark meat chicken coated with a hot and sour seasoning and garnished with crispy kale. It comes with a chili crisp aioli.<\/p>\n
Popcorn chicken is popular in Taiwan, according to\u00a0 Adrian Lok, director of culinary innovation at the Rosemead-based chain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we come up with a dish like this, we want to honor the traditional dish but also have our own version and take on it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe spent a lot of time working on the spice. We took inspiration from a dish already on our menu. It\u2019s called Hot & Sour Soup. How do we take the flavors of Hot & Sour Soup and turn that into a dry spice?\u201d<\/p>\n
Popcorn chicken adds a mid-afternoon snacking option to the Panda Express menu, Lok said.<\/p>\n
He was speaking in a video conference with Frankie Gaw, \u201cLittle Fat Boy\u201d blogger and designer, who created a collectible pail. It features Panda Express mascot Pei Pei as a cowboy roping a container of popcorn chicken.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mind first went to popcorn buckets. I wanted to take inspiration from the red and white stripes that are classic to popcorn buckets,\u201d Gaw said. \u201cThe other influence was pulling inspiration from the Asian side of things. A lot of my favorite references are old Asian packaging for snacks. They always have a lot of really playful characters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 9, customers who purchase a large order of \u00a0Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken a la carte can get one of Gaw\u2019s pails for free while supplies last.<\/p>\n
Here are the test locations in Southern California.<\/p>\n
Inglewood: 11222 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Inglewood; 6802 S. La Cienega Blvd., Space A.<\/p>\n
Long Beach: 290 E. Fourth St.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles: 1810 W. Slauson Ave., Suite E; 741 S. Soto St.; 524 E. Washington Blvd.; 2011 Westwood Blvd.; 1603 Wilshire Blvd.<\/p>\n
Santa Monica: 804 Montana Ave.<\/p>\n
Walnut Park: 2120 E. Florence Ave.<\/p>\n