Food FYI: Pepsi-chicken chips -- would you bite? - Los Angeles Times
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Food FYI: Pepsi-chicken chips -- would you bite?

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Heard of cola chicken? China has. It’s a popular dish in the huge nation, where Pepsi soda and Lay’s potato chips have introduced Pepsi-chicken chips. That’s right -- chips made to taste like Pepsi and chicken. Together.

Cola chicken is chicken wings stir-fried in a wok with a caramelized sauce of cola, soy sauce and other seasonings. In L.A., you can find the dish at dim sum palace Elite.

PepsiCo came up with the idea during a brainstorming session among its marketing and R&D; teams and its Shanghai ad agency, according to AdAge.

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How do they taste?

Reviews have been mixed, according to Dan Kamys on the Chew on That blog, who speculates that maybe it’s too different even for China.

“It’s not like Pepsi and chicken aren’t eaten together in reality,” Kamys writes. “Just think of it as putting some wings and soda into a blender and drinking it … okay, now I grossed myself out. But still, it’s something I’d try.”

AdAge says the flavor is reminiscent of barbecue with an aftertaste of sugar. The Pepsi taste is “fleeting,” and there’s certainly no fizz.

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This isn’t the only special flavor of chips that the company has produced for the Chinese market -- and not even the oddest. There’s a new flavor every year, and they have included lemon tea and cucumber, not to mention hot-and-sour fish soup.

Mmmm, good.

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