The original KFC Double Down
Bacon, Monterey Jack cheese and Colonel’s sauce sandwiched between two 100 percent white meat Original Recipe® filets. And of course, no bun.
I hope that everyone's familiar with this KFC sandwich classic. The Double-Down has a complicated history marred by nay saying from people who disapprove of it's glutinous nature, and bolstered by staggering sales numbers. Motivating KFC to change the sandwich from a LTO to a permanent fixture on the menu.
Of course, Fat Mike is a huge fan of this sandwich. However, it recently came to my attention that KFC is being stingy about the Double Down options that we have here in the U.S. I couldn't believe it! Obviously, the initial controversy surrounding this epic sandwich makes it tough for KFC to up the ante every once in a while. But I thought this was America? I thought we were entitled to the freedom to choose what odd mixture of food enters our mouths and stomachs? Honestly, sometimes the Internet drives me crazy! People use this forum to create public outcry; directly affecting my ability to walk into a business and purchase something delicious and moderately bad for me. Nobody should ever say, "KFC is making the world fat". Everyone has a choice about what they put in their face, and I resent the fact that the dumb people who choose to put too much crap in their face inhibit my ability to taste all the great changes being offered by fast food restaurants. #soapbox
Having said all that, I decided to take my chicken sandwich by the horns and manifest my own destiny. Of course, you must be wondering, "Fat Mike, what on EARTH are you talking about?" Allow me to explain:
On Jan 26-27, KFC did a limited release of the Double Down Hot Dog. A fried chicken “bun”proffering a chicken-and-cheese hot dog, covered in honey mustard and “relish dressing”. Are you surprised that you didn't know about this? Don't be. It was only release in the Philippines. (read more about it here). The limited release over 50 stores sold out immediately, and created a huge surge of awareness over social media. That's how it found its way to the Fat.
Once that door was open, I found out that the well of food opportunity at KFC went even deeper. An article written in 2014 revealed that KFCs in South Korea have a menu item called the "Zinger Double Down King". While the old Double Down was two slabs of fried chicken, a few slices of bacon and some cheese in between, the "Zinger" has a MEAT PATTY in the middle. There's even a "mystery sauce" on the bottom that looks like it could be a zesty pepper ranch sauce. Mmmmm...
I never let anyone control my destiny, and so when Super Bowl Sunday arrived I was determined to try all of these delicious sandwiches first hand. I got a plan in place and I went to work. Since I was creating for a larger group, I didn't attempt to directly recreate the sandwich in size. I decided to go more of a "slider" route by halving the hot dogs and minimizing burger size. Here's how it turned out:
First of all, if you've never made Ina Garten's Oven Fried Chicken recipe, then you should take that on first. This is my "go to" for fried chicken every time, and I used it for prepping all my chicken for this glorious feast.
The original double down posed the easiest execution. I used fried boneless chicken breasts for the buns, baked thick-cut Hormel bacon, and sliced Monterey Jack cheese.
This dish was a nice, simple favorite. I might recommend making this as a simple finger food for a fun occasion because it's not super rich and is universally accepted by most party goers. The original double down was never about dazzle, just an idea and execution.
This was definitely a stand-out for both my personal tastes, and the tastes of the guests. The crispiness of the chicken, the salt of the bacon, and the juicy burger married perfectly together. There was a hesitancy of each eater to dive right in because the overall structure seems very daunting, but the manageable size combined with the idea that this is simply a protein packed power punch made the concept much more favorable to all eaters. Once they dove in there were smiles all around, and getting to try the Zinger turned into one of the highlights for my Super Bowl Sunday.
Finally, came the dog.
This was a lot more challenging because of the shape needed to execute the bun effect. I used boneless chicken thighs in this case so that I could have a little more malleability in the dark meat. Additionally, I used 4in bamboo skewers to curve the chicken pieces when adding into the frying oil. Some worked better than others, but for the most part the hot dog was a great success. In addition, I cooked up my own jalepeno cheddar cheese sauce (pictured above) to add on top.
This was also well received, but the hot dog yielded a lot more salt than the burger and made for a slightly overwhelming flavor blast in the face. I executed the dogs in a simple "dirty water" style, and may (in the future) try grilling the dogs to add a bit of a smokey, charred flavor. However, the tender consistency of the dark chicken meat, with the soft Bologna-like texture of the dog made the overall "sandwich" go down nice and smooth. The cheddar sauce was a PERFECT addition and rounded out the meal nicely. It really "tied the room together". If I'm EVER in the Philippines, I'll swing by a KFC and truly decide how mine measured up.
So, there you have it. The "Around the World" Double-Down experience. It made for a Super Super Bowl and worked well for thumbing my nose at all those folks at KFC that try to keep the Fat from enjoying all the luscious food options out there. Take THAT, Colonel. You're a good and loyal friend, but you abandoned me and I had to fend for myself. Hopefully, you'll make it up to me in the future with some new, stateside option that will blow my mind.
