Fast Food Galore!!!!

Am I into fast food? No, no and no, but sometimes one has no choice and sometimes it is actually not that bad. There are certain spots so I avoid at all cost, not to mention any names but there is a big yellow M....

There is this fast food chain I have never heard about, it is called Jolly Bee. It originates in the Philippines and I was the first time in one on Saipan, a little Island which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands. All the Filipino crew were totally excited that they could finally have food again from a "local" restaurant and we all went there to have......fast food. The usual, hamburgers, chickens and Halo Halo, but this time it was all blended up like a milk shake and one would drink it with a thick straw. Halo Halo is a Filipino dessert which I described in an earlier post.

But now what happened 2 days ago.......the ship I work on is in Dry Dock in Newcastle, Australia. Dry Dock is like bringing the car in service, everything gets checked up and fixed....just with the ship it is for 10 days. Usually one looses power for about an hour when the ships generator is switched off and one gets hooked up to shore power.......strangely it took nearly 8 hours get get the power back, which means, we couldn't cook for dinner (lunch was ready cooked mid morning). So at 4 PM we decided that the crew has to be fed and that we will venture out and get KFC. Now that was an idea as everybody loves it, and it is a change from the normal menu served.

So off we go, running already late as the port agent was tied up with custom clearance issues and other stuff, but finally we went off. The port agent, being Greek, drove worse than half the drivers in Athens, putting foot. I was never faster in putting my seat belt on! We got into evening traffic, then found a fast food selling chicken. I asked them where the next KFC is, but the ladies couldn't really give me directions....so we just slowly asked our way through till we found one.....which was shut down! I really strated to have my doupts about Newcastle but I have an entire crew who is getting a bit un easy with no food so we shoot off and after some search actually found another outlet. We phoned them ahead with the order, but I think they thought it was a joke....I ordered 10 buckets of chicken pieces. So when I arrived I had to explain that it is not 110 pieces I need, but 210 pieces (Mathematics is not everybodies forte), plus 20 Fries and 20 large Coleslaw....plus 3 twisters, grilled not fried!

The face I got from the lady behind the counter was priceless, for everything else there is Mastercard!!!!! With big eyes she asked me how many mouth I would feed ad I answered, 70 crew and I should have fed them 20 minutes ago. No she was a little nervous as she told me that it would take 45 minutes as they had to prepare it.....and as I had no choice, we waited, and waited.....and waited. I guess fast food does not apply for orders more than 50 people and considering the amount of crew I ordered for, the average per person was less than one minute of wait! There are nicer things than waiting in a KFC which is somewhere in the middle of nowhere for my 210 pieces of chicken, but anyway, we made it.....nearly 2 hours late and fed all 70, by now starving, happy crew.

Here is a recipe I got from an undisclosed source for the "real" KFC Chicken

KFC Original Fried Chicken

1 frying chicken, cut into frying pieces
1 1/2 cups flour
1 Pkt. (dry) Good Seasons Italian Dressing (THE 11 herbs and spices!)
1 Envelope Lipton (or other brand) Tomato Cup of Soup
2 eggs, well beaten
2/3 cup milk
Vegetable oil to cover bottom of your skillet; about 1/2 inch deep.

1. Combine eggs and milk. Set aside.
2. Combine flour with the Italian dressing and soup mix.
3. Dip chicken pieces in milk-egg mixture and roll them in the
flour-seasoning mixture. Repeat procedure.
4. Fry pieces over medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes, turning often.
5. Remove from fire. Drain and serve.