Everything you need to know about Ghost Chicken’s latest establishment. Plus, tips from Chef JC on how to make the perfect fried chicken sandwich.
Ghost Chicken is Toronto’s newest hotspot for the best chicken sandwiches in the city. The establishment recently opened its flagship location on the Ossington strip and we’re loving it!
With a focus on premium local ingredients, the Ghost Chicken menu is small but mighty and specializes in quality chicken sandwiches. For instance, their signature OG Chicken Sandwich is fried to golden perfection and coated with a GC original fiery hot sauce. It’s also topped with a cool, creamy cabbage slaw and refreshing dill crema.
There are only 5 sandwiches in total on the menu. Each has a unique and addictive combination of spicy (and not so spicy) flavours and textures. As a result, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy!
HOLR was invited to taste-try the menu and we’re obsessed. Keep reading to find out our thoughts on some of the restaurant’s must-try items!
Chicken Sandwiches
The stars of the show, we taste-tested the OG Hot, Nashville Hot and The Sweet & Sour.
The Sweet & Sour has a tamarind-oregano spice blend, pickled red onion, tomato, lettuce, and jalapeno crema. This is the perfect amount of sweet and spicy- definitely a favourite!
The OG Hot features in-house hot sauce, cabbage slaw, and dill crema. This one definitely has a kick but the dill crema helped to cut the spice and add a hint of refreshment. Another fave!
The Nashville Hot is not for the faint of heart- this chicken sandwich brings the heat! It includes the brand’s in-house Nashville oil and spice blend with sweet pickles. If you like your chicken sandwiches hot, you’ll love this!
Sides
Ghost Chicken also serves up some delicious sides. The Mac and Cheese in particular is a crowd-faovourite. It features creamy cheese sauce and garlic seasoning. We will definitely be coming back for more!
Fried Chicken
In addition to the chicken sandwiches, the fried chicken bites and lollipops are amazing!
The fried chicken bites feature boneless pieces of chicken leg and the fried chicken lollipops feature frenched chicken drumsticks. Everything is fried to perfection and you can pair it with your choice of dill crema or honey mustard sauce. You can also get the fried chicken seasoned or Nashville-style.
If you’re curious about how to make the perfect fried chicken sandwich, check out some of Chef JC’s top tips below!
Batter is key
A great batter or seasoned flour is really important. Ghost Chicken has a secret blend that we can’t share but there are so many ways to do it, you can really get creative. Classic fried chicken typically uses a buttermilk liquid that’s marinated on the chicken and then the chicken is coated with a heavily seasoned flour (herbs and spices) and this helps create a thick crunchy fry. If you’re looking for something lighter, a tempura fry is a good alternative because it’s still decadent and great for veggies and seafood too.
Watch your oil!
When you’re frying chicken at home, 350F is the ideal temperature. Using a candy or deep-frying thermometer to visually see the temperature is always helpful. All over Asia, they use large woks or in the western world, a nice Dutch oven works just as well. When frying at home it’s important not to overfill your wok or dutch oven (halfway is ideal) so it doesn’t spill over and start a fire! It’s best to bring the proteins that you’re cooking to room temperature before you fry and if that can’t be done just take your time frying each item as the temperature will drop each time you put something into the oil. Definitely do not overcrowd your wok/dutch oven to achieve maximum crispiness and deliciousness.
Sandwich architecture
Never sauce your chicken ahead of time and only sauce it when you’re ready to serve. Buns should always be toasted and rested to room temperature because too much heat will sog up the whole sandwich and you definitely don’t want that. Build your sando from the bottom up so sauce, pickles, tomato, lettuce, fresh onions (whatever you want really) and then top with your sauced or unsauced chicken and then close it out with your bun.
If you’re checking out the establishment’s newest location, the restaurant is promoting its grand opening this week. On Saturday, April 9th, 2022 all OG sandwiches will be $2 for the first 300 guests (limit to 1 per customer).
Published by HOLR Magazine.