Chicks Ko Jarateng!!
Staff Writer | Tuesday June 28, 2022 03:45
‘Chicks on Fire’ was a special event hosted by Ko Jarateng recently.
I almost headed over to the only location I knew till I saw a post showing ducks being marinated in Mogoditsane hours before the event. I quickly made some calls and discovered that indeed, they have a second location. Well done to that!
I recently heard an interview with Kaelo the owner of Ko Jarateng where he shared their concept; lekker braai that is driven by the love and enjoyment of home cooked food. They offer dine-in, take away and delivery. He also mentioned how the location of the restaurant is intentionally set in a yard so as to really create a home feel even through the name of the restaurant. He also mentioned wanting to expand by having the establishment have a footprint nationwide. It was special to see that this dream has started to unfold with the Mogoditshane location.
There is a slight difference in that this is their event venue.
Chicks on Fire is the second of a series of experiences, the first was Pigs on Fire and later in the year will be Beasts on Fire. This series is a collaboration between Ko Jarateng and Smoking Habit BBQ. They are a consortium who builds these super cool smokers. These are on sale and locally made. They believe these are an essential in every home as they encourage an effort to recycle the material they build with. They use very little coal and so the preparation is a healthier alternative. Chicks on Fire would see a variety of birds prepared in different ways.
The first 100 people were offered a Pepsi on arrival and food soon started rolling out. We were treated to a starter of a ledombi, which was on the sweet side. Lemon and herb chicken and gizzard kebabs with a Six Gun Chilli sauce. Innards for me are always a challenge to prepare, they are highly sensitive and it’s not always easy to get right. I can only imagine it being a mammoth task when preparing them in such large quantities.
Each round of food is All You Can Eat! The chicken was a great treat. Yes! It was smoked! The butterfly and beer infused chicken was tender, succulent and very flavourful. Beer-can chicken is a barbecued chicken dish method of indirect grilling using a partially-filled can of beer that is placed in the chicken's cavity prior to cooking.
The chicken is then stood up on the can with its legs vertical, and slow-cooked over indirect heat. The Hops and Barley of the beer infuse into the chicken flesh and give it a really authentic flavour. We not only got a tour of the cooking station, it came with details of how each of the six dishes were prepared. Duck is not very common, but I enjoy it the most. I looked forward to the 12hrs braised then smoked for 24hr duck and it did not disappoint.
Due to time constraints I did not make it to try the Ostrich, which was smoked for 48hrs. That was the main event and the closer. If only they had some outdoor heaters or small bon fires, the vibe would have been complete as the music was just right and the crowd was also grown and mature.
I can only imagine the tickets for Beasts of Fire will fly, listen out for that one and be a part of an original and existing entertainment concept.
These are a series of events with Ko Jarateng; so look out for more reviews.