Frozen fried chicken review: New Multi vs. SunnyGold

Before you continue reading, it is good to be familiar with the concept of discretionary food choices. They are sometimes thought of as junk food but it is not just that. For example, honey, meat pies, quiche all fall under the discretionary food group. Even foods like wine and port, which falsely thought to be healthy in moderate consumption, fall under the same category.

What are discretionary foods?

The simplest definition of discretionary foods is foods that are not necessary for a healthy diet. It can be hard to appreciate this but there are lots of food we consume on a daily basis that do not fall under healthy foods. In Singapore, taste is a big factor in making food choices for young working Singaporeans.

Other prioritised factors included price, convenience, and novel food experiences. In the 2023 study, health unfortunately was not one of the prioritised factors.

Discretionary foods are often high in calories due to the high saturated fat, sugars, or alcohol content. They also tend to be high in sodium but are low in essential nutrients and fibre.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting discretionary foods to a maximum of 2.5 to three servings per day. However, Nutrition Australia, recommends a much stricter limit of one serving of discretionary food per day.

Effect of food choices on chronic diseases

The four main factors to how Singaporeans choose food is taste, price, convenience, and novel food experiences. As health is not prioritised, it is not surprise to see prevalence of dietary-associated disease to be high.

According to Ministry of Health’s Singapore Disease Burden Statistics, the hyperlipidaemia (i.e., high cholesterol) and hypertension affects almost 40% of people in Singapore. While both conditions can be familial in nature, the increase in prevalence suggest that it has more to do with lifestyle than genes.

It is now well established that dietary cholesterol has little impact on blood cholesterol levels. However, having a good diet with low saturated fat and high fibre does improve cholesterol levels. Obesity, which can significantly be addressed with a good diet, is strongly associated with cholesterol levels.

As a chiropractor, I do advocate clean and healthy eating. Most people do not know this but there is sufficient research to suggest the type of foods we consume can have an effect on our chronic pain experience.

From a health perspective, it is clear that we are what we eat.

New Multi Fried Boneless Chicken Thigh – Spicy

A couple of years ago, New Multi’s Fried Boneless Chicken Thigh was making rounds on social media. Many touted it as a McSpicy dupe. Mothership even went as far to say that it tasted as good as McSpicy! Now that I am writing this, it may have been a marketing narrative that New Multi was trying to push.

Marketing side, the bigger question is still if it’s truly a McSpicy replacement. At only $9.99 for 10 pieces at Sheng Siong, it is certainly much cheaper than the McDonalds.

Comparing nutritional value between New Multi and Mcdonalds

It is difficult to compare McSpicy with New Multi’s fried chicken because they are ultimately different products. McDonald’s does indeed provide the nutrition provide of a McSpicy burger but it is not specific to the patty itself. New Multi’s spicy chicken thigh, on the other hand, does not come with any buns or dressing.

If we look at protein content, McSpicy comes at 23g per serving while New Multi’s fried chicken is only slightly over 9g per patty. Assuming the McDonald’s buns has a protein content of 5g each, the amount of protein in a McSpicy is still double of New Multi, strongly suggesting a way larger serving size.

Unfortunately McDonald’s Singapore does not share their ingredients list so we are not able to make a comparison on that.

Review of New Multi Fried Chicken Thigh

The truth is I will probably never buy it again. Don’t get me wrong, it does taste a lot like a McSpicy but the texture and oiliness is over the top. Granted I used an airfryer so it’s possible that you may get better results deep frying the patties.

The New Multi chicken patty is honestly very thin. That does make sense. At a glance, it does look comparable to a McSpicy patty. The size difference became obvious when I was trying to get it out of the air fryer and it was extremely limpy. In other words, it doesn’t hold its own shape. It is because of the ultra thinness.

When we take into consideration the protein content differences, it is very possible that New Multi’s patty is only half the thickness of a McSpicy patty.

Thin batter and excessive oiliness

The batter was also considerably lacking and on the thin side. That’s usually a good thing from a carbohydrates intake perspective but I think it’s far too thin to give a good fried chicken experience. There is no crunch!

With a thin batter, the patty, which is honestly juicy inside, does go soggy real fast.

The recommended cooking duration is five minutes in an air fryer at 180 degrees. I’ve gone as far as 20 minutes at 230 degrees and it didn’t crisp up. All I got was a semi-soggy but definitely oily patty. I have also tried flipping it over mid-cooking with no results.

The oiliness was enough for my double layered kitchen towel to always soak through. It could be that they were very well-brined juicy patties but I think a lot of it is oil from the fat or the manufacturing process.

I do line my plate with a towel towel, two pieces, and they will always soak through.

New Multi Steamed Chicken Breast

I know y’all are here for the fried chicken but New Multi does do a steamed chicken breast as well. It’s a good touch for them to add grill patterns to the chicken breast. That does seem like a nice touch and make potentially make steamed chicken look more enticing.

I personally have not tried them but have seen personal trainers and bodybuilders who swear by them on social media. I have suggested clients to give them a shot and the feedback was positive.

According to their website, the ingredients are: chicken meat, water, modified tapioca starch, dextrose salt, soup powder, sodium citrate, monosodium l-glutamate, black pepper, white pepper.

For those clean eating purists out there, you will probably frown upon the sugar (i.e., dextrose) and MSG. Personally, I think the trade off of consuming minimal amounts of such seasoning to make a healthy lean protein yummy is worth it.

SunnyGold Chicken Karaage and Ayam Pedas

I am very limited in my fried chicken repertoire because, um, I only buy junk food when they are on some form of sale haha! Thankfully, SunnyGold had been on sale twice so I managed to try two different fried chicken products from them. They are both pretty good and does satisfy my fried chicken craving.

Their regular karaage is not as exciting as their spicy version (i.e., Ayam Pedas) but still good. The spicy karaage definitely took things up a few notches.

New Multi versus SunnyGold Fried Chicken

When compared to New Multi’s Fried Chicken, SunnyGold seems to do a lot better nutrition wise. Per 100g serving, SunnyGold karaage contains 15g protein, 10g fat, and 17g carbohydrate. Even though they are both fried chicken, SunnyGold has almost 50% more protein than New Multi (11.7g). Unfortunately for New Multi, their fat is 80% more at 18g compared to SunnyGold’s 10g fat.

I think Sheng Siong often have SunnyGold available at $6.60 for a 500g pack, and New Multi is normally $9.99 for a 800g pack. For just 50 cents more (per 500g), I think you get a much quality product from SunnyGold.

While it does not taste like McChicken, it does crisp nicely in the air fryer, hold its own shape, and does not drench my kitchen towel in fat and meat juices. The taste is also pretty good but just not like McSpicy, which works just as well for me.