🥩 Chicken nanban
Chicken Nanban" is known to have originated in Nobeoka City. It is said that it was first prepared as a bribe dish at a Western-style restaurant in Nobeoka City in the 1950s. At the time, the dish was called "fried chicken in sweet and sour sauce," but it later became popular in its current style of being served with tartar sauce and salad. In the 1960s, the dish became popular as a feast for the occasional family outing, and eventually became commonplace in school lunches, home cooking, and restaurant menus throughout the prefecture. The "Nanban" in "Chicken Nanban" is a term originally used to describe the Portuguese who came to Japan during the Warring States Period and their culture. Among the foods brought to Japan by the Portuguese was "nanbanzuke," which is made by marinating ingredients in sweet vinegar with chili peppers, and is said to have come to be called "chicken nanban" because chicken was used to make it.