It is something of a fantastic culture that one can come to embrace when it comes to fried chicken; from perfectly battered Southern fried chicken in the patriotic land of America to the saucy yangnyeom fried chicken that we simply know as Korean fried chicken, the art of achieving a crispy piece of chicken that is fried to a mouth-watering golden-brown exterior with a tender and juicy meat that pulls effortlessly from the bone has been something of a history in its own making. One of my favourite takes on fried chicken just happens to be a Singaporean classic: prawn paste fried chicken, or better known as har cheong gai. There is simply no replacement for authentic and freshly cooked har cheong gai, with its almost exotic but all-the-same homely flavour that just leaves you wanting more. I had the pleasure of trying what eventually came to be my favourite har cheong gai in the country at Ah Tan Wings. Run by a pair of siblings who share a passion for the perennial Singaporean fried chicken, Ah Tan Wings serve up har cheong gai unlike any other. Double-fried with two different types of batter and flour, their signature har cheong gai is uniquely crispy and packed with that familiar fermented prawn paste flavour we’ve all grown up with. After going through an arduous trial-and-error period amounting to 800 variations of the recipe, the result is truly noticeable from the first crunch of the superbly crispy skin. Their Atas Wing Meal ($5.30) comes with two of their pride and joy chicken wings (drumlet and wing) along with traditionally cooked aromatic chicken rice, a fried egg, some refreshing slices of cucumber and a tantalising chilli padi dip that pairs perfectly with the prawn paste chicken wings. A life-changing experience. For real.