Gravy, Ketchup, Chili Sauce And Curry

“Since when did KFC have gravy!?”, interjected Chung Mon as I was merely starting to tell him about my experience in the KFC-White Sands branch in Pasir Ris.

We were contemplating on where we should try having lunch next when he mentioned KFC. I could see from the look on his face that it was meant to be a rhetorical question so I didn’t bother to respond.



On that day, I ordered a few pieces of chicken. I immediately knew that something wasn’t right when the service crew who took my order seemed a bit surprised when I requested for gravy. I had to hide my initial dismay when I looked into the bag and found out there was only chili sauce. Now I felt tremendous pressure to maintain a poker face. Before I knew it, I got referred to the manager on duty.

After checking the contents of what looked to me like a small, stainless refrigerator, the manager simply said to me, “Sorry, we have no more gravy on stock.”

For a second or two, I could not believe what I just heard. I managed to say "Thank you." before leaving.

Incidentally, part of the á la carte we were having for lunch was a pair of chicken wings. I asked for ketchup from the waitress. She nodded her head and left. Just when I thought she had forgotten about my request, she came back to our table and spoke to Chung Mon in Mandarin. I could sense she was asking something about the ketchup. About a minute later, much to my delight, she came back with a bottle of tomato ketchup.

“Seems like I have to honor of being first.”, I said to Chung Mon, noticing that the bottle looked new and was full to the brim.

“Yes, not too many ask for ketchup here.”, came Chung Mon’s reply.

“I guess most of them go for chili sauce.”, I replied back.

“Yes, that’s right.”, was Chung Mon’s answer.

The KFC story didn’t end with the gravy (or without the gravy), the others who partook of the meal shared my frustration over the taste of the chicken. I vowed never to try KFC in that branch again.

If you grew up knowing that KFC chicken goes well with gravy, you’d share my frustration at its absence. In the same way, if you’ve had chili sauce with KFC chicken all your life, it would have been strange to find someone asking for gravy to go with it.



In the Philippines, the sales of the world-famous franchise probably spiked up when they began offering additional gravy free of charge. They would have stopped it many years ago if it didn’t. I remember people coming back to the counter for additional gravy. I was always one of those who would pour gravy on his rice and ask for more. Such behavior became too common that many branches began assigning one of the crew members to go around and offer gravy to their customers. They came holding a stainless thermos filled with the hot, brown and creamy delight. At a time when bottomless and all-you-can became buzzwords associated with food and drink, the endless supply of gravy was a big hit. Soon, other fast food chains followed suit.

(to be continued...)