We watch all kinds of food and cooking shows on YouTube. We like Sam the Cooking Guy. One dish Sam made caught my attention so much that I watched it again with Marty. I was intrigued.
Once I learn about something I never heard of, I must investigate. I began watching more videos about this dish, the Irish Spice Bag.
It took a while before I could make my spice bag following Sam the Cooking Guy’s recipe. So what exactly is an Irish Spice Bag besides fucking delicious?
It is a paper bag filled with crispy chicken pieces, bell peppers and onions, hot chilies, french fries, and curry sauce.
The dish originated in Dublin, Ireland, at a popular takeaway restaurant, Sunflower Chinese, in 2012.
The staff grew tired of eating the same thing every day. They created the Irish spice bag after the takeaway closed for the night.
Little did they know that the Irish Spice Bag would become a phenomenon. The spice bag was a collaboration of ideas, just as it is a collaboration of flavors.
The story goes one of the employee’s friends came in the next day and asked for a spice bag. The rest is history.
The Irish Spice Bag is now famous all over Ireland and is made in Chinese takeaway places all over the country.
It’s filling and tasty, perfect to eat after pounding down pints all night. Others call it a hangover remedy.
People from all over are obsessed with this unofficial dish of Dublin, just like Chicken Tikka Masala is the unofficial dish of London.
Some people get off an airplane, and the first thing they do is grab a spice bag as their first thing to eat; that’s how good this dish is.
Irish Spice bags have made it slowly to the US. The first locations also popped up in NYC and Washington, DC. More places are opening across the country.
There is even a place in Albany called the Savoy Tap House that has an Irish Spice Bag on their pub menu! We’ve been there since they have a very gluten-free friendly menu.
But what about making one yourself?
Sam, the Cooking Guy, has 3.5 million followers; when he made his Irish Spice Bag, people went nuts and had to make one. Count me in.
People in Ireland watched his version and tried his recipe just like I did. They flipped out; it was so good and right on the money.
Some Irish people told him it was served with two sauces. Fair enough.
I have to admit it is a labor of love. You have to have time to make the recipe and, more importantly, time to sit and enjoy it.
I followed Sam the Cooking Guy’s recipe exactly, except I didn’t make thrice cooked french fries, and I used only a tiny amount of hot chilies for the first time. I could go a little spicier the next time.
Instead of boring you to death with how I made it, click on the YouTube video and watch Sam’s Irish Spice Bag. The man is a pisser and is himself on camera. His son Max is the cameraman.
If you aren’t interested in watching his program, click the link and look at the recipe. I encourage you to watch the video so he can tantalize your taste buds and make you laugh.
https://www.thecookingguy.com/cookbook/2023/5/1/salt-amp-chili-chicken-spice-bag
Like in Ireland, we ate our Irish Spice Bags from the ripped-open bag. We used our fingers and dipped the bag’s contents into the flavorful side of curry sauce.
This is no joke. I kid you not; after only once having a spice bag, we are addicted. Of course, this falls under the category of food that is a treat since we don’t eat many fried foods.
Everything in moderation, people. Eat a salad the next day if you are feeling guilty. Like my hero, idol, and male alter ego, the late, great Anthony Bourdain said:
Eat a damn Irish spice bag, for fucks sake, and enjoy the hell out of it. Thanks, Tony, for the reminder.♥️
Yes, Yes and YES!!!