Fried chicken mania at Melbourne Night Noodle Markets

Melbourne seems to have gone a little bit mad for fried chicken – and it's not the drive-through, southern-accented, secret-herbs-and-spices variety.

The chicken in question goes under the initials J, K and MFC – that's Japanese, Korean and Miyagi Fried Chicken – and the venue where Melburnians are queueing to get a taste is the Night Noodle Markets at Birrarung Marr, during The Age Good Food Month, presented by Citi.

Mr Miyagi's Kristian Klein says the stall is selling 400 to 500 boxes of karaage-style MFC a night.

"That's 600 kilos of chicken a week," Mr Klein says. "We reckon we'll go through two-and-a-half tonnes this festival."

That's a lot of chicken to prep: "We're having chicken parties. Everyone is out the back boning and marinating. You don't want to pop down and help, do you," he pleads via telephone from the Windsor restaurant.

The free-roaming chicken gets a 36-hour marinade in Japanese Shibanuma soy sauce, garlic and ginger, then a dusting of potato starch before it's deep fried and served, six pieces to a box, with Kewpie mayonnaise.

"You're tasting the chicken, not the batter," says chef Kyle Doody, Mr Miyagi's fried-chicken master, by way of explaining the MFC's popularity with diners.

Bang Pop's chilli-crumbed ribs are inspired by Bangkok street food, says Bang Pop's David Jamieson. "There's fried chicken on every street corner there," he says. The ribs are dusted with crisp shallots, salt, sugar, ground rice and chilli before deep-frying. "We've sold heaps. I don't know how much off the top of my head, but I know it's a lot."

Other variations on the fried chicken theme at the market include Pasar Malam's nonya lollipops (fried chicken on a stick!), Charlie Dumpling's ribs with five-spice and honey, and Kong's Korean-fried wings with honey, garlic and sesame.

The Charlie Dumpling ribs are marinated in shaoxing wine and five spice, deep-fried in tempura batter with rice flakes for texture, and served with a drizzle of sweet kecap manis soy sauce.

"It's a bit of a pan-Asian thing: Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese," explains Charlie Dumpling chef Dylan Roberts, who reckons they've sold 150 kilos of chicken so far – and that's with the bad weather last weekend.

Kong's Korean-fried wings are cooked in master stock at a low simmer, dipped in fish sauce and fried in chilli-tapioca batter. Kong's chef Dan Briggs says they are selling up to 100 kilos of wings in serves of six on a good night – figure that out at 16 wings to the kilo.

As Mr Miyagi's Kristian Klein says: "The world wants more fried chicken."

Night Noodle Markets, Birrarung Marr, until November 30, free entry. See the Good Food Month program at goodfoodmonth.com