[0:00] What's up, dude? Today we're making hot
[0:01] honey chicken tenders using an old
[0:03] school KFC technique that gives you this
[0:06] really wonderful crispy finish. We're
[0:08] also making what might be the [music]
[0:10] only homemade ranch recipe you're ever
[0:12] going to use, the one that made Wingstop
[0:14] famous. Not that I love their wings, but
[0:15] I think there is no debate at this point
[0:17] that their ranch is on point. Now, let's
[0:19] go. For starters, I want to keep this
[0:21] recipe extremely simple so we can really
[0:23] focus on the flavors from the hot honey.
[0:25] And so, in order to tenderize our
[0:27] tenders, we're first just going to start
[0:29] by soaking them in pure buttermilk. I've
[0:31] done videos where I've tested a whole
[0:33] range of different tenderizing methods
[0:35] for chicken, whether it be mechanical or
[0:37] like enzyme-based like pineapple. And
[0:39] the best methods by far were either
[0:41] using yogurt or buttermilk. That just
[0:43] had the most impact on tenderizing. And
[0:45] I let these go in the buttermilk for 4
[0:47] hours. For tenders, I think that is
[0:49] plenty of time. But you can go up to
[0:50] eight as well. Then I simply just strain
[0:52] them off and then rinse them off really
[0:54] well before putting them on a sheet pan
[0:56] lined with paper towel to dry them off.
[0:58] While our tendies soak in the
[0:59] buttermilk, this is the perfect time to
[1:01] blast out our hot honey. And I'm
[1:02] actually going to be using fresh chilies
[1:04] as well as dried chilies for it. Let's
[1:06] go. And I'm starting with these Fresno
[1:08] chilies. And you don't really need to
[1:10] like slice them gracefully. It doesn't
[1:12] really matter. Just make sure they're
[1:13] not too thick. We also don't need to
[1:15] worry about seeds. So, what I'm really
[1:17] hoping is that this hot honey is kind of
[1:19] fruity. Cuz both Fresnos and habanero
[1:22] are on that fruity side. So, let's see
[1:23] what we get. Then we'll blast out these
[1:25] habaneros as well. Just make sure you
[1:27] clean your space and your hands really
[1:29] well after working with hot chilies.
[1:31] Like, don't go straight to the bathroom,
[1:33] okay? Cuz
[1:34] yikes.
[1:35] I've done it before in my early days of
[1:37] cooking and yeah, it's the rest of the
[1:38] day is not fun. So, just be aware. Now,
[1:41] we're going to get a bunch of honey into
[1:43] the pot because we're going to be
[1:44] heating it up. That is how you make
[1:46] Excuse. That is how you make hot honey.
[1:49] I know a lot of people will disagree
[1:50] with this because you kill all the
[1:52] benefits that are in the honey when you
[1:53] warm it up to a certain temperature. But
[1:55] like, this is a thing for fried chicken.
[1:57] So, people get mad about like heating up
[1:59] the honey and then it's like eating it
[2:00] with fried chicken or pizza. So, I don't
[2:03] know. You could definitely do a cold
[2:04] extraction, too, but that takes a lot
[2:05] longer. So, we're just going to do it
[2:07] the easy way. And we'll kick this on low
[2:08] heat, add all of our fresh chilies here
[2:10] along with a little pinch of salt, and
[2:12] keeping that heat low, we'll just let
[2:14] these chilies melt into the honey. Once
[2:16] it's warmed up here, I'm going to add
[2:17] the apple cider vinegar and continue to
[2:19] cook. So, I just warmed that up over low
[2:22] heat for about like 2 or 3 minutes. Now,
[2:24] I've turned the heat off, [music]
[2:25] and I'm just going to let it steep for
[2:27] another few minutes. And after it's been
[2:28] sitting here a few minutes, the dried
[2:30] chili I'm going to be adding is Kashmiri
[2:32] chili powder, [music] which is extremely
[2:34] mild, but gives an incredible red color.
[2:37] So, really for me, it's just about the
[2:39] color. Don't need too much. And after
[2:40] that goes in, we can go ahead and just
[2:42] strain this off. I don't want all the
[2:44] whole chilies in here, just getting the
[2:46] honey out. And I'll just squeeze that
[2:48] through a little bit. And it's literally
[2:49] that easy, hot honey done. All we got to
[2:51] do now is let this cool down. You can
[2:53] definitely make simpler versions by
[2:55] simply using just chili flakes if you
[2:57] want to, but I just love the fruity
[2:59] flavor this has from the habaneros and
[3:01] the fresnos along with this darker color
[3:03] from the Kashmiri chili powder. For my
[3:05] spice level, if I had to go 1 through
[3:07] 10, I would put this at like a a 7 or an
[3:09] 8. It's like pushing it a little for me,
[3:11] but the taste is really good. If you
[3:12] want to make it less spicy, just use
[3:14] less chilies. On a side note, as a chef,
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[4:25] and now back to the recipe. Now, to take
[4:27] these tenders to the next level, we're
[4:28] going to do another quick little
[4:30] marination process, starting with soy
[4:32] sauce and secret ingredient chicken
[4:34] bouillon. This really sets it off. Some
[4:36] hot sauce of choice. I love this Zabs,
[4:39] actually. It's really good. And I'm
[4:40] simply just going to mix this up and add
[4:42] a little bit of oil, just neutral oil,
[4:44] and then we'll drop all of our tenders
[4:46] in here and give them a little mixy mix.
[4:48] And because everything we have in here
[4:49] is so potent, like I wouldn't go longer
[4:51] than like 30 minutes with this. This is
[4:53] just like a quick final marinade before
[4:55] the dredging process. For the fried
[4:57] chicken flour dredge, like I said, we're
[4:58] keeping it really simple, so we're
[5:00] starting with two cups of all-purpose
[5:02] flour, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, which will
[5:04] help it get crunchy and stay crunchy, 2
[5:06] Tbsp smoked paprika, 2 Tbsp onion
[5:10] powder, 4 tsp garlic powder, and a whole
[5:12] bunch of black pepper. I can't tell
[5:14] exactly how much is going in, but I
[5:15] think I'm going to do about 3 tsp.
[5:18] That's it. Just give it a really
[5:19] thorough mix. And that's your flour
[5:21] dredge done. Now, seeing as how hot
[5:23] honey is not my favorite thing in the
[5:25] world, I never really got the hype, I'm
[5:27] going to be making some buttermilk ranch
[5:29] for these tenders, as well, because you
[5:30] just kind of need to have it, and it is
[5:32] the best thing you could ever have with
[5:33] tenders. Sorry, it's true. Just facts.
[5:35] Little pro tip here, too, always buy
[5:37] this one that you mix with buttermilk
[5:38] and mayo. It is the best one. And so,
[5:40] you're just going to start by adding 1
[5:41] cup of buttermilk, followed by 1 cup of
[5:44] mayonnaise, and 1 whole packet of this
[5:46] stuff right here. And I like adding some
[5:48] fresh cut chives to this. Chive flavor
[5:50] in here is great and just a little
[5:52] squeeze of lemon as well. Nothing too
[5:53] fancy. If for some reason you don't want
[5:55] to use the packets or you live abroad
[5:56] and you simply can't find them, I have a
[5:58] recipe for homemade ranch dressing that
[6:01] uses your own spices. That's actually
[6:02] pretty darn close to this. So I'll put
[6:04] that down in the description under the
[6:06] video if you want to try making that
[6:08] instead. But basically you just give it
[6:10] all a good whisk and you'll see as you
[6:11] whisk it up, it doesn't look that thick,
[6:13] but as this sits in the fridge [music]
[6:15] thickens up a lot, so keep that in mind.
[6:16] So after just 20 minutes in that strong
[6:18] marinade, I think it's enough. We'll go
[6:20] straight into the flour. Toss, toss,
[6:22] toss. And now I believe this next move
[6:24] is like an old school famous KFC thing.
[6:27] Someone can verify in the comments, but
[6:28] I'm pretty sure KFC used to use this
[6:30] method to fry their chicken. I don't
[6:32] know if they still do. We're going to
[6:33] dip it in water. I'm not going to go too
[6:35] long here either, maybe 10 seconds.
[6:36] [music]
[6:37] Cuz I don't want it to wash off. We just
[6:38] want it to kind of saturate. Out we go,
[6:40] back into the flour. And then we're
[6:42] going to just toss, toss, toss. And what
[6:43] we're trying to do here is build up all
[6:45] these little grooves along the outside
[6:47] of the chicken, [music] which it's
[6:48] happening. What also works really well
[6:50] is a shake like this to sort of open it
[6:52] up. And if you can, go straight from the
[6:55] from the flour dredge into the oil and
[6:57] let it swim a little bit like this.
[6:58] Because if you leave it on a sheet pan
[7:00] or something prior to frying it, you're
[7:01] going to get one side flattened out. All
[7:03] those little grooves you made doing the
[7:05] flour work, you want to keep them. So
[7:06] going straight into the oil just makes
[7:08] sense. If you need to put them on
[7:09] something before going into the oil like
[7:11] let's say you're doing a lot, you can
[7:12] use a sheet pan lined with a wire rack.
[7:14] And that And that works pretty good. So
[7:15] there we are after just 4 minutes and
[7:17] you can see all those little grooves
[7:19] that have been piling up. And once all
[7:21] my chicken was fried up, it was time to
[7:22] serve it up with the ranch and the hot
[7:24] honey and see which one we prefer. All
[7:26] right, Marcus, are you a hot honey guy?
[7:28] Cuz like I'm not really. I've tried it
[7:30] on pizza and things and it's okay, but
[7:32] I'm not like I don't know. I just I got
[7:35] both.
[7:37] >> [music]
[7:47] [music]
[7:52] >> Well, hot honey ranch boy.
[7:55] >> I mean, I get it. I just got to go home
[7:57] and get ranch.
[7:59] >> Tenders and ranch man will never not be
[8:01] good.
[8:01] >> Okay, both?
[8:02] >> Double. I like both.
[8:03] >> Let's try both.
[8:04] >> It's the only way I ever have it, too.
[8:05] Chicken sandwich, hot honey and ranch.
[8:08] Honey's the sweetest thing ever, so you
[8:10] need something.
[8:11] >> I don't know if I've ever gone hot honey
[8:12] and ranch like that. I actually really
[8:14] enjoyed that bite. I think I enjoyed it
[8:16] more than pure ranch. Something about
[8:18] that mix.
[8:19] >> I do it on pizza, too.
[8:20] >> Yeah, cuz the ranch brings back some
[8:22] like acidity. You know what I mean? It
[8:24] cuts through all the sweetness of the
[8:25] hot honey.
[8:26] And by the way, this hot honey with the
[8:28] fresh chilies and the Kashmiri chili
[8:29] powder, it's delicious. It really is.
[8:31] It's growing on me a lot as it cools
[8:33] down. I feel like it's like picking up
[8:35] flavor.
[8:35] >> Make it. Make it.
[8:37] >> Thanks for watching [music] my friends
[8:38] and just to make you aware, I have
[8:39] launched the Sue Chefs a few days ago,
[8:41] which is our private cooking community.
[8:43] I thought this was going to be like a
[8:45] slow growth thing, but we already have
[8:47] hundreds of people inside of our Discord
[8:49] and it is honestly the coolest thing
[8:51] ever to see food lovers from around the
[8:53] world just gathering in one place,
[8:54] sharing recipes, sharing techniques,
[8:56] posting what they're cooking for dinner.
[8:58] It's such a joy, man. And if a deeper
[9:00] cooking community really is of interest
[9:02] to you, definitely watch this video
[9:03] right here where I went through my whole
[9:05] entire cooking history and how that led
[9:07] me into social media and then how the
[9:09] social media led me to the Sue Chefs. I
[9:11] hope to see you in the Discord, but if
[9:13] not, all good. Until next time.
[9:15] >> You know I love you and I'm out.