The Only Hot Honey Chicken Tenders You'll Ever Need

[00:00] What's up, dude? Today we're making hot

[00:01] honey chicken tenders using an old

[00:03] school KFC technique that gives you this

[00:06] really wonderful crispy finish. We're

[00:08] also making what might be the [music]

[00:10] only homemade ranch recipe you're ever

[00:12] going to use, the one that made Wingstop

[00:14] famous. Not that I love their wings, but

[00:15] I think there is no debate at this point

[00:17] that their ranch is on point. Now, let's

[00:19] go. For starters, I want to keep this

[00:21] recipe extremely simple so we can really

[00:23] focus on the flavors from the hot honey.

[00:25] And so, in order to tenderize our

[00:27] tenders, we're first just going to start

[00:29] by soaking them in pure buttermilk. I've

[00:31] done videos where I've tested a whole

[00:33] range of different tenderizing methods

[00:35] for chicken, whether it be mechanical or

[00:37] like enzyme-based like pineapple. And

[00:39] the best methods by far were either

[00:41] using yogurt or buttermilk. That just

[00:43] had the most impact on tenderizing. And

[00:45] I let these go in the buttermilk for 4

[00:47] hours. For tenders, I think that is

[00:49] plenty of time. But you can go up to

[00:50] eight as well. Then I simply just strain

[00:52] them off and then rinse them off really

[00:54] well before putting them on a sheet pan

[00:56] lined with paper towel to dry them off.

[00:58] While our tendies soak in the

[00:59] buttermilk, this is the perfect time to

[01:01] blast out our hot honey. And I'm

[01:02] actually going to be using fresh chilies

[01:04] as well as dried chilies for it. Let's

[01:06] go. And I'm starting with these Fresno

[01:08] chilies. And you don't really need to

[01:10] like slice them gracefully. It doesn't

[01:12] really matter. Just make sure they're

[01:13] not too thick. We also don't need to

[01:15] worry about seeds. So, what I'm really

[01:17] hoping is that this hot honey is kind of

[01:19] fruity. Cuz both Fresnos and habanero

[01:22] are on that fruity side. So, let's see

[01:23] what we get. Then we'll blast out these

[01:25] habaneros as well. Just make sure you

[01:27] clean your space and your hands really

[01:29] well after working with hot chilies.

[01:31] Like, don't go straight to the bathroom,

[01:33] okay? Cuz

[01:34] yikes.

[01:35] I've done it before in my early days of

[01:37] cooking and yeah, it's the rest of the

[01:38] day is not fun. So, just be aware. Now,

[01:41] we're going to get a bunch of honey into

[01:43] the pot because we're going to be

[01:44] heating it up. That is how you make

[01:46] Excuse. That is how you make hot honey.

[01:49] I know a lot of people will disagree

[01:50] with this because you kill all the

[01:52] benefits that are in the honey when you

[01:53] warm it up to a certain temperature. But

[01:55] like, this is a thing for fried chicken.

[01:57] So, people get mad about like heating up

[01:59] the honey and then it's like eating it

[02:00] with fried chicken or pizza. So, I don't

[02:03] know. You could definitely do a cold

[02:04] extraction, too, but that takes a lot

[02:05] longer. So, we're just going to do it

[02:07] the easy way. And we'll kick this on low

[02:08] heat, add all of our fresh chilies here

[02:10] along with a little pinch of salt, and

[02:12] keeping that heat low, we'll just let

[02:14] these chilies melt into the honey. Once

[02:16] it's warmed up here, I'm going to add

[02:17] the apple cider vinegar and continue to

[02:19] cook. So, I just warmed that up over low

[02:22] heat for about like 2 or 3 minutes. Now,

[02:24] I've turned the heat off, [music]

[02:25] and I'm just going to let it steep for

[02:27] another few minutes. And after it's been

[02:28] sitting here a few minutes, the dried

[02:30] chili I'm going to be adding is Kashmiri

[02:32] chili powder, [music] which is extremely

[02:34] mild, but gives an incredible red color.

[02:37] So, really for me, it's just about the

[02:39] color. Don't need too much. And after

[02:40] that goes in, we can go ahead and just

[02:42] strain this off. I don't want all the

[02:44] whole chilies in here, just getting the

[02:46] honey out. And I'll just squeeze that

[02:48] through a little bit. And it's literally

[02:49] that easy, hot honey done. All we got to

[02:51] do now is let this cool down. You can

[02:53] definitely make simpler versions by

[02:55] simply using just chili flakes if you

[02:57] want to, but I just love the fruity

[02:59] flavor this has from the habaneros and

[03:01] the fresnos along with this darker color

[03:03] from the Kashmiri chili powder. For my

[03:05] spice level, if I had to go 1 through

[03:07] 10, I would put this at like a a 7 or an

[03:09] 8. It's like pushing it a little for me,

[03:11] but the taste is really good. If you

[03:12] want to make it less spicy, just use

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[04:25] and now back to the recipe. Now, to take

[04:27] these tenders to the next level, we're

[04:28] going to do another quick little

[04:30] marination process, starting with soy

[04:32] sauce and secret ingredient chicken

[04:34] bouillon. This really sets it off. Some

[04:36] hot sauce of choice. I love this Zabs,

[04:39] actually. It's really good. And I'm

[04:40] simply just going to mix this up and add

[04:42] a little bit of oil, just neutral oil,

[04:44] and then we'll drop all of our tenders

[04:46] in here and give them a little mixy mix.

[04:48] And because everything we have in here

[04:49] is so potent, like I wouldn't go longer

[04:51] than like 30 minutes with this. This is

[04:53] just like a quick final marinade before

[04:55] the dredging process. For the fried

[04:57] chicken flour dredge, like I said, we're

[04:58] keeping it really simple, so we're

[05:00] starting with two cups of all-purpose

[05:02] flour, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, which will

[05:04] help it get crunchy and stay crunchy, 2

[05:06] Tbsp smoked paprika, 2 Tbsp onion

[05:10] powder, 4 tsp garlic powder, and a whole

[05:12] bunch of black pepper. I can't tell

[05:14] exactly how much is going in, but I

[05:15] think I'm going to do about 3 tsp.

[05:18] That's it. Just give it a really

[05:19] thorough mix. And that's your flour

[05:21] dredge done. Now, seeing as how hot

[05:23] honey is not my favorite thing in the

[05:25] world, I never really got the hype, I'm

[05:27] going to be making some buttermilk ranch

[05:29] for these tenders, as well, because you

[05:30] just kind of need to have it, and it is

[05:32] the best thing you could ever have with

[05:33] tenders. Sorry, it's true. Just facts.

[05:35] Little pro tip here, too, always buy

[05:37] this one that you mix with buttermilk

[05:38] and mayo. It is the best one. And so,

[05:40] you're just going to start by adding 1

[05:41] cup of buttermilk, followed by 1 cup of

[05:44] mayonnaise, and 1 whole packet of this

[05:46] stuff right here. And I like adding some

[05:48] fresh cut chives to this. Chive flavor

[05:50] in here is great and just a little

[05:52] squeeze of lemon as well. Nothing too

[05:53] fancy. If for some reason you don't want

[05:55] to use the packets or you live abroad

[05:56] and you simply can't find them, I have a

[05:58] recipe for homemade ranch dressing that

[06:01] uses your own spices. That's actually

[06:02] pretty darn close to this. So I'll put

[06:04] that down in the description under the

[06:06] video if you want to try making that

[06:08] instead. But basically you just give it

[06:10] all a good whisk and you'll see as you

[06:11] whisk it up, it doesn't look that thick,

[06:13] but as this sits in the fridge [music]

[06:15] thickens up a lot, so keep that in mind.

[06:16] So after just 20 minutes in that strong

[06:18] marinade, I think it's enough. We'll go

[06:20] straight into the flour. Toss, toss,

[06:22] toss. And now I believe this next move

[06:24] is like an old school famous KFC thing.

[06:27] Someone can verify in the comments, but

[06:28] I'm pretty sure KFC used to use this

[06:30] method to fry their chicken. I don't

[06:32] know if they still do. We're going to

[06:33] dip it in water. I'm not going to go too

[06:35] long here either, maybe 10 seconds.

[06:36] [music]

[06:37] Cuz I don't want it to wash off. We just

[06:38] want it to kind of saturate. Out we go,

[06:40] back into the flour. And then we're

[06:42] going to just toss, toss, toss. And what

[06:43] we're trying to do here is build up all

[06:45] these little grooves along the outside

[06:47] of the chicken, [music] which it's

[06:48] happening. What also works really well

[06:50] is a shake like this to sort of open it

[06:52] up. And if you can, go straight from the

[06:55] from the flour dredge into the oil and

[06:57] let it swim a little bit like this.

[06:58] Because if you leave it on a sheet pan

[07:00] or something prior to frying it, you're

[07:01] going to get one side flattened out. All

[07:03] those little grooves you made doing the

[07:05] flour work, you want to keep them. So

[07:06] going straight into the oil just makes

[07:08] sense. If you need to put them on

[07:09] something before going into the oil like

[07:11] let's say you're doing a lot, you can

[07:12] use a sheet pan lined with a wire rack.

[07:14] And that And that works pretty good. So

[07:15] there we are after just 4 minutes and

[07:17] you can see all those little grooves

[07:19] that have been piling up. And once all

[07:21] my chicken was fried up, it was time to

[07:22] serve it up with the ranch and the hot

[07:24] honey and see which one we prefer. All

[07:26] right, Marcus, are you a hot honey guy?

[07:28] Cuz like I'm not really. I've tried it

[07:30] on pizza and things and it's okay, but

[07:32] I'm not like I don't know. I just I got

[07:35] both.

[07:37] >> [music]

[07:47] [music]

[07:52] >> Well, hot honey ranch boy.

[07:55] >> I mean, I get it. I just got to go home

[07:57] and get ranch.

[07:59] >> Tenders and ranch man will never not be

[08:01] good.

[08:01] >> Okay, both?

[08:02] >> Double. I like both.

[08:03] >> Let's try both.

[08:04] >> It's the only way I ever have it, too.

[08:05] Chicken sandwich, hot honey and ranch.

[08:08] Honey's the sweetest thing ever, so you

[08:10] need something.

[08:11] >> I don't know if I've ever gone hot honey

[08:12] and ranch like that. I actually really

[08:14] enjoyed that bite. I think I enjoyed it

[08:16] more than pure ranch. Something about

[08:18] that mix.

[08:19] >> I do it on pizza, too.

[08:20] >> Yeah, cuz the ranch brings back some

[08:22] like acidity. You know what I mean? It

[08:24] cuts through all the sweetness of the

[08:25] hot honey.

[08:26] And by the way, this hot honey with the

[08:28] fresh chilies and the Kashmiri chili

[08:29] powder, it's delicious. It really is.

[08:31] It's growing on me a lot as it cools

[08:33] down. I feel like it's like picking up

[08:35] flavor.

[08:35] >> Make it. Make it.

[08:37] >> Thanks for watching [music] my friends

[08:38] and just to make you aware, I have

[08:39] launched the Sue Chefs a few days ago,

[08:41] which is our private cooking community.

[08:43] I thought this was going to be like a

[08:45] slow growth thing, but we already have

[08:47] hundreds of people inside of our Discord

[08:49] and it is honestly the coolest thing

[08:51] ever to see food lovers from around the

[08:53] world just gathering in one place,

[08:54] sharing recipes, sharing techniques,

[08:56] posting what they're cooking for dinner.

[08:58] It's such a joy, man. And if a deeper

[09:00] cooking community really is of interest

[09:02] to you, definitely watch this video

[09:03] right here where I went through my whole

[09:05] entire cooking history and how that led

[09:07] me into social media and then how the

[09:09] social media led me to the Sue Chefs. I

[09:11] hope to see you in the Discord, but if

[09:13] not, all good. Until next time.

[09:15] >> You know I love you and I'm out.