Chris Makes Spicy Chicken Katsu Sandwiches

[blender whirring] Holding for blender.

[man speaks indistinctly]

Sorry.

She knows how much I love a sweet pastry

in the afternoon, and she's just withholding them.

And it's like they're just sitting there getting staler

and staler.

Anyway.

[upbeat bluesy rock music]

This could be called any number of things.

This could be called hot chicken

[speaks in foreign language], this could be--

[pans crashing]

[people laughing]

ACME anvils are

falling from the sky. [laughs] Who's got the piano?

This could be called...

What else did we say?

I think we can definitely call it awesome.

Basically, just taking the idea

of a [speaks in foreign language],

and specifically, in this case, chicken,

and just bringing a whole other level of heat

and spice to it.

Panko, it's like a sponge, and you can't just dunk it

into a vinegar mixture and have it still stay crispy,

so we worked spice in in some other ways,

specifically in the flour dredge.

We've got an absurd amount of cayenne,

which, honestly, even though there's a ridiculous amount,

there's three tablespoons for a 1/2 cup of flour,

even though that sounds terrifying,

honestly, you only get so much

when you actually dredge the chicken in it.

It's cool, it's gonna be fine.

We put a little bit of vinegar-based hot sauce

in the egg wash, so, again, you get a different dimension

of heat coming from that.

You have a lot of that vinegar brightness mixing

in with the egg, and then finally,

we put a little bit of extra hot sauce

in with our little remoulade here,

which is nothing more than bread and butter pickles,

mayonnaise, and then that hot sauce and salt.

So yeah, good to go.

I'm just gonna chop up these pickles.

Definitely wanna drain them well

'cause I don't want this to get too loose

'cause we already are adding our liquid hot sauce there.

Just gonna finely dice them just

so they're just gonna disappear in there.

Bread and butter pickles, I don't know,

I'm a bread and butter pickle guy,

and I don't love sweetness in places

where I'm not necessarily expecting it.

But there's something about that snappy texture

and that little bit of sweetness

to balance out the saltiness; it just gets me every time.

I'm using Crystal Hot Sauce 'cause it's friggin' delicious,

has incredible color, and I find it's just a great balance.

It's just got that heat.

It's not too sharp, not too much vinegar.

Pinch of salt there.

This'll do it for our little finishing condiment.

All right, so now we just have to prep our chicken cutlets.

You can use chicken breast,

and I tested with chicken breast a number of times.

The sleeper cut for a [speaks in foreign language],

I feel like, is chicken thigh.

Boneless skinless chicken thigh

makes an absolutely epic [speaks in foreign language] just

because it has a lot of richness

and beautiful fattiness to it,

but you still are able to render out some

of just a little bit of that residual surface fat on it.

I'm still gonna pound these out just super lightly.

It's not gonna be the end of the world if you don't.

I think may we say a half an inch?

Half an inch. [pounding mallet]

Even if you go thinner, even if you went to a quarter

of an inch, they're gonna tighten up as they cook,

so they're just gonna [makes slurp noise] right back.

[pounding with mallet]

So basically, it is absolutely pointless, don't do it.

Honestly, I make chicken [speaks in foreign language]

for my kids pretty much every week,

and I just keep the cutlets in the fridge,

and then we warm them so they can have them for dinner two

or whatever times in the week.

Funny thing was, when I was developing this,

everybody just wanted it spicier and spicier.

I didn't start out with hot sauce and that little

[speaks in foreign language] condiment there.

Everybody was just like oh, I want it to be hot,

like rip your face off hot chicken.

This is our flour dredge

and this is the amount of cayenne pepper

that I'm putting in it.

It seems insane, it just seems wrong, but just trust me.

It's a half a cup of flour and maybe two

to three tablespoons is gonna end up coating the chicken.

You really need the chicken

to move around freely in the dredge.

So cayenne pepper, essential.

Garlic powder.

Honestly, this stuff adds so much umami

and so much flavor, and it's so stealthy

because it doesn't actually taste like raw garlic.

It just is able to add just a ton

of depth to things, and then salt.

Just gonna mix this together.

Okay, then the egg wash.

All right, so I've got a 1/4 cup

of hot sauce going in there, I've got my egg.

All right, so hot sauce in egg.

So this is like heat source number two, right?

So we had the cayenne there,

and then we've got the hot sauce going into our egg wash.

I didn't put any heat in the Panko 'cause enough is enough.

All right, so we're gonna season up this chicken.

This is what I mean.

You need a certain amount of flour just

to be able to move around there and coat it liberally.

I know it's a lot of cayenne.

Then we're going into our egg wash here,

just flipping it a couple times just

to make sure fully coated.

That looks pretty fun.

Just gonna flip these a couple times just

to make sure that they're super nicely coated.

Man, that's a good shot with that right on the Panko,

and it's so dark red, ah.

I'm also making a massive mess here.

It's fine.

Cool, I'm feeling so good about this.

If this doesn't earn us a cinnamon bun,

I don't know what will.

All right, just gotta wait for this to get a little bit hot.

You don't need a ripping hot skillet.

It's not like you're searing a steak.

The bread crumb, it wants to get crispy,

it wants to get golden, so medium,

medium-high max heat here.

I'm using olive oil for this just

because it's the oil that I cook with at home.

So much oil is gonna get absorbed by that Panko,

not to the point that it's greasy,

but, at the end of the day, you're gonna taste that oil.

So why not have it have some flavor?

I don't want it quite smoking, but it just needs to go in.

I just wanna hear a [makes hissing sound].

I think I might do these two by two.

I just don't wanna crowd the skillet here.

[light sizzling sound]

Did anybody hear that?

Did you hear that?

It's not like a [makes loud hissing noise],

but there was sound, there was action.

So I'm gonna cook these two at a time.

I just don't wanna overcrowd the pan.

And we're not in a rush

'cause they've probably eaten all the cinnamon buns anyway,

so we can just take our time here, enjoy the process.

All right, so this guy looks ready to flip.

And that's what I mean.

So with an ordinary [speaks in foreign language],

that would be like ooh, maybe got a little too dark,

but, honestly, it's the spice toasting in there.

It's not really the Panko getting too brown, don't worry.

It has a good amount more of connective tissue

and fat and richness than a chicken breast.

Oh, hey. Sorry.

You here to slam shit around?

Everything in there is plastic, so it's probably not--

[slams cupboard door]

Ha!

Good one, that was ice cold.

You don't have to change out your oil.

If you have a few bits of for the second round,

if you need to divide it into two batches,

you may get a few dark spots just

where some of the Panko that's been left

in there has been hanging out.

It's not the end of the world.

So we're doing the exact same thing

with these last two cutlets,

and then we're gonna start making our sandwiches.

Cool, so This chicken's so spicy.

chicken, so spicy, so crispy.

Oh, and one thing I definitely wanted to point out.

The resting rack, the cooling rack on the sheet tray

is essential because it really helps preserve the texture

of that crispy Panko and makes all the difference.

So don't skimp.

This is dark for an ordinary [speaks in foreign language]

and not too dark for this [speaks in foreign language].

I'm using iceberg for maximum crunch.

I'm gonna take any of the outer leaves

that aren't just quite crunchy enough,

that just haven't made the cut; those are gone.

Honestly, iceberg, it's not my favorite lettuce,

but damn, that crunch, there's just nothing like it.

It's also super easy to shred,

and it just adds that little bit of textural something.

This sandwich is about the chicken.

And if you can find it,

like finding a great white Pullman loaf,

or, in this case, we went to this awesome local bakery,

Takahachi, that makes milk bread that is just to die for.

Just pillowy soft with a great edge of crust around it.

This stuff is absolutely dynamite.

[sniffs bread]

And smells incredible.

Do you wanna get in here?

[Man] Ah, that's good.

Chicken, shredded lettuce, sauce, is that really it?

It's it, that's it, right?

Beautiful.

So I'm gonna spread on a generous

but not too generous amount both sides of the bread.

And I'm gonna get a couple of these guys here.

You can smell the crispiness.

Nice little pile of shrettuce,

trademark term by Carla Lalli Music.

That's fine. Well, this one's the obvious winner,

so at least you don't have to sit there

and agonize like which one is it?

Oh, I don't know, uh...

Obviously, that's it.

Gaby.

[gasps] Okay.

[Chris] We're doing this together, okay?

All right-- That one's you.

The first time I burn.

Whoa.

Oh, is it that super special bread?

[Chris] Yeah, it's the Takahachi bread.

Mmm.

It takes a minute for the heat.

On the side of your tongue, and then boom.

Boom, there it is, right?

I love it. Ryan.

Hello. Come on in.

[speaks indistinctly] I love it.

Do you like it hot?

I do like it hot.

All right, it's hot, but...

Mmm.

Can I take one? Hey.

Hi. Yeah, get in.

Yum? Mm-hmm.

Oh man, that's really good.

The heat I don't think is punishing, but it's there.

I like heat. It opens up your mouth.

[laughs] Yeah.

[Chris] Wakes it up a little bit.

Is that the sauce?

That's what I'm talking about.

Can I put some more? Oh, hell yeah.

That's really nice. And the bread is like

The bread is the best. just exceptional.

Unbelievable, right? I love this bread.

I feel like King's Hawaiian rolls

would be a good bread also. Oh, totally.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, those are great, too.

Again, sweetness-- Oh my God.

Mm-hmm.

My nose is getting it now.

I could even take more lettuce in there,

Yeah.

Mine was a little bit underlettuced.

For freshness.

[Chris] Thank you, guys, so much for coming.

Thank you, Chris. All right, cool.

Cayenne is the only form of heat?

No, and-- Cayenne plus Crystal

is in the wash, and Crystal is also in the dressing.

I have to say, I feel like it could be even hotter.

I'm taking my third bite.

It's hot, it could even be even hotter.

So yeah, whatever you wanna call it,

it makes a really bangin' sandwich.

You don't need special milk bread or anything else.

Just get something soft and pillowy.

A King's Hawaiian roll, like Aliza said,

would be absolutely epic, and yeah.

What else is there to say?

These are really good.

This is the brioche? You gotta go with this one.

This is the one I saved for you.

Huh?

Just--

David tried to give me the wrong one.

That's messed up.

I did not think I was gonna be into this.

Oh yeah? Yeah.

And I'm not. It's fine if you're not.

No, I am. [Chris laughs]

It's okay. I really am, actually.

We value honesty on the show.

After eating five of those buns,

I was like I don't wanna eat so much milk bread.

But I would fully eat this whole thing.

Mm-hmm.

Mmm. So I'm gonna have

to get another one for Carnegie Hall.

Is that amazing?

This is good.