Today wraps up my monthly series revolving around Kwame Onwuachi’s “Notes from a Young Black Chef”. I started out with his Shrimp Étoufée, and inspired by what I read throughout the book, came up with two of my own entries: Seared Scallops on a Carrot Velouté and Invisible Pie. I figured I’d round out the series with another one of his recipes from the book, but which one?
I figured I’d go with his mulligan attempt at chicken and waffles, as he describes it: “what I wish I made on Top Chef.” If you hadn’t followed Kwame on Top Chef, I’ll clue you in. In one of the episodes, the contestants had to come up with a fast casual concept (a la Chipotle or Roti). His idea was a chicken and waffles joint. However, he made the fatal mistake of buying mini-waffles to complete his challenge. To take shortcuts in Top Chef, especially using a pre-made, frozen product is essentially a death sentence. However, if you also watch any reality tv, you should know by now you don’t see the whole story. Kwame let us in on 2 salient facts in the book: 1) he didn’t have a waffle recipe saved in his memory (I have no doubt he would’ve been able to overcome this obstacle with some trial and error) and 2) most importantly, there was no waffle iron on set. One was procured, but half-way through the episode’s filming, so there was no time to go shopping for the fresh waffle ingredients. As you can probably guess where this is going, he was crucified for using frozen waffles in the challenge, especially that far into the challenge, and was told to “pack his knives and go”. There’s also a little more in the book about what he told Tom Colicchio when he was eliminated, but, I’ll let you discover that in the book.
To be honest, I have never had really good chicken and waffles. I’ve heard people talk fondly of the dish, but it always fell flat and was just some lame fried chicken on a waffle and simply covered in syrup. I’ve tried multiple times and there was just no flavor. Absolutely no soul in an iconic, supposed soul food offering. But, this dish right here was a damn near out-of-body experience. You can taste the buttermilk in the chicken. The breading gets coated in a flavorful butter, seasoned with non-American spices, after its bath in the deep fryer. The waffles are light...and this chili honey? Hoo, boy. This has to be, by far, the best chicken and waffles in the world. I dare you to find me anything else that could possibly compare. So go get yourself a waffle iron and never have a sad frozen waffle again and prepare to be shaken to the core when you eat this sensational meal.
Hot Chicken and Waffles Adapted from Notes from a Young Black Chef: a Memoir, Kwame Onwuachi
The original recipe is for 4 servings, but the batter makes about 10 waffles - good for a practice run and also a good reason to throw in more chicken. If you don’t want to wait overnight for your chicken to marinade, poke a bunch of holes in the thighs with a fork and let them sit in the marinade for about 6 hours. You don’t have a waffle iron? Try hitting up your local thrift store. That’s where I found my Cuisinart model!
Fried Chicken
4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, poked all over with a fork
2-3 cups buttermilk
Vegetable oil for frying
~2 cups cornstarch
Kosher salt
Waffles
1.5 cups pastry flour
2.5 tbsp malted milk powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1.24 cups milk (warmed to about 115 degrees)
5.5 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg + 1 egg white
Chili Honey
1 cup honey
1 tbsp red chili flake
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Chicken Dipping Butter
1.5-2 cups of Niter Kibbeh Oil (or Ghee)
4 tbsp berbere
4 tbsp paprika
Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl and submerge the chicken. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
Prepare the waffles by sifting the flour, malted milk powder, sugar, and baking soda into a medium sized bowl. Add in the salt and yeast and stir to combine. Then combine the melted butter, warm milk and whole egg and briefly whisk to combine and stir into the dry ingredients. Whisk until fully incorporated. Let the waffle mix sit for at least 10 minutes, and up to 2 hrs.
Preheat your deep fryer (or a large pot full of the oil) to 350 degrees and preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Prepare the chicken dipping butter by melting the Ghee over medium-low heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Pour the melted ghee into a bowl. Stir in the berbere and paprika and set aside. Wipe out the saucepan and prepare the chili honey.
In the cleaned, empty saucepan, combine the honey, chili flakes and kosher salt and simmer, over low heat, for about 20 minutes. Whisk to combine just prior to serving.
When ready to make the waffles, whip the egg white into stiff peaks and fold into the batter.
Prepare the waffles in the iron and place them on a wire rack in a baking sheet and hold them in the oven. Cooked waffles will hold for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the cornstarch on a plate or wide, flat bowl. Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the buttermilk drip off, back into the bowl. Place the chicken into the cornstarch and flip to coat, shaking off any excess and carefully place the thighs into the hot cooking oil. The chicken fries up in about 8-10 minutes. Start checking the temp around 8 minutes - you want 165 degrees.
When the chicken is cooked, move it to a wire rack on a baking sheet and season with salt.
Then, dip the cooked chicken into the Chicken Dipping Butter, coating the thighs well and place back on the rack.
When everything is prepared, place a waffle on a plate, top with the chicken and pour on the delicious Chili Honey. If serving children, I recommend either plain honey or maple syrup as the Chili Honey is spicy.
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Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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