- [Narrator] This was the glorious time. No more race to the
cafeteria. No more lines. To us lines were for
suckers, hacks, sheep. We were wolves and we had
the chicken to prove it. (applauding) - To victory. It feels unfamiliar, but
it tastes like chicken. (chuckles) - Hey, what's up guys. Welcome back to Binging with Babish where this week I'm using the
mention of chicken fingers on community as an excuse to make what remains my
Applebee's entree of choice, chicken fingers. For the sure accurate version, I've got some frozen ones here, which is undoubtedly what they'd serve at Greendale Community College and every cafeteria in the noted world. And just for funsies I'm gonna prepare these
three different ways, in the oven, in the microwave
and in the deep fryer, which surprisingly is the only method not described on the packaging. So we're gonna fried it at 350, for three to five minutes until crisp. And to illustrate the differences I'm busting out the microphone. Let's start with the microwave
finger. Any crunch there? Nope, not at all. What about the oven? (crunch) A little better now. Now how about the deep fryer? (crunch) Interesting. Now for the bite test. First, I have to lick my lips
to gross you out a little bit. Then let's start with the microwave stuff. Soft, soggy, wildly chewy. Can't recommend that. Onto the oven baked
version. A little better. And the deep fried version. All right. So, entirely unsurprisingly,
the deep fried version is best. As much as I know you'd love
to keep hearing mouth noises, I figured we should fry up our own. Let's start with the absolute baseline simplest of breadings. Four large eggs beaten together,
with a little bit of salt and two cups of all-purpose flour, with one teaspoon each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. For our fingers, we're
gonna use chicken tenders, which are that little annoying
bit, right below the breast. And for a restaurant style coating, we are double dipping them. First in the egg, then to the
flour, then back into the egg and one more time in the flour. You can of course do this one at a time but I actually found doing them in bulk gave the chicken an even
cracklier, more profound crust. Once you've shaken off all the excess, we are letting them hang
out for five minutes before frying in some 375
degrees Fahrenheit peanut oil for five to seven minutes. Letting chicken rest for five
to 10 minutes before frying, hydrates the flour and
helps form a barrier around your chicken. And draining on paper towels
gets rid of excess oil and keeps them crispier longer. Let's see how we do on the crunch test. (crunch) Not bad at all, but as you can imagine,
very boring flavor. Not to mention a little dry. Both things that we can remedy by brining. Into a food safe container,
goes one cup of buttermilk and a whole jars worth of pickle juice. Legend has it, this is what makes
Chick-fil-A taste so good. We're also adding a
teaspoon each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. A tiny pinch of cayenne for heat, a half teaspoon of paprika for color and a bay leaf for bay-leafiness. Tiny whisk until the (indistinct), add your one pound of chicken tenders, massage for even distribution, cover and refrigerate for
bare minimum eight hours. And if you're crazy like me, up to 48. In our breading we're
gonna use three egg whites, who's higher protein and lower fat content should give us a more robust crust. For the dry stuff, we're combining two cups
of all-purpose flour, with a quarter cup cornstarch
for extra crispiness and a half teaspoon paprika,
quarter teaspoon cayenne, half teaspoon garlic powder,
quarter teaspoon onion powder and one teaspoon each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. And to make these really crisp
as a hundred dollar bill, we're gonna add one cup of
finely crushed corn flakes. Tiny whisk until completely homogenous and then to create extra crunchy crackles, we're gonna add about two
tablespoons of our marinade to the dry stuff and tiny whisk together
to make little lumps that will fry up into
crispity, crunchity goodness. Now I am so confident in our breading that I'm only gonna dip these guys once. That's right. It's not because I forgot to do it and it's too late to re-shoot because the chicken takes
two days to marinate and it is currently Monday. No, sir. This is confidence,
not incompetence. Anyway, in addition to letting our chicken hangout for five minutes, I'm also gonna sort of bury
it in the leftover dry stuff. And then you can trust that
your crust will be robust. Even if you're a dumb, dumb
boy, who forgot to double dip. Over on the stove top,
we've got some peanut oil heated to 375 Fahrenheit. Usual drill here, fry
for five to seven minutes until the chicken is deeply golden brown and the meat is cooked through. Once again, we are
draining on paper towels to absorb excess oil and check it out. Even without double-dipping,
this crust is superb. Let's listen in. (crunch) Now, the crust was very good but what was really
amazing was the chicken. It spent so much time in the marinade it was almost falling apart. But after frying, it was
ultra tender ,ultra juicy and tasted pleasantly of pickles. Is this what they were serving at the cafeterias at Greendale? Most assuredly not. But fellow human beings,
they are delicious. They're Chang-tacular. Eat fresh. (upbeat music)
"And that was it. It was that simple. At that moment, we stopped being a family, and started being a family, in italics."
Probably one of the best lines in the show (and that's not an easy feat considering it's Community we're talking about here).
From as far back as I can remember, I've wanted to be in a mafia movie.
Also, I haven't had chicken fingers in at least a year and I want some so bad.
Can we eat them while sitting on top of a table like in Sixteen Candles?
Can someone count how many times did Andrew make fried chicken?
(i'm not complaining)
"Crunchy crust... nice pickle flavor... definitely a buy!" - Leonard's!! Food!!!! Review!!!!!
Those look Streets ahead
Oh man I knew this one was coming eventually! I can't wait to make these!
r/community
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