The Secret to Restaurant-Style Chicken at Home | Eric Kim | NYT Cooking

Get the FREE recipe for Eric Kim’s Crispy Chicken With Lime Butter: https://nyti.ms/4iZKa42

You don’t need a thermometer to know when these chicken thighs are done. You just need your ears. In this recipe, chicken thighs are slow seared using a technique from the chef Paul Bertolli called “bottom-up cooking” where the chicken cooks almost entirely on the skin side over moderate heat, resulting in shatteringly crisp skin. The gentle sputtering sound that signals the release of moisture from the chicken hitting the hot fat in the pan stops when the meat is fully cooked and the skin crisp and evenly browned. A quick pan sauce of chicken stock, lime juice and maple syrup, made glossy with a few pats of butter, completes this dish.

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“The taste and aroma
of home cooking.” What is the taste and aroma
of home cooking to you guys? “A fresh pot of rice.” “Rice. Just rice. Just the smell of rice.” “Also rice.” We’re all Asian
in this room. [MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, my name is Eric Kim. I’m a cooking columnist
for The New York Times. And today, we’re making crispy
chicken with lime butter. Today, I’m going to teach
you a technique I think produces the absolute
best chicken at home. We’re really, really
rendering that chicken fat that just really
guarantees crispy skin. It’s very easy. It’s very simple, but
it requires technique and finesse, and it
requires your attention. [MUSIC PLAYING] All this happens entirely on
the stove top and the skillet over like very moderate
heat, medium, medium low. We’re going to salt and pepper
this and let it sit for like 5 to 10 minutes. The salt’s going to draw out a
little bit of moisture before it goes in the pan. I like to pat it dry right
before it goes in the pan. See, it’s only been
like a few seconds, but you can already see
the water drawing out. I’m going to pat it dry now. It’s going to be in that
pan for a very long time on the skin side. So it’s going to have time
to really render out the fat and remove moisture. This step just really ensures
that you get a head start. It’s worth doing. The thing about
stainless steel skillets, in order to create
a non-stick surface, we are going to heat it
first, medium, medium low, not very high. When I add the oil
to the heated pan, you’ll see how immediately
it just floats on top because it’s nonstick. I like this because it
really creates a nice bond. You could use a cast
iron skillet if you want. Same thing. See how it is loose already? The oil is dancing on top. So I’d just like to lay it in. To get them to all
fit, have the bone side the thick bone side
facing outward and then the little flabby skin
part facing inward. You don’t have to be
that precious about it, but I’m precious so. See, it’s already
not sticking. To be honest, this heat
is too high for me. I’m going to lower
it because, again, I want this to go
for 20 minutes. I’m going to wash
my hands again. So this is where you can
just really nurse it. You hear that sound,
right, the sizzling sound? That’s going to really
quiet down once it’s done. If you find that the skin is
already like blackening before the chicken’s even been
in here for that long, then that’s when you
want to lower the heat. You can look at it. Like see, it’s already
pretty good, right? But we’re going to just keep
going for a really long time. This is like fried
chicken but no batter. I’m ready to flip. Don’t be fooled by
the quiet sound. That oil is still so hot. In fact, it’s
hotter than before. Gorgeous. “Wow.” Thanks. Love having an audience. And then this just cooks
for five more minutes, or until the internal
temperature is 180. Dark meat needs to go to 180
for it to really fall apart from the bone and be fully
cooked in a way that’s pleasurable to eat. So to build the pan sauce,
I do want to get the garlic started a little
bit in the fat, and it’s going to
season the fat. I like to crush the garlic. Just with the back of my
knife I’m like [VOCALIZING]:. So this has been going
for three minutes. I’m going to let it
go for the full five. And then I might make the
bigger guy kind of hang out a little longer. Doesn’t it look
like roast chicken? Because we did it
entirely in the pan it has this beautiful,
even browning. I’m really proud of that. I’m feeling pretty smug
about it, actually. I’m going to take
out the small pieces. Where the oil is, is where
the pan is the hottest. So I put the things that I
don’t want to cook as much on the top part. It’s almost like a grill where
you’re using the surface that you have to your advantage. And what you have here now,
it’s like mostly chicken fat. This chicken’s going to
taste chicken-y as heck. We’re ready to build
the pan sauce now. So the chicken’s
out of the pan. And now, we have the
beautiful garlic. However, I don’t
want all of this fat. I want about 3 tablespoons. So I’m going to take
out a good amount. And this is — I hate when people
say liquid gold. This is liquid copper. Just kidding. You really want to
save the chicken fat. It’s great to fry an egg into. It’s great as
butter for toast. I like buttering
toast with it. So yeah, that’s about 3
tablespoons, I would say. So into here 1/2 a
cup of chicken stock. Water works as well. We’re just trying to
pick up all the fun, the flavorful bits
at the bottom. 2 tablespoons of lime juice. 2 teaspoons of maple syrup. Use honey if you want. You can use a pinch
of sugar if you want. And we’re going to
bring this up to a boil. A little sugar also adds
body to the final sauce. You get a shininess, a
glossiness, a thickness because of the sugar. We’re going to reduce
this by about half. That’s so good. It’s so stupid
how good that is. A little salt, little
pepper, fresh pepper. You can actually turn
off the heat completely. I’m just going to lower
it and add the butter. You can keep it at a simmer. And I’m just going to
really agitate the pan. And once the butter is
melted, the sauce is done. [MUSIC PLAYING] Let’s eat. Let’s try one of these. Even the sauced portion
is still crispy. This is what I
like to show people. The skin can come
off in one piece. It’s because that underside
has been rendered so well. The pan sauce,
it’s so balanced. It tastes so much
of the chicken, but there’s a lot of
acid from the lime. There’s a little caramelly
flavor from the butter. You’re kind of really
bringing out the best of the ingredients. So go forth and make chicken. We have some of
that chicken fat. This is like when you’re
alone and no one’s watching.