- 2 days ago
Americas Test Kitchen - Season 26 - Episode 07: Two Takes on Chicken and Rice
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00:29I'll see you next time.
00:36Today on America's Test Kitchen, Erica makes Bridget chicken yassa, Jack challenges Bridget and Julia to a head-to-head
00:45tasting of chicken broth, and Becky makes Julia Peruvian arroz con pollo. It's all coming up right here on America's
00:53Test Kitchen.
01:03Today, we're making chicken yassa, a beautiful chicken and rice dish that comes from Senegal. Now, yassa means literally cooked
01:12in onions, and I love anything cooked in onions, so I can't wait.
01:16And Erica's here. She's going to show us how to make this.
01:19It's such a flavorful chicken dish that's super delicious and also super simple and straightforward and hard to mess up,
01:26quite frankly.
01:27Oh, right up my alley.
01:28It starts with our marinade. I have a third of a cup of lemon juice, one and a half tablespoons
01:34of oil, two tablespoons of Dijon mustard.
01:39Okay. A lot of tangy flavors here.
01:41Mm-hmm. So bright. And a teaspoon of table salt. And I'll just whisk that together.
01:48Okay.
01:50Okay. So four ingredients for our marinade, and to that, I have two pounds of bone-in skin-on chicken
01:55thighs that have trimmed to remove the excess fat.
01:58So I have my chicken. It's nicely coated in the marinade, so we are ready to cover it, and I'm
02:05going to refrigerate it for 30 to 60 minutes.
02:07Okay.
02:08It's been an hour, so let's start cooking our chicken.
02:11Great.
02:11I have two tablespoons of oil that's been heating over medium heat in the Dutch oven, and now that it's
02:16shimmering, I'm just going to add the chicken thighs in, and the chicken is going to cook for six to
02:21eight minutes until it's nicely browned.
02:24It's been eight minutes, so let's flip the chicken on the other side.
02:34And now I'll let the chicken cook for another six to eight minutes on the other side.
02:38Okay, great.
02:39While the chicken cooks, let's talk about the onions, because yasa means cooked in onions.
02:43We want to make sure that we have equal part chicken to onions.
02:47So we have two pounds of chicken, two pounds of onions.
02:50That's a lot of onions.
02:52It's been eight minutes, and our chicken looks beautiful.
02:56The fat is rendered, and that's what the onions are going to cook in.
02:59So I'm going to take the chicken out, and I'll add in the onions.
03:03Two pounds of our thinly sliced onions, and half a teaspoon of salt.
03:08I'm just going to stir it together, and as I do, I'm just going to scrape up all those brown
03:12bits.
03:13They're packed full of flavor, and we want to get all of that flavor in the onions.
03:18All right.
03:19I'm going to reduce the heat to medium-low, and I'll let the onions cook for about 25 to 30
03:24minutes until they fully caramelize.
03:26And every now and then, I'll just come back and give them a quick stir.
03:29So our onions are almost done, so I'm going to let them finish cooking.
03:34And in fact, Bridget, do you mind just checking in on the onions for me?
03:37I'll keep spoon duty.
03:38All right.
03:39I appreciate that.
03:40And meanwhile, I'm just going to finish and do a little bit more prep.
03:43So I have eight garlic cloves, so I'm just going to smash these.
03:48I also have one whole habanero.
03:51Ooh.
03:51To make sure that it just falls slowly in the braise, what I like to do is just pierce it
03:55a few times with a paring knife, and then that's it.
03:59So now, time to add the braising liquid.
04:01Okay, great.
04:02I have one and a third cup of chicken broth, eight peeled and smashed garlic cloves.
04:07There they go.
04:09One habanero.
04:12And a quarter teaspoon of black pepper, and our reserved marinade.
04:16Oh, yeah.
04:17I almost forgot about that.
04:18Yep.
04:20Now, I'm just going to stir it all together, bring it up to a simmer, and then add the chicken
04:25back in.
04:26Okay.
04:28Now, I'm adding back the accumulated chicken juices, and I'll just gently stir it, and then I'll cover it, and
04:37let the chicken cook until it's fall off the bone tender.
04:41Okay.
04:42And so flavorful.
04:43It's going to take about 45 to 55 minutes.
04:46This smells heavenly.
04:47Doesn't it?
04:49It's been 55 minutes, so let's check on our yasso.
04:52Okay.
04:53That looks so good.
04:55Oh, my gosh.
04:56Oh, my goodness.
04:58So what I'm going to do is we want to fall off the bone fork tender chicken.
05:03Right.
05:03So I'm going to go in and test one of my chicken thighs.
05:07Oh, my goodness.
05:09Oh, my goodness.
05:12Oh, my goodness.
05:35Yes.
05:35Yes.
05:35It's nice and tender.
05:38I'm going to go in and test one.
05:38And I'm going to season it with some salt and pepper.
05:40Okay.
05:40Okay.
05:41So I'm just going to take the onions in the sauce and spoon them right over our chicken and rice.
05:45Fabulous.
05:47Fabulous.
05:47The whole test kitchen here is just filled with the aromas of caramelized onions and garlic.
05:53Gorgeous.
05:54Now I'm just going to finish it off with about one and a half teaspoons of chopped parsley.
05:58Okay.
05:59Sprinkle that right over.
06:01And I'm going to also garnish it with some fresh lemons.
06:04Now we're ready to serve.
06:06All right.
06:08Mm-hmm.
06:09Mm-hmm.
06:10Let's get some of those caramelized onions.
06:13And, of course, a lemon wedge.
06:15Yes.
06:16I like to take a lemon and squeeze it over.
06:19We have that concentrated lemon flavor from the slow braise, but this just wakens everything up a bit.
06:26All right.
06:27Cut into some of that beautiful chicken here.
06:29Mm-hmm.
06:30A lot of onions.
06:31It is yassa after all.
06:33Yes.
06:34Mm-hmm.
06:35Mm-hmm.
06:35What do you think?
06:36I expected one thing, but this is like deep, deep flavored with lemon.
06:42Mm-hmm.
06:44This dish just feels like coming home to me.
06:46It's so packed full of the concentrated lemony depth, tender chicken, rice.
06:52It really doesn't get much better than this for me.
06:55Mm-hmm.
06:56I think I'm noticing a little bit of heat from that habanero.
07:00Yes.
07:00Not too much at all.
07:01And you also get some of that fruity complexity, too, from the habanero.
07:05Yes.
07:05So it's not just knock your socks off heat.
07:07It's also that complexity that really balances the lemon flavor quite nicely.
07:11Oh, my gosh.
07:12Those onions are something really special.
07:15Right?
07:16Just fall apart.
07:18Mm.
07:19Mm-hmm.
07:20It's a centerpiece.
07:21It's a masterpiece.
07:23It's everything you want out of chicken and rice.
07:25Thank you so, so much for bringing this to us.
07:27Happy to be here.
07:29You definitely want to make this one.
07:31It is fantastic.
07:32And it all starts by marinating chicken thighs with tangy lemon juice and mustard.
07:37Brown the chicken and then caramelize two pounds of sliced onions in the rendered fat.
07:42Finally, add the reserved marinade back to the onions and braise the chicken until fall apart tender.
07:48So from America's Test Kitchen, the incredible, the incomparable chicken yassa.
08:02So I have a confession to make.
08:05Uh-oh.
08:05Uh-oh.
08:06That's never good.
08:07Uh-oh.
08:08When it comes to chicken broth, I buy by format.
08:12So you can prioritize format, ingredient list, or flavor.
08:18And so by format, I mean I buy the paste because I want to buy a little teeny jar that
08:23will make 38 cups of broth.
08:26It also can make a quarter cup or a half cup of broth and you're not left with an empty
08:30container that you've got.
08:32What am I going to do with three and a half cups of more broth?
08:34True.
08:35But this is America's Test Kitchen.
08:37We care about flavor.
08:38Sure.
08:38So you are going to be tasting and telling me of these samples which is the best tasting.
08:45I should give you a warning.
08:46Of the samples that we tasted, many of them were not recommended.
08:50Oh.
08:51Landmines.
08:53Landmines ahead.
08:54So we did risotto.
08:55We made gravy, but I thought this was the easiest way to taste them.
08:58So the format, there are three choices.
09:00You can get a box.
09:01It's four cups.
09:03It is going to be a little bit more expensive.
09:05It's heavier if you're carrying your groceries.
09:07And most importantly, once you open the container, you really need to finish it in the next couple of days.
09:11You can get a concentrated paste.
09:14It's, you know, as it says, it's got a little bit of liquid in it.
09:18Or you can get a powdered, you know, bouillon cube basically, but in powdered form that you can scrape out
09:24what you want.
09:25The other thing is, do you want something that's got chicken, carrots, onions, and celery, and that's kind of it
09:30for the ingredient list, along with some salt?
09:33Or what about hydrolyzed soy protein?
09:35That sounds delicious.
09:37Mmm.
09:38When it came to the ingredient list, we felt like the ingredient list was actually the least useful thing here.
09:44Some of the brands that read like homemade kind of tasted like homemade, and some of the brands that read
09:49like homemade tasted sour.
09:52They had weird flavors.
09:54A lot of the vegetables overtook the chicken, and you're like, okay, this is like some weird vegetable broth, and
09:59it's not good.
10:00Right.
10:01And that some of the more less natural, however we put it that way, brands were actually closer to chicken
10:08flavor.
10:10Well, immediate impressions, this one is super salty.
10:14In fact, so much so it almost killed my palate to taste anything else.
10:18I don't think I like it.
10:21There's a really odd celery flavor in there.
10:23I mean, celery belongs in stock, but we've gone overboard.
10:26This took me back to 1973 at my grandma's house, and I'm sick.
10:30That's what it tastes like.
10:32I think I know exactly what this is.
10:34Also used a lot in industrial kitchens.
10:36Okay.
10:37That's what I'm thinking.
10:38This one, the color, not too appealing.
10:43Very bland, and there's a...
10:46What is that?
10:50It's something in there that makes me very sad.
10:53That's sorrow.
10:55You're tasting sorrow.
10:57This one, it's not seasoned enough for me, but it's this, and if I could put like a spoonful of
11:01that in there, I'd be really happy.
11:03Okay.
11:03So I'm actually not happy too much with any of them.
11:06Okay.
11:07Yeah.
11:07Well, I'm glad I've made you miserable then.
11:08Yeah.
11:09Yeah.
11:10I'll perk up in a minute.
11:12Are you miserable and sad, Julia?
11:14No, no, but it was really interesting.
11:16I mean, this D, which you said tastes like sorrow, it looks bruised.
11:20It tastes awful.
11:21It's watery, metallic.
11:23Didn't like it at all.
11:24This, like Bridget, very nostalgic.
11:26I think I can picture this in a little cube.
11:29Yes.
11:29And it has been in the cupboard since the 70s.
11:31Yes.
11:32This, I mean, it looks milky.
11:34It tastes really strong.
11:36Yeah.
11:36I feel like it could be diluted down a bit more.
11:38That's it.
11:38And it would be great.
11:39That's it.
11:40But it's just too strong.
11:40I loved this the first time I tasted it.
11:43But then when I went down and back, the second time I thought it was bland.
11:46But the first time, it tasted clean.
11:48It had a clean chicken flavor.
11:50Just really mild.
11:51So you're picking as your favorites?
11:54I liked A.
11:55Okay.
11:55The first time.
11:56And I think it would be a good base level if you're making this.
11:59Okay.
12:00I did like this if it was watered down.
12:01The color is unnerving.
12:03If you could see the color, like if you were making a risotto, the risotto would be this color.
12:06You'd think it was saffron risotto.
12:08So I think that might turn me off for some recipes.
12:11All right.
12:11And where are you landing?
12:14I'm really reluctant to pick anything.
12:16I think, you know, if I was making a soup, I would go with something like this.
12:21Although, as I mentioned and Julia said too, once I got past here, I had a hard time tasting it
12:25again.
12:26Yeah.
12:27But if this is reconstituted and it was reconstituted at a much weaker level, I think it would be fine
12:32in a soup.
12:34So why don't we sort of go down the line?
12:36All right.
12:37So A is our winner.
12:39This is Swanson.
12:41Okay.
12:41It has a very simple ingredient list.
12:44It's chicken, salt, onions, carrots, celery, and cabbage.
12:49You know, we like it.
12:50It is the closest to homemade, I think, of anything that we tasted and certainly anything here on the table.
12:56B, so this is what I'm using at home.
12:58Yeah.
12:58This is the paste, the Better Than Bouillon.
13:00It's awfully salty and you will want to dilute it a little bit, especially if you're going to be cooking
13:06it down.
13:06It's got all kinds of ingredients that are difficult to pronounce, but it kind of gets you there on a
13:13flavor basis.
13:14You both recognize the Knorr.
13:16Yeah.
13:16So, you know, this is basically the bouillon cube that's in a powdered form.
13:20Yes.
13:20So that you can scoop out whether you want a half teaspoon, a teaspoon, and then reconstitute it.
13:25It's got the little bits of dried herbs in it.
13:27And it wasn't bad.
13:28It ended up recommended with reservations.
13:31It's got a sort of nostalgic taste.
13:33It's hospital broth.
13:35And then D is the kettle and fire.
13:38And I put it here.
13:39So this is organic.
13:40And if you read the ingredient list, everything is natural sounding, but a couple of things stood out.
13:48One, it's got a long list of vegetables.
13:49So there's mushrooms in here.
13:52There's tamarind in here.
13:54There's tomato.
13:56And so there's, like, things that, like, is that beyond the carrots and the celery and the onions?
14:01Tamarind.
14:01Yeah.
14:01And it's a little sour, I felt.
14:03Yeah.
14:04And the vegetables are kind of overshadowing the chicken.
14:07And so this was a good example.
14:08And we found several other brands where even though the labels sell, well, that seems like homemade,
14:13didn't really taste like homemade, didn't taste very good.
14:16So we've got some consensus that probably the Swanson has the most sort of classic chicken broth flavor.
14:26But you guys kind of sound like you agree with me that if you want to be super lazy and
14:31have 38 cups of broth at your disposal when you want it,
14:36that the Better Than Bouillon is a good choice.
14:39Buy the flavor, not the water.
14:47Chicken and rice is a dish cooked all over the world, with each region adding its own spin, either in
14:53terms of cooking method or flavor.
14:55But today, Becky's going to show us a version inspired by the cuisine of Peru.
14:59Yes, this is a one-pot meal.
15:00It's got juicy chicken, fluffy rice, lots of colorful vegetables, spices, aromatics.
15:06So we're going to start with the chicken.
15:08Mm-hmm.
15:09I have six five to seven ounce bone-in chicken thighs here.
15:12Mm-hmm.
15:13And we're going to season them up.
15:14I have one and a half teaspoons of salt.
15:16Okay.
15:17And these have been trimmed and patted dry.
15:19These are going to be braised, so they're going to cook all the way to 195.
15:23Can't overdo it.
15:24All right, there we go.
15:25Our chicken is seasoned.
15:26Mm-hmm.
15:27I have two tablespoons of vegetable oil heating up over medium heat here.
15:31I'm just going to go ahead and put the chicken in the pot, skin side down.
15:34So we want that skin to get nice and crispy.
15:37All right, so we're going to leave these in the pot for eight to 12 minutes.
15:41Not going to move them at all.
15:43Then the skin will be round and we'll flip them over.
15:44Okay.
15:45All right, it's been about ten minutes.
15:46What?
15:48All that crackling, right?
15:49Yeah.
15:49That's a good sound.
15:50Good things are happening.
15:51It is a good sound.
15:52All right, let's take a peek.
15:53Oh.
15:54Hello.
15:55Look at that.
15:56That looks delicious.
15:56That looks amazing.
15:57That's that crispy skin that's going to taste so good.
15:59So I'm just going to flip all these over and we'll let them go for two more minutes until
16:02they brown on the second side.
16:04Okay.
16:06All right, it's been about two minutes.
16:08The chicken's browned on the other side.
16:09So I'm going to take it out and put it on a plate here.
16:13Look at all that beautiful fond left in the pot.
16:15Oh, I know.
16:16That's good stuff.
16:17That's what we call the liquid gold, right?
16:18Yep.
16:19So now we're going to make what's called an aderezo.
16:21It's the flavor base for this dish and actually for lots of Peruvian dishes.
16:25We're starting with one red onion, chopped up fine.
16:29Put it right in there.
16:31Tablespoon of garlic.
16:34Now I have aji amarillo.
16:36This is a paste of yellow Peruvian chilis.
16:39It's kind of fruity, hot.
16:41It varies in spice level from brand to brand, so you want to taste it before you cook with
16:44it.
16:44This is pretty spicy, but we're going to use all of it because we like it spicy, right?
16:47Yeah, I do.
16:47Half teaspoon of cumin and then three-four teaspoon of salt.
16:55So we're going to let this cook for about five minutes.
16:57We want the onion to get nice and soft and we'll continue.
17:02All right, it's been about five minutes and the onions are nice and soft now.
17:06Now I have a Peruvian beer here.
17:09Is that Cusqueña Negra?
17:10Oh my gosh, you're good.
17:11Yeah, I love that beer.
17:13That's what it is.
17:14Okay.
17:15You can use any smooth malty beer for this.
17:18So we're going to add this to the pot.
17:19We want this to cook down until the beer is almost dry.
17:22Oh, okay.
17:22That's going to take seven to ten minutes.
17:24Okay.
17:25So we'll let that bubble away and while that cooks, let's go over and do the cilantro.
17:29I have two cups of cilantro and you'll see I left all the stems on.
17:33Yeah.
17:33And that's actually the most flavorful part of the herb.
17:35And it also makes it super easy too.
17:37Yep.
17:37Just throw it on the blender.
17:38So two cups and that goes.
17:41And I'm going to add a half a cup of water.
17:44And we're just going to let that puree.
17:49All right.
17:50So it's been about seven minutes.
17:51You can see that beer has almost completely evaporated, but all that flavor is concentrated
17:55in the bottom of the pot.
17:56So now let's add our cilantro puree.
18:00All right.
18:01So there's our braising liquid.
18:02I'm going to add the chicken back to the pot.
18:04Of course, I want to put it skin side up.
18:06I want to preserve that chicken skin.
18:07You can see that most of the chicken is actually above the braising liquid.
18:10That's what we want.
18:11Yeah.
18:12Put those juices in.
18:13All that flavor, right?
18:14I'm just going to lower the heat a little bit.
18:16We just want to maintain a simmer.
18:17I'm going to put the lid on.
18:19We'll let this cook until the chicken registers at least 195 degrees.
18:23That'll take 18 to 20 minutes.
18:24Okay.
18:25Okay.
18:25It's been 20 minutes.
18:27Let's take a peek, see what's going on in here.
18:29Ooh.
18:30Oh.
18:31Mm, smell that here.
18:33The smells.
18:34There's a lot going on with the aromas.
18:36Oh, I know.
18:36I can't wait to taste this.
18:37So good.
18:39Let's check the chicken.
18:40It needs to be at least 195 degrees.
18:45196.
18:46Nailed it.
18:47All right.
18:48So now we're going to take this chicken out.
18:49And now I have this beautiful cooking liquid.
18:52Yeah.
18:53And we're going to use this to cook the rice.
18:54But I want to make sure I have the perfect amount of liquid so that our rice is just right.
18:58We don't want it to be dry, undercooked.
19:01And we also don't want it to be mushy and soft.
19:02Makes sense.
19:03So I'm going to pour it into my measuring cup here.
19:05I have a four cup liquid measuring cup.
19:07And I'm just going to put all the liquid and the solids right into that cup.
19:14And then I have two cups of chicken broth.
19:16So I'm going to add enough chicken broth so that it measures three and a half cups.
19:22All right.
19:23So exactly three and a half cups.
19:25Nailed it.
19:25So we're going to put that back into the pot.
19:28So I have one and a half cups of long grain white rice here.
19:32And I rinsed it really well.
19:34I want to get rid of any starch because I'm looking for that really nice, fluffy rice.
19:38In fact, there's even a term for the perfect Arroz Campoyo rice.
19:41And it's called graniato.
19:43Graniato.
19:43And it's talking about that nice, loose, light, fluffy texture that we're after.
19:47So you get that by rinsing the rice and measuring your cooking liquid.
19:50I like it.
19:51So let's put that rice into the pot.
19:57And then here comes the colorful veggies I was talking about.
20:00So these are the traditional vegetables that are added to this dish.
20:03We have two carrots.
20:04Put those in.
20:07And then one red bell pepper.
20:10Stir that in.
20:12Now we're going to bring this to a boil.
20:14Then I'll turn down the heat to a simmer.
20:16Put the lid on and we'll let that cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
20:19And that rice is going to be just right.
20:20Okay.
20:23All right.
20:24It's been about 20 minutes.
20:25Let's take a look at our rice.
20:27Oh.
20:28Oh.
20:29That looks so good.
20:30It really does.
20:31So we're going to add half a cup of frozen green peas.
20:35Just mix that in.
20:37All right.
20:38Now I'm going to add our chicken back into the pot.
20:41Skin side up.
20:44Okay.
20:45And let's get all these juices in there too.
20:47I was just thinking that.
20:49All right.
20:50Now let's put the lid on.
20:51Let this sit for five or ten minutes.
20:53Just let the peas thaw out and the chicken will stay nice and warm.
20:57And so while that sits, let's make a salsa criolla.
21:00So I have one red onion and half teaspoon of salt.
21:04And I just set it over a strainer here.
21:07We're just going to get out some excess liquid out of this onion.
21:10We'll let this sit for ten minutes.
21:12And then we'll come back and I'll show you how to finish the salsa criolla.
21:16Okay.
21:16It's been ten minutes.
21:17And you can see the onions are glistening a little bit here.
21:20They've started to shed a little of their water.
21:22And so they're going to be nice and crisp.
21:24So I just want to rinse them off.
21:25Rinse off that salt.
21:28All right.
21:29So those are rinsed.
21:30And I'm just going to pat them dry on paper towels.
21:33And put them in a bowl here.
21:35And now I'm just going to add a few simple ingredients.
21:38So I have two tablespoons of fresh lime juice.
21:41Quarter cup of chopped cilantro.
21:44And then eighth teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
21:48And I know it seems so simple, Juliette.
21:51It really does.
21:51And it is.
21:52But it really adds a ton of flavor.
21:55It's just exactly what you want when you're eating this chicken and rice.
21:58So this has been sitting now for about five minutes.
22:01Everything's nice and warm.
22:02So let's get some nice chicken here.
22:05And now I'm going to scoop some of this rice.
22:07We're just going to make a little mold.
22:08This is what moms in Peru often do for their kids.
22:10Really?
22:11This is a fun way to serve the rice.
22:12Mm-hmm.
22:13We'll just put it on the plate here.
22:14One, two, three.
22:15Aw.
22:16Doesn't that look good?
22:17I love that.
22:18Dying to try this.
22:19Yeah.
22:19Let me give you some of the salsa criolla.
22:21I'm going for the rice first.
22:22Me too.
22:23Get a little of that onion on there.
22:24All right.
22:30Mmm.
22:32Mmm.
22:36That's delicious.
22:38So many flavors going on here.
22:39There's the kick.
22:40Yeah.
22:41From that yellow chili paste.
22:43Yep.
22:43The malty beer.
22:45Mm-hmm.
22:45You get, of course, the cilantro coming through.
22:47Really herbal.
22:49Yeah.
22:49Fresh.
22:49I just want to point out how fluffy this rice is, too.
22:52Remember how we were talking about the graniato?
22:53This is exactly what you want.
22:54Loose and fluffy.
22:55These onions are right next.
22:57I'm going big on the onions this bite.
22:58Oh, yeah.
22:59So crunchy because we salted them.
23:01Right?
23:01Mmm.
23:02They're just the perfect thing to go with this, with this rice.
23:04That's incredible.
23:05Very good.
23:06Yeah.
23:06Chicken now.
23:06I eat an onion with every bite.
23:10Man.
23:12Chicken's perfectly cooked.
23:13Yeah.
23:14This is delicious.
23:16Thank you for showing me how to make this.
23:18This was really fun.
23:19This was fun.
23:19If you want to make this classic Peruvian chicken and rice dish, braise the chicken
23:24in an aromatic broth flavored with the aji amarillo, dark lager, and a fresh cilantro
23:29puree.
23:30Carefully measure out the cooking liquid for the rice, and make the zarza criolla while
23:35the rice cooks.
23:36From America's Test Kitchen, a fragrant and flavorful recipe for Peruvian arroz con pollo.
23:42You can find this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews
23:47and select episodes at our website, americastestestkitchen.com slash tv.
23:53I can't wait to make this for Ian.
23:55He is going to love it as much as I do.
23:57So be excited.
23:57Amen.
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