What went wrong? Firstly, a very kind-hearted viewer pointed out in my previous video that rice vinegar’s acidity lowers the pH of the chicken’s surface, making it more acidic and actually detrimental to the Maillard reaction, which is essential for browning and crisping. While the overall effect of using Kewpie mayo is still positive, especially due to the egg yolk, it’s certainly not a substitute for baking powder. Secondly, I used way too much Kewpie mayo as the binding agent. The excess moisture caused the filo pastry to break down before it had enough heat contact to firm up and act as the moisture barrier between the skin and the flesh-something we successfully achieved in Part 6. I suspect spring roll sheets might tolerate moisture better before heating, and I’ll definitely test that with Kewpie in the future. Also, given that fast and high heat is paramount to solidifying the filo pastry, vertical roasting, in hindsight, might not have been the best choice. This explains why I found it necessary to roast the chicken horizontally for the second half of the cooking.
Happy new year Evan and team! Looking forward to a full new year of content (just discovered recently). You guys preparing anything nice for yourselves for this NY's eve? 😉 Cheers
Definitely a great way to get ready to bring in the new year. I really appreciate that you are willing to experiment on camera like this. We learn more when things don't turn out as intended and, this way, we all get to learn with you. :)
May I suggest looking into Cantonese crispy fried chicken 炸子雞? It's not roasted, but imo it's the ultimate expression of non-battered fried chicken. Maybe you can try adapt the technique such as marinading the chicken with vinegar and maltose, which has a higher caramelization point than other sugar and then roast it instead of frying. Similar to peking duck.
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion! I hadn’t considered the higher caramelisation point of maltose before-brilliant insight! I’ll definitely give this a try.
Evan, have you ever considered using harissa on your birds to crisp it up? It's very oily, fairly acidic which might have a similar effect to kewpie mayo. My local rôtisserie used to lather the skin both in and out with harissa, and it was one of the crispiest rôtisserie chicken I've ever had. I'm not saying it'll rival the cripsy birds you've made so far, but maybe it's worth experimenting with it!
What went wrong?
Firstly, a very kind-hearted viewer pointed out in my previous video that rice vinegar’s acidity lowers the pH of the chicken’s surface, making it more acidic and actually detrimental to the Maillard reaction, which is essential for browning and crisping. While the overall effect of using Kewpie mayo is still positive, especially due to the egg yolk, it’s certainly not a substitute for baking powder.
Secondly, I used way too much Kewpie mayo as the binding agent. The excess moisture caused the filo pastry to break down before it had enough heat contact to firm up and act as the moisture barrier between the skin and the flesh-something we successfully achieved in Part 6. I suspect spring roll sheets might tolerate moisture better before heating, and I’ll definitely test that with Kewpie in the future.
Also, given that fast and high heat is paramount to solidifying the filo pastry, vertical roasting, in hindsight, might not have been the best choice. This explains why I found it necessary to roast the chicken horizontally for the second half of the cooking.
This has been a very entertaining and educational series! Happy to see your channel growing.
Cheers
Happy new year Evan and team!
Looking forward to a full new year of content (just discovered recently).
You guys preparing anything nice for yourselves for this NY's eve? 😉
Cheers
Happy New Year to you as well! We made a modified version of Escoffier’s beef bourguignon with Thai spices last night! 😂 Cheers!
cant wait for the next experiment,
Definitely a great way to get ready to bring in the new year. I really appreciate that you are willing to experiment on camera like this. We learn more when things don't turn out as intended and, this way, we all get to learn with you. :)
Happy New Year, and thank you for your continued support! Here’s to more experiments and learning together in 2025! 😊
@@w2kitchen I'll drink to that! And I don't usually indulge. :)
The saga continues!!
May I suggest looking into Cantonese crispy fried chicken 炸子雞? It's not roasted, but imo it's the ultimate expression of non-battered fried chicken. Maybe you can try adapt the technique such as marinading the chicken with vinegar and maltose, which has a higher caramelization point than other sugar and then roast it instead of frying. Similar to peking duck.
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion! I hadn’t considered the higher caramelisation point of maltose before-brilliant insight! I’ll definitely give this a try.
Evan, have you ever considered using harissa on your birds to crisp it up? It's very oily, fairly acidic which might have a similar effect to kewpie mayo. My local rôtisserie used to lather the skin both in and out with harissa, and it was one of the crispiest rôtisserie chicken I've ever had.
I'm not saying it'll rival the cripsy birds you've made so far, but maybe it's worth experimenting with it!
Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll definitely give it a try - especially since my Mrs loves harissa.
Nice job! What's the best version you have done for the moment?
Im getting some mixed messages with the acid vs base and how it affects browning, I thought the more base it was the better the browning was.
You're right and I was wrong in this video - acidity does not help with browning - alkalinity is key!
😂
:D