Recreating Carla Hall's Chicken Fried Steak From Taste | Reverse Engineering | Bon Appétit

[@bonappetit]

Looking for more American food inspo? Head over to the Dinner SOS podcast, where Chris and the BA team help a caller from Italy put together a top-tier American menu listen.bonappetit.com/dinnersosyt_americanmenu

[@EHMSL1226]

Chris KILLED this one! The adjustments after the second tasting were so good. Really impressive.

[@SteveS86]

Agreed. On the flip side, it seems like in a lot of these videos he gets dinged a single point in one category or another. What is the difference between an 84 and 85 in something as subjective as cooking technique??

[@edwina4586]

I LOVEEEE The idea of leaving clues out like the oil spatters!! Really brings out Chris’s inner detective

[@arlenesolis024]

He had me with 👅 lick the counter 😂 on the floor dying laughing 🤣

[@Seanobb]

Preeeetty sure it wasn’t on purpose. They underestimated the true power of Chris.

[@jaredknapp8886]

Well now they prolly won't make the same mistake. They underestimated his sneakiness.

[@puppies.and.pumpkin]

Imagine leaving false clues just to mess with him

[@RyTrapp0]

@@Seanobb Yup, I think Chris's sarcasm may be a little too dry and sharp at times and catch a lot of people lol

[@Karysff]

Do a reverse engineering battle of Chris vs Brad to showcase how difficult it really is

[@PrateekLala]

Plot twist: the recipe actually contains sumac and fermented produce.

[@giantcolon]

Idea 1: April Fool’s day episode where Brad took over like last time when Brad and Chris took over Gourmet Make Idea 2: Get Chris to reverse engineer one of his own recipe

[@taylorcroft6757]

See the thing about Brad is his wild card nature would taste this and think “alright it’s a chicken fried steak let’s make one but I’m gonna show you the right way to do it” and he wouldn’t even try to make it identical, he’d just go do his own thing and end up with a phenomenal dish that scores a 23 😂

[@marguaritetherese3156]

@@taylorcroft6757 judging by the way Rhoda responded to the dishes, I'd say Chris did this too...he just couldn't bring himself to put in so much black pepper.

[@AnimaConfusa]

@@giantcolon Chris doing his own recipe would be no challenge at all

[@HarrisonMartin]

I'll tell ya - despite the struggles he may go through, and even when he's actually a bit off, the appearance always surprises me how accurate that portion is. Still, my favorite series!

[@destructioniscreation]

Agreed, especially considering he never sees it. To me the visual component is the most important

[@ChristinaVVM]

I would have given him a 90% for ingredients and 95% technique for sure. He did everything the same way!! Just left out an ingredient in the wet dredge and 2 in the dry ones.

[@dnxtbillgates]

They forget what the point is - to test his "super taster abilities". Show me anyone who can TASTE the flour difference or detect the cornstarch. He NAILED this one, and to dock 15 whole percent on taste because his ratios of all the correct spices wasn't perfect after 2 tries (and adjusting ingredients) is SO dumb.

[@TheOcdisorder1]

They seriously judge him way too harshly on these

[@SheriLynNut]

Good point!

[@joshpointoh]

I think that's the point, but this was a stretch

[@amandaalexander1393]

I think it's also about being a chef and knowing how the different ingredients will act together. He knew that his breading wasn't acting the same as the original and having the knowledge to know what could be added to to get the same outcome. Flour and cornstarch, while not changing the overall flavor, will act wildly different during frying. Didn't you hear them ask him in the begining why it is called "chicken fried" steak. It is in the technique.

[@jordansodeman]

I feel like I don’t see enough people commenting on the transitions where Chris is looking at the camera in various ways- those are comedy gold

[@aryasuri9421]

I really want to know whose idea those were. It's my favourite bit

[@Knito854]

I feel like the next step in this would be to just give Chris the ingredients and figure out what he needs to make.

[@Dddss4]

Q pplpppeA

[@grahamburbanck1663]

reverse engineering reverse engineering!

[@AskMiko]

It is the pinnacle of cooking… random ingredients and we often need to figure out what to make. I’d love to see Chris reverse engineer a recipe!

[@esotericVideos]

I feel like he should have gotten a higher score. He was getting points docked for things like vegetable oil vs olive oil and white onions vs yellow onions, yet he's nailing every single spice in there.

[@JustrLuCK4]

yeah that actually pisses me off like ?? cmon...

[@arlenesolis024]

He did nailed it with the exception of two ingredients

[@Rodviet]

Absolutely! Rhoda is definitely hard to please lol!! Love her though. Still, he nailed like 90% of all things, he defintely deserved an A in this one, the low score must come from the fact that she loves the dish personally.

[@lorenzodsilva4820]

Yeah 100% man and like at what point was his technique off? That's like totally un fair! He did wet dry wet , if the flours were wrong that was ingredients not technique? Shallow fried in cast iron? Breakfast sausage gravy? I don't get why technique was so off? Seen Chris do so much worse and get a lot better score so this doesn't make sense

[@RadioactiveLobster]

Well, Olive Oil has flavor whereas veg oil is a neutral oil and shouldn't impart flavor. However small the amount is, there is a difference between the two.

[@asquithmainlines699]

I love it when Chris can’t see a dish but produces one that looks and probably tastes better than the original on his first try.

[@RyTrapp0]

There really should be a "third attempt" follow up where he makes it his way - would be entertaining of course, but seeing these chefs tackle the same dish in their own way is great for getting ideas for ingredient alternatives and ways to modify recipes

[@asquithmainlines699]

@@RyTrapp0 Yes and the judge should then get one attempt to make the same dish at the same time and then have a third party blind taste them to see who’s is better.

[@evenhasawatermark]

This series is literally the only good thing left on the BA channel. I just wish they did these more often.

[@maggotbitch]

This is Brad erasure and I won't stand for it! 🥺😡

[@HiroJJ94]

you and me both

[@vickylikesthis]

aw come on. all the new people are pretty good! Uncle Harold at least?

[@chunkymurps]

It seems like BA must read the comments because i commented on the last video (and maybe others did too) that they need to tell him EVERY ingredient he missed or got wrong in order for us, the viewer, to be able to see his reaction/s to where he went wrong and in this video they actually did that. The only thing they missed is telling him he used vegetable oil instead of olive oil which does make a big difference in flavour that he should have been made aware of. I hope they keep it up. Love this series. It's the only BA i watch now.

[@xiuan3757]

Morocco’s reflex of catching the book- and then, only after catching so, so so very smoothly as if he was born for it, lets out an ungodly neurotic split second flinch, is SO reminiscent of true dad reflexes. Catch first, freak out later lmao

[@kathrynwitte3398]

I LOVE his honest approach and his potty mouth! Smart, talented, funny- what’s not to love?

[@karumschlag]

Amen

[@breannaandree-couturier8071]

I feel like the judges have a tendency to say what Chris gave himself then score him just above or just below that (by like 1 or 2%) and I wonder if you would see that, if they did not know Chris's prior scores and came in blind

[@aoifem4566]

I like to think the shot of him cruising on the food trolley in the kitchen was an homage to my previous comment about missing him zooming around on his shopping cart in whole foods. Thank you, editors.

[@alphaenemyplus8376]

She's judging far too harshly. He nailed this.

[@Lilpetegr01]

honnestly cant stand her..she kills the vibe

[@keenhua1133]

Lol she was 1% off from his own scores. How harsh was she exactly? He still did great. Give him 100% across the board if we're doing participation ribbons.

[@kathrynwitte3398]

@@Lilpetegr01 it’s obvious she doesn’t have his mad skills.

[@randomlyinspired1338]

I love how he says white onion when he’s tasting it, but then gets yellow onion instead lol

[@deprofundis3293]

Right? 😂

[@fgferraro]

85% on ingredients because of the starches feels a little harsh to me, anyone else?

[@bahamut416]

As a southerner, I've never in my life seen white bread, onions and pickles with chicken fried steak. Only with BBQ/meat plates/etc.

[@vstapleton1921]

I would be MAD if that came out with my steak...

[@awaggenspack]

Yes, it should really be a roll or maybe cornbread. That gravy looks all wrong though. It needs to be bright white with pepper specks...

[@hedruum]

Love this! It’s called chicken fried steak because it’s steak fried like chicken, at least where I come from in South Georgia. Most folks in my little country world didn’t use an egg wash or wet batter on their fried chicken. It was usually dredged in seasoned flour and that’s it. And when it was steak, we called it southern fried steak and it was pounded with the pointy end of a kitchen mallet. My Mom served it with rice and gravy and maybe some green beans. Pickles and lite bread is just for chicken. Sausage gravy wasn’t even a thing.

[@jonirnmomba4130]

My family is from Arkansas. There was always a sliced white onion on a plate, sliced garden tomato (in season) and either white bread, cornbread, or buttermilk biscuits served with every lunch and dinner.

[@lawrencekrieger4]

I would love to see Mythical Chef Josh try something like this, especially a Gordon Ramsay dish

[@lavendergooms7958]

Tony C’s flaming hot Wellington.

[@squirrel4293]

I need this crossover, his chaotic energy would stress Chris out so bad 😂

[@funkychilldude]

Overly hard grading on this imo. Some of the ingredients were technically wrong, but adding a TBS of veggie oil for the gravy vs a TBS of olive oil is functionally the same. The taste is gonna get lost anyway so it’s more about the extra fat content for the roux. This deserved at least a 90 overall.

[@CrymsonNite]

they need to make a "why chris" episode where they have a mash up of a bunch of other people trying to guess and make the dish

[@luckygirl1able]

"some weird southern thing to put untoasted bread" me thinking of all the barbecue places in Texas that just give out untoasted white bread and I never questioned it

[@Alex-zi1nb]

I love the idea of Chris walking into the test kitchen daily and licking all the surfaces

[@Brooksie603]

My mom always used cube steak when she made chicken fried steak. It was a cheap cut of meat to make for dinner for the family and came out great cooked in a cast iron pan.

[@sockeye42069]

Love how everyone just glossed over Chris mentioning that he licks the prep area before production rolls in.

[@phunkydroid]

Saw the title and immediately thought "oh they're giving him an easy one to make up for that last challenge"

[@rhazjk]

April Fools is coming up - Maybe a "Reverse Engineering" with one of his own recipes to throw him for a loop?

[@kaiulanilettenmaier]

I just gotta say, when Chris said "you gotta lick the surfaces of the test kitchen" I died. That's dedication. 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@ilovepickles7427]

I love you, Chris. Thank you for making my day better every time I watch your videos.

[@iodinev]

I really appreciate that the expletives beep is the same volume as the rest of the audio. A lot of producers make the beep painfully loud and it ruins the entire show.

[@arghjayem]

Chris and Brad are about the only reason to watch the Bon Appetite channel now! Chris is a legend!

[@crazysicko47]

It's weird how Chris can taste spices so much more easily in the crust than he can in, say, a puree.

[@deputyrock3489]

As a southerner it was hilarious (and sacrilegious) to see Chris put onions and garlic in the sausage gravy even though he didn't taste them in it. That's the most New York Italian-American thing ever.

[@jamesburns679]

Really enjoyed this ep. Chris is getting the hang of it and is much more chilled out doing this segment :)

[@BrittneyLee1]

Chris needs to come visit the south! Untoasted white bread is a staple. Catfish? White bread, onions and pickles. BBQ? White bread, onions and pickles. It's standard. Growing up in Arkansas, the loaf of white bread was always on the table. I don't think my dad ate a meal without a slice on his plate.

[@RyTrapp0]

I think there's times when it makes more sense than not - BBQ for example has very robust intense flavors(GOOD BBQ food anyway!), not just the meats but the sides too like baked beans, a plain piece of bread and some acid to cut through all of those heavy flavors every few bites makes sense. But, chicken fried steak? Nah, definitely not breaking up such intense flavors. In that case I'd prefer the texture of toast. That's my take as someone who grew up in rural/small town Indiana & Ohio anyway, our food was always a clusterfuck mashup of northern & southern recipes since the family is spread in all directions lol.

[@user-dx8br5vb3n]

@@RyTrapp0 yeah growing up w carolina barbecue I was confused by the reference... like I can see the bread for the gravy but it’s not like there’s moisture in a piece of fried steak in the way that there is in barbecue.

[@readersrock101]

honestly, I think he should've gotten a much higher ingredients score, there were only maybe 4 things off which is very very impressive and he had most of the main components and steps

[@antipierspirant]

obviously seeing minutes posted youtube videos without notif gang is a sign that i use this app way too much

[@boonjabby]

Yeah. But it's a necessary addiction when it's chris haha

[@kdkulhanek]

The chemistry between everybody @ Bon Appetit is the 11th wonder of the world

[@ktmerlin775]

Fascinating to see how Chris (who normally nails things so easily) struggles with simple, staple southern cooking techniques. It's obvious that it's a totally different ingredient palette and cooking style than is used in more typical upscale, Northern, and multicultural cooking he's used to.

[@secundrabeasley855]

YES!! Chris is doing this in the daytime!! Thanks Rhoda!!

[@Sophie-is1fv]

I've very much enjoyed watching Chris becoming increasingly unhinged in this series

[@magicsp3lls]

Me, a southerner: never heard of Wondra flour. And sausage gravy doesn’t go on chicken fried steak, only on biscuits. Chicken fried steak just gets plain pepper gravy, and it’s made with some of the fond and oil from frying.

[@regeman100]

i have been watching the series for quite some time and i really think that they should show the ingredients used a little differentely. When Chris is adding some ingredient they should use the red plus. But sometimes he is using different ingredient with the same purpose, like changing the type of oil used for frying, then it could be something like "(white)ingredient / (yellow/red)substitute.ingredient" in some way it could show how much the change of ingredients changes the recipie.

[@audrey3809]

These videos + PJs + a jar of peanut butter might just be my favorite late night combo.

[@lisajel52]

Chris is the man! He nailed this one! BRAVO 👏🏻

[@lemonse6900]

The comparison to "the 4th beer" was everything 😂👏🏻 I just love this guy

[@raspberrytoffee]

I think he did amazing for a fancy northern white guy recreating a culturally black southern dish. For how far it was out of his comfort zone he hit the nail on the head! A little history behind why black southern food traditionally uses so much and so many spices; During the era of slavery, most of the food that was given to slave families (or what they could find) was spoiled or rotten. So to cover up the taste of rotting meat, spoiled dairy, wilted vegetables, they used as much seasoning as possible. Spices were also heavily cultivated in Africa, so this became a cultural practice that integrated very heavily into the "deep south" which has been heavily reclaimed by freedman descendents! A lot of northerners may not be accustomed to so much flavor intensity, but as someone who grew up in the south, its a big comfort to get my sinuses cleared with some black pepper and it feels honoring to know the history that is being preserved through the practice 🧡✨

[@johrathbun]

Grew up on fine dining like chicken fried steak. Cube steak is the cut used, we don't want to waste a good steak. And the origins of chicken fried steak is it's a cheap cut of meat you dress up. Fry it like chicken. I prefer breakfast fixin's over dinner with my cfs, though.

[@kindabluejazz]

The warning on flour is likely because lots of people eat raw cookie dough and do spoonfuls of raw cake batters, and often give it to kids. I sometimes do that just to see if my flavorings are right, but never eat more than about a pea's worth (often less) of the raw stuff.

[@boonjabby]

Gotta love these secret conversations about Chris !

[@dianecooper7502]

I just love you Chris. So freaking adorable!

[@ArgentAbendAzure]

I'm saying he nailed this one. Good one.

[@megacheese]

This guy has a superpower, i spend hours every week trying to adjust my palette as a chef and he just calls it blindfolded.

[@tysonrudolf5796]

Do one where he’s allowed to see!! That way we’d be able to see what ingredients are really doing anything!

[@Alex-zi1nb]

I’m so excited for Chris to finally see top gun 2. He’s been waiting in agony for the follow up to his favorite movie

[@Narra0002]

It doesn’t surprise me that he nailed it once again

[@chandracrisp70]

Chris should do an session really exploring the different raw and cooked flavors of white/yellow/sweet/red onions. It’s frustrating when he looses points based on something so trivial. Give him a chance to up his expertise in this area. BONUS this will be a crazy fun episode to watch!!

[@seinaozolina795]

If I'm honest I would love to see a different chef try the same video idea but with Chris's recipe

[@kathish1549]

The 180 he did on the gray the second try astounded me, 10/10

[@jasperanddustpan]

This was a fun watch! Thanks!

[@catpastor]

Chris Morocco is just pure excellence every time

[@angelenaj0Li3]

This was very good after the very difficult one the last time! Great job 👍🏼

[@Justin-Trammell]

Impressive as always Chris~

[@lifeisdeath99]

I live in Boone North Carolina and this Rhoda is my fave

[@rubygonzalez3141]

would love to see another test kitchen person do this challenge

[@glossaria2]

"The Truman Show that my life has become" Oh Chris. 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@doubledenim1341]

this channel has soooooo many bad videos but this series is the saving grace. MORE OF THIS!!!!!

[@whammy3323]

I absolutely love my chicken fired steak and biscuits/gravy on the heavy peppery side... the more pepper, the better!!

[@Minismitty]

Hey everyone, it's [Insert Name] and I'm in the BA Test with a challenge for our very own, Chris Morocco. We are going to see how well he can recreate [Insert Chef's Name]'s [Insert Dish], in just one day. He can touch, taste and smell it, but he will never be able to see the dish. Let's see how he does. There ya go, BA. I just rewrote the intro for the first time in 4 years. You're Welcome.

[@m.theresa1385]

Great job Chris! I’m surprised more attention wasn’t paid to the breading ingredients considering that you commented on it in the beginning, but o.k. We all learned something here. Cheers!

[@itscommonsenseguys]

I think chris did PHENOMENAL. I think the difficulty of blind tasting is overlooked by most people. Even simple dishes are hard. Chris has an amazing palate. Brads the real G though. Sorry Chris lol

[@footprintsinthesand2009]

The vibes on this episode were on point.

[@jordesign]

CFS is my guilty pleasure... A really good one is magical....

[@a-stardesigns1453]

I see Rhoda, I click

[@driverdave7846]

Being from the south and having no idea how to prepare chicken fried steak, thank you Chris Morroco

[@pretendtobenormal8064]

12:31 That's what she said 🤣

[@lorenzoalmond7522]

Can someone please make a compilation of Chris saying how Cayenne "wakes up the flavor" I've heard it at least five other times in other videos

[@jessecampbell4356]

His noise for describing the black pepper at first taste cracked me up 😂

[@brianyim5191]

Chris deserves more wins like this.

[@rrialb9371]

These BA Challenge segments are so much more entertaining than 'iron chef', or 'chopped' or all those other 5 and dime cookie cutter shows where 4 people lose their sweaty asses... love this!

[@getitent8997]

Chris Got Him A New Book 📖 😅 Love him

[@palalabu]

i had to resort to google to find out why there's no chicken in something called chicken fried steak

[@jennavanvolkswagen2822]

Best show on bon appetit!

[@cclippin]

"weird friggin southern thing" loolllll

[@arlenesolis024]

The master!!! He had me on the floor when he said “luck the surfaces!” 🤣 I love when Chris gets all conspiracy theory lol 😂 but his taste 👅 still amazing. The master

[@brycewalburn3926]

"Flour is raw. Please cook fully before enjoying. Wow! It's like what happened that they had to start printing that on the box?" Ok, Chris...say it with me, "c o o k i e d o u g h." There you go. You did it!

[@kage122]

one day I’ll meet someone who will understand (if I’m lucky maybe even share) my strange fascination with Chris Morocco

[@jamesdooling4139]

Rhoda and Chris? Almost makes me tear up for the good ol' days of the BATK before life went to hell... ❤

[@davidkartwright9003]

When Rhoda was speaking; I heard I'm Froda and I went woah someone's parents were huge LOTR fans.

[@2igotmoney]

Chris is a gift to this planet

[@kevobrando95lx44]

Dry steak in a batter makes the best chicken fried steak. Dry dredge clouds up the oil and tends to separate. Having the solid coating of a batter just makes for better adhesion. You don't want any layers you kind of end up with when egg washing and flour dredging

[@bth5202]

Chris's descent into madness is just so funny 😂 Also, that intro? 😚👌

[@hoodcoyko8329]

I love anything Morocco!

[@suslady3906]

Take a drink everytime Chris says black pepper. Very fun.

[@toast039]

Lol the percentage score situation is so silly I would just tell him GREAT JOB