Kenji’s Secret for the Juiciest Chicken Breast | NYT Cooking

J. Kenji López-Alt uses mayonnaise as the base for nearly every marinade he makes, whether cooking on the grill or in a cast-iron skillet indoors. The magic of mayo is that it helps other marinade ingredients spread evenly across the surface of the meat, delivering more consistent flavor, while improving browning. Kenji’s recipe, which he walks us through, will work with nearly any marinade: You could use pesto, salsa verde, bottled barbecue sauce, jarred Thai curry paste, teriyaki sauce or mole, all with equally delicious success.

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[austinwilson]

Kenji is the one of the most non pretentious cooks online. Guys a well versed chef and isn’t above using normal ingredients in his cooking. Helps follow his recipes.

[saramumby]

Have been following Kenji for years and just love seeing him still doing incredibly insightful and helpful things that are adaptable and approachable.

[otstan]

Kenji is just so... certified. whatever he says I will believe. I love his videos hes got such a presence

[craigjohnson]

A lot of Indian food uses yogurt in the same way. And it has the added benefit of tenderizing the chicken.

[joshevans]

There's just something cool that happens anytime you build a sauce for both marinating and finishing. It's like the cooked and raw flavors reinforce each other- greater than the sum of it's parts for sure.

[joelzusein]

Kenji is the man! One of the few chefs on youtube whose recipes you can copy and they'll turn out just as great as in the videos.

[ethanlin]

4:18 Kenji is so used to clapping whenever there's a cut haha

[daviddickey]

I've been using this technique since the article first dropped a few years ago, and find it works great in a heavy skillet indoors (no grilling in my Brooklyn apt). I've used it with blackened seasoning (Cage brand), berberé, muchi curry, korean barbeque (gochujang and gochugaru), harissa (DEA) and preserved lemon (NY Shuk), etc., mostly with chicken thighs. I think it's spectacular.

[stephennetu]

Almost otherworldly to not hear the "guys, gals, and nonbinary pals" line. What a brilliant mind and fantastic human. Glad to see him here!

[arshbehal]

The level to which I like J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is unreal. This man. ❤

[hypnolobster]

Props to Ethan Chlebowski for introducing me to mayo based marinades. Super easy, carries a ton of flavor.

[emembodo]

Kenji has brought a sense of joy and gratitude for food in my life I never could have imagined

[francinecorry]

We have been doing this with skin on salmon filet`s on the grill for any number of years.You can add whatever you like in the mayo.The grill must have a lid to create a beautiful golden brown crust since there is no flipping the fish.Can`t wait to try this with chicken and other meats.Thanks Kenji.

[adamcoe]

Been doing this on fish for years to get a good crust without burning. Really excellent. Also not for nothing but if you have an immersion blender, you can make your own mayo and it takes like 90 seconds and costs pennies on the dollar vs store bought. Not to mention you can flavour it however you want with garlic/lemon/pepper/whatever.

[patrickgatons]

How have I been cooking for 45 years and never even heard of a mayo marinade?
Looks like the perfect solution for non-burning marinades I've been looking for. Thanks!

[cardion]

This guy is just so chill. I really enjoyed this video.

[GatorAidMedical]

having the whole family participate in cooking is really great for health and well being!

[zissou]

The mums of my Russian friends from school always did the mayo coating and I loved it! It was completely new to me and I was a bit confused when I saw the mum is coating everything with mayo before cooking.
They also did a porkbelly bits and potato oven rost and coated it with mayo. They also add quarters of onions to the mix. It was so delicious and easy

[SlippyToad]

Mayo on my thanksgiving turkey was a game changer. Thanks to Kenji (and Kevin Bacon) for that!

[mehoffjack]

It is insane how good of a cooking video this is…. Definitely top notch