chicken marinated in a secret blend of
spices
flour coated into every crease and flap
of each breast and wing
dropped in oil and fried until all of
the skin is perfectly crisp
sweet waffle batter whisked until smooth
and creamy
cooked to a golden brown color remaining
soft to the touch
it's the subtle sweetness of the waffle
and the secret marinade of this savory
chicken
that makes amy ruth's chicken and
waffles a legend
in new york fried chicken and waffles
first appeared on menus at wells supper
club in harlem back in the 1930s
although that restaurant has since
closed the dish never lost its hook on
the people here
and much of that is thanks to amy ruth's
popularity
a lot of my friends they go to atlanta
and they're like oh like where's the
chicken and waffles like that's not a
staple
and it's the south it's from harlem like
if they're coming to harlem ingredients
is always
the place to cook the chicken at amy
roots starts with a secret blend of
spices
what we do is in order to ensure that
the chicken is flavorful
and the season gets time to evaporate to
the bone
we pre-season the chicken 24 hours in
advance
it's like a rub then sister jeanette
dredges the chicken in flour
making sure to cover each breast and the
corners of the wings evenly
this ensures every bit gets crispy when
it heads to the fryer
the chicken usually fries for about 12
minutes but the cooks will know
it's done when it floats all the way to
the top as for the signature sweet half
of this dish
there's amy ruth's golden brown waffle
the key to the waffle is sweat won't be
fill you up with gas is to make it at
least 24 hours in advance
and let it expand in like a five gallon
container we put it in
is this sort of like when they tell you
with pancake batter to let it sit before
you
before you make pancakes same results it
tastes better
and it's better on your digestive system
it's not struggling to digest
because there's no gas in it typically
they make the batter in 60 pound batches
in a 5 gallon bucket but sister jeanette
agreed to show us herself by hand
we have never made the waffle mix for
anyone
what you guys are what's today's date
the 19th this is your lucky day
this is your lucky day 2020. like any
typical batter there's vanilla
cinnamon brown sugar flour and something
special she wouldn't share
how you cook is the key yeah you gotta
cook with love you gotta
time each ingredient that you put in
because you want it to have a desired
fluffiness
she whisks it until all the clumps are
gone and the batter is totally smooth
see how it's expanding yeah yeah
after it sits it's ready for the iron
where each scoop of batter cooks for
about three minutes
until the waffle is soft with a golden
brown color
dub to the reverend al sharpton on the
menu this plate is one of several
tributes to famous black figures you'll
find at amy
ruth's and orders for that dish come
through in the hundreds each week
000 a week pre-coveted 500 that's still
a lot
yeah still a lot the way that they
season and batter their food
is light enough that it's not too salty
but enough to give you flavor there's a
right amount of crunch there's a right
amount of crisp
you know you're not disappointed when
you want something crunchy they even
give you
the condiments but you don't even really
have to use them because the food is so
delicious that you don't you don't want
to mess with it
in 2017 the daily meal recognized the
restaurant for serving the second best
chicken and waffles
in the country sometime when i look out
the little cubby hole and look at the
people when they receive their food
it's like they're in love not like it's
a person but it's something that make
them happy
and give them joy i guess they could say
let me go to any roof and get those
chicken and waffles
the enthusiasm makes me
makes me want to give more makes me want
to do more makes me want to
try and make everything perfect you know
it takes you home
you know i mean like you feel the love
you feel everything
in it it's not a mess it's always a hit
like the names on the menu
the tributes continue with paintings of
prominent black figures on the
restaurant's walls
and if you look close enough you'll find
sister janette up there with them
the soul behind the soul food restaurant
i can't be anything else but
fun and kind and sweet and loving and
caring
i grew up in the south on a farm on a
farm
rough life with a good life and i grew
up with 13 brothers and sisters
wow and i am the seventh and my mother
says
i was the most strangest one i don't
know i don't know what that one
strangest one out of all the children i
said i think you mean to say unique
and when i was little she was like what
do you know about unique i said that's
me
yeah i've always been like this i don't
know why
it is so crispy it's like flake the
flakes are flying off as i'm
cutting in that sound is amazing the
sound is amazing it just makes you want
to eat it
that is super different that is not a
typical waffle
i think there's like a corn base in this
waffle in some way i don't that is not
confirmed
i'm totally just guessing but there's a
sweet corn flavor
i can't just make it plain okay it'll be
like everybody else's
right like i forgot i forgot i was
eating a waffle for a second because i
thought there was
cornbread in my mouth which sounds
strange but like
i got transported to like a different
food that i've
experienced and i think that's because
like the flavors mimic that
i love the um crispiness of the waffle
and then inside it's just so soft and
like decorative like it's like amazing
the cereal the butter is like oh my gosh
takes it to a level
um the chicken is crispy then you have
like the tender meat inside
or actually this is great like i wanna i
just wanna just keep
normally i don't take as many bites i'm
in it i want just
the skin is addicting like you taste
that crunchy
salty crisp skin in your mouth and
you're like okay let's just have more of
that
great dish overall like i want to
go back in the kitchen talk to sister
jeanette try to coerce her to tell me
what she put in the waffle batter
so i can make it at home because it's
like that's how much i'm enjoying this
waffle more than other waffles i've had
with all of the iconic cuisines that we
have in the city
it's nice that this type of cuisine is
represented
and then people can come to the place
where the people are cooking it
and enjoy it in its home