Name: Viet Pham's Winning Hot chicken
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ¾-inch thickness; 1 cup buttermilk; 2 tsp cayenne pepper; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 2 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp garlic powder; 6 tbsp unsalted butter; 3 tbsp cayenne pepper; 2 tbsp hot sauce (Frank's RedHot); 1 tbsp honey; 2 cloves garlic, minced; ¼ tsp white pepper; Vegetable oil for frying

Viet Pham

Hot chicken

S16E8 Southern · 2018

The ONLY chef to beat Bobby Flay TWICE (also won on Iron Chef America). Born in a Malaysian refugee camp, immigrated at 7 months old.

We have to do a longer headnote for Viet Pham because Viet Pham is the only person in this entire book — across 195 defeats, thirteen years, eighteen seasons — who has beaten Bobby Flay more than once. He has also beaten him on Iron Chef America (twice) and won Bobby's other show, Triple Threat. The accounting on Viet Pham, in any precise reading, is 4-0.

He was born in a Malaysian refugee camp. His family had fled Vietnam after the war. They got to the United States when he was seven months old. He grew up in San Jose, decided he wanted to be a chef, eventually built and ran Forage in Salt Lake City — a James Beard nominated, eighteen-seat tasting menu room — before deciding to put all of that energy into Pretty Bird, his Nashville-style hot chicken project that now has four Salt Lake City locations.

He beat Bobby with hot chicken. The dish that, more than any other on this list, you are not supposed to lose at when you are Bobby Flay. Bobby Flay has a $40 million net worth and a network of restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, the Bahamas. Pretty Bird has four locations in Salt Lake City. The hot chicken is better at Pretty Bird.