Mandatory french lesson incoming: "pain perdu" would actually translate to "lost bread", not forgotten bread, though the connotation is very similar. Bonus fact, in Quebec it is called "pain doré", meaning "golden bread"
I get semolina bread from the Italian market, but any really hearty bread with a good crust will do. Something that will not disintegrate when saturated. Slice it thick and bake it dry or let it dry out. Mix up my custard of egg and milk in about a 1:1 ratio. Add vanilla extract and salt. Then I pour the mix into a gallon ziplock bag, add the bread slices, put it flat on a tray in the fridge long enough for the bread to get fully saturated. I usually go with overnight. If it soaks up all the custard, I mix a bit more and add it to the bag. Complete saturation is the goal. Getting the bread out of the bag and into the pan without breaking it is the tricky part. A properly sized spatula helps here. Fry it up at med to medium high until the custard sets. Serve with maple syrup. This is the one thing my relatives never fail to ask for, when they come visit.
Brother, I Adore how you explain and describe and reason the who's whys and what's. I walk away understanding just what you're trying to say. when i watch others i sometimes say "well why?" and you just nail it. appreciate you man, I appreciate you.
Pain perdu means "lost bread". Meaning, stale bread soaked it in egg and then frying it, it's no longer lost but now usable again. Forgotten bread would be "pain oublié".
It's called Pain perdu, meaning "Lost bread" cause we usually do that using stall baguette that has been sitting on the counter for a few days. Bread that would usually get "lost" in the bin.
I love the strawberry lemonade (pink and yellow) nails 💅 also, my choice of bread for French Toast would be brioche (or really, any enriched breads like Challah too).
Hi Kenji! I have a daughter with an egg allergy. Is there some sort of scientific, magical way to make french toast without eggs? Also, you seem incredibly happy. So glad to see you doing well and congrats on your sobriety!
An overnight soak makes for an especially delicious product. You need to slice the bread 2.5cm (1”) thick. Obviously, taking care when removing it from the custard bc it’s so sogged. If you are creative, cut a slot into one edge deep enough to form a pocket, and fill it with berries or banana, before going in the custard. Drain briefly after removing so there’s no excess batter forming ragged stuff around edges during cooking. Brown the first side in melted butter and preheated pan until golden. This goes quickly, then flip it, and finish it in a 190°C (375°F) oven until it soufflés. This can take 10-12minutes depends on bread type used. The exterior is excellent and interior is custard but cooked through. Luscious. You can apply any of the many good tips and tricks and twists to the custard prep as you mentioned. Powdered sugar dusted, and a sprinkle of toasted pignolas, pistachio, or what you like won’t hurt. I’ve made myself hungry now. Time for a coffee and get cooking.
I made eggy toast for my partner because she asked me to make it the way my family made it when i was a kid. She will not let me live it down. I have made her incredible French toast since and that's still what she remembers...
In the UK we do have both eggy bread and French toast - as you mentioned the latter being sweet and the former being savoury. French bread here is often made with an enriched bread like a brioche, or a cheap/sweet white pullman loaf, and almost always served with sweet accompaniments like fresh fruit, compotes or syrups. Eggy bread is usually made with more of a hearty bread and is more often served with savoury accompaniments. It's kind of a midpoint between French toast and fried bread.
I think if you had let the stale/dry soak longer to take up more of the custard the results would have been different. Perhaps the fact that you have to let them soak for a long time just to get the moisture back to where you are with fresh bread means it isn't worth it
This is a great recipe, I’ve made the best recipes version for many years, and completely agree after doing it all 3 ways many times that fresh dense bread, in my case challah or a denser brioche, is the way to go. I also let it soak a little longer around a minute per side.
"Let's take a bite of all of them together and see what happens" Me: Sure. That's an experiment that is gonna yield anything. "I don't what I'm testing this, other than testing if I can fit it all in my mouth" 🤣🤣🤣
I like how Andrew (Binging with Babish) looks up to this guy calling him a legend but he has way less subs. What a crime Kenji’s content is so informative and better for an aspiring home cook
My mother would make deep fried French toast on occasion. I also found this at the Roscoe Dinner near Roscoe, NY. Wonderful stuff. I'm a sweets person so I would poke a hole in the crisp crust and pour in the maple syrup.
Best bread for French toast is stale bread, because if your bread is not stale, just use it as bread. It's why it's called "lost bread": if the bread is too stale you can't eat it, so you make French toast so it is eatable again. That being said, I once made French toast with croissant, and I can tell you that the best bread for French toast is actually (stale) croissant.
Wow, Kenji you had so much fun making this video! Love it! I'm really surprised the fresh bread had the best custardy texture! You broke common wisdom yet again!
"The crystallisation of starch molecules that causes bread to go stale occurs faster at lower temperatures" is something I learned from watching Big Bang Theory, of all things 🤣
I'm curious to know whether adding butter into the batter/custard is noticeable vs. not adding when you're cooking the French toast in that pool of butter.
"structural integrity". I'm with you on preferring to use fresh bread for French Toast. And I really don't like the super thick or artisan bread It just is all wrong with the texture. I'm eager to try your sugar trick and using more butter in the pan. You were so funny today. May we say giddy? I'm glad you're cheerful during these cold, dark days.
I use the Hong Kong French Toast recipe by Mandy over at Souped Up Recipes. That said, I am not picky about the bread. I typically use sourdough just because I hate plastic bags more than I like bread.
Lol, people from r/WeWantPlates wouldn't mind the presentation. It's the whole board with no grooves with syrup at a restaurant that would piss them off. Those grooves on that board are practically a moat lol, I'm envious, my board's grooves has barely any depth and my kitchen is slightly slanted so even cutting a steak can cause it to overflow.
In central-eastern Europe we have these kinds of breakfast from time to time. No weight difference so far (multiple decades). In my family we use "hardy" bread that's stale but not yet croutons. Just like pancakes (crepes) - football whic you call soccer - it's almost a staple food. Sometimes the sugar is before the flip, sometimes it's after the frying. Sugar melts anyway so no real difference in sweetness. Strangely enough, ours form some kind of tendrils, cotton-like, fibrous. No opinion on that. It's just breakfast.
@@JKenjiLopezAltIn one of the CDI Zelda games, there is a shopkeeper named Morshu with a line: "Sorry Link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little, mmm, richer!" It became a big internet meme for a while; you find it on UA-cam.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt ua-cam.com/video/X8HSnP1SiI0/v-deo.htmlsi=Aj-_oZFcjfA-GRxa&t=13 This guy from the shit Zelda is an internet meme and the way you paused on "mmm richer" coincidentally sounded alike.
I don't often laugh at cooking videos, but "They call it le french toast because of the metric system" definitely got me.
@@johnnyCheeseburger I absolutely burst out laughing on this. Definitely a call to the “Pulp Fiction” dialogue. Great stuff, Kenji!
They also call it le French toast in Quebec, Canada
Check out the big brain on Kenji 😂
He smirked before those words came out of his mouth. Guy was on a roll.
I love how much you cracked yourself up with the Gerard Depardieu, and Fuhgettaboutit comments.
I love giggly Kenji, you're the best
Hey, when it's funny, it's funny.
Kenji, you're in rare form in this video--multiple LOL moments for me...one might say, the Joy Of Cooking
"a little bit of butter" says kenji, adding the entire stick
One shot of vodka
He kinda said it with a hint of irony though
haha definitely he was in a jokey mood today
Very French of him
It's giving Chef John vibes, he loves to say "and just a touch of sugar" as he pours a mountain of sugar into the bowl, lol
"Gonna piss off the people on the "We Want Plates" subreddit" 🤣🤣🤣
All the laughs and fun, and the great cooking education. You're always a delight, Kenji. Thank you for this lovely video.
Mandatory french lesson incoming: "pain perdu" would actually translate to "lost bread", not forgotten bread, though the connotation is very similar. Bonus fact, in Quebec it is called "pain doré", meaning "golden bread"
Thanks! Would it be it pain d’oré?
No apostrophe in the word. Though a quick google search does suggest a connection between "doré" and "or", the word for gold.
Whatever you already have on hand when you decide to make it last minute on a sunday.
The only thing I had on hand one time was banana bread. It made an unusual but delicious french toast.
@@MrBfiguero I used English muffins once. It had a nice crunch from the cornmeal. Anything really works.
I get semolina bread from the Italian market, but any really hearty bread with a good crust will do. Something that will not disintegrate when saturated. Slice it thick and bake it dry or let it dry out. Mix up my custard of egg and milk in about a 1:1 ratio. Add vanilla extract and salt. Then I pour the mix into a gallon ziplock bag, add the bread slices, put it flat on a tray in the fridge long enough for the bread to get fully saturated. I usually go with overnight. If it soaks up all the custard, I mix a bit more and add it to the bag. Complete saturation is the goal.
Getting the bread out of the bag and into the pan without breaking it is the tricky part. A properly sized spatula helps here. Fry it up at med to medium high until the custard sets. Serve with maple syrup.
This is the one thing my relatives never fail to ask for, when they come visit.
Brother, I Adore how you explain and describe and reason the who's whys and what's. I walk away understanding just what you're trying to say. when i watch others i sometimes say "well why?" and you just nail it. appreciate you man, I appreciate you.
Pain perdu means "lost bread". Meaning, stale bread soaked it in egg and then frying it, it's no longer lost but now usable again. Forgotten bread would be "pain oublié".
11:24 had me dying lmfao he can cook toast and crack jokes at the same time what a legend
Taking a bite of all three at once was completely unhinged. Kenji is growing too powerful.
You seem happy, man. That makes me happy 😊
Kenji when the edibles kick in...
It's called Pain perdu, meaning "Lost bread" cause we usually do that using stall baguette that has been sitting on the counter for a few days. Bread that would usually get "lost" in the bin.
"Bread with good bones" If your bread has bones, you're either not eating bread, or it was made very, very wrong.
Giants would disagree
@@MattRoadhouse 🤣
I love the strawberry lemonade (pink and yellow) nails 💅 also, my choice of bread for French Toast would be brioche (or really, any enriched breads like Challah too).
Hi Kenji! I have a daughter with an egg allergy. Is there some sort of scientific, magical way to make french toast without eggs? Also, you seem incredibly happy. So glad to see you doing well and congrats on your sobriety!
An overnight soak makes for an especially delicious product. You need to slice the bread 2.5cm (1”) thick. Obviously, taking care when removing it from the custard bc it’s so sogged. If you are creative, cut a slot into one edge deep enough to form a pocket, and fill it with berries or banana, before going in the custard. Drain briefly after removing so there’s no excess batter forming ragged stuff around edges during cooking. Brown the first side in melted butter and preheated pan until golden. This goes quickly, then flip it, and finish it in a 190°C (375°F) oven until it soufflés. This can take 10-12minutes depends on bread type used. The exterior is excellent and interior is custard but cooked through. Luscious.
You can apply any of the many good tips and tricks and twists to the custard prep as you mentioned. Powdered sugar dusted, and a sprinkle of toasted pignolas, pistachio, or what you like won’t hurt. I’ve made myself hungry now. Time for a coffee and get cooking.
You turned up the silly to 11 with this one. Love it!
You are an inspiration. Thank you for being you.
oh wow- buttemilk seems so obvious now- but also kind of blew my mind- the tangents here... lol we've all been to that antique store
Dude you are so giggly in this one. I keep laughing with you 😄
I made eggy toast for my partner because she asked me to make it the way my family made it when i was a kid. She will not let me live it down. I have made her incredible French toast since and that's still what she remembers...
The fresh one visually looked better imo. I’ve just been making overnight/baked French toast 😅 ❤
In the UK we do have both eggy bread and French toast - as you mentioned the latter being sweet and the former being savoury.
French bread here is often made with an enriched bread like a brioche, or a cheap/sweet white pullman loaf, and almost always served with sweet accompaniments like fresh fruit, compotes or syrups.
Eggy bread is usually made with more of a hearty bread and is more often served with savoury accompaniments. It's kind of a midpoint between French toast and fried bread.
this should be a blind taste test so he'll close his eyes
Everybody catching strays in this video: Antiquarians, francophiles, calorie counters... Who is safe???
You should really try to do some french toast with some german „Hefezopf“. I had it lately with caramalized fruit. Was delightful
when you cracked at "because of the metric system" hahahahaha
Does anyone else have the feeling this was filmed some time after four in the afternoon, maybe twenty minutes past?
I love love loved how casual this upload was and the funny banter 😂 Please include more conversational jokey stuff like this
I think if you had let the stale/dry soak longer to take up more of the custard the results would have been different. Perhaps the fact that you have to let them soak for a long time just to get the moisture back to where you are with fresh bread means it isn't worth it
This is a great recipe, I’ve made the best recipes version for many years, and completely agree after doing it all 3 ways many times that fresh dense bread, in my case challah or a denser brioche, is the way to go. I also let it soak a little longer around a minute per side.
I always soak them one at a time, put them in a stack, flip the stack, and soak them a second time. No sugar. Just eggs and cream. Fresh bread.
Legalize it! 😂 Kenji was kinda different! It was some funny af to hear him throw dad jokes like that.. Keep it going please!
kenji showing up with the "new meds turned me into a professional comedian" energy
Thank you for all the laughs and fun
"Let's take a bite of all of them together and see what happens"
Me: Sure. That's an experiment that is gonna yield anything.
"I don't what I'm testing this, other than testing if I can fit it all in my mouth" 🤣🤣🤣
I like how Andrew (Binging with Babish) looks up to this guy calling him a legend but he has way less subs. What a crime Kenji’s content is so informative and better for an aspiring home cook
Can I just say- I LOVE the nails
Your dog is your biggest fan ... when you are cooking. He has that motivated stare down to a science.
My mother would make deep fried French toast on occasion. I also found this at the Roscoe Dinner near Roscoe, NY. Wonderful stuff.
I'm a sweets person so I would poke a hole in the crisp crust and pour in the maple syrup.
Ah, best *stage* of bread. I was waiting a challah pun
Best bread for French toast is stale bread, because if your bread is not stale, just use it as bread. It's why it's called "lost bread": if the bread is too stale you can't eat it, so you make French toast so it is eatable again.
That being said, I once made French toast with croissant, and I can tell you that the best bread for French toast is actually (stale) croissant.
In Sweden it's called ”fattiga riddare” which means ”poor knights”
In Germany it’s called “arme Ritter” which also means poor knights
Wow, Kenji you had so much fun making this video! Love it! I'm really surprised the fresh bread had the best custardy texture! You broke common wisdom yet again!
Imo, the best bread is whatever is leftover. I've even done really crunchy frozen and oven-thawed sourdough with an overnight soak
I have a fanatic sourdough baker in my household so I get the production overruns and make French Toast from it from time to time.
"The crystallisation of starch molecules that causes bread to go stale occurs faster at lower temperatures" is something I learned from watching Big Bang Theory, of all things 🤣
Great timing! I was planning on making French Toast for Christmas breakfast.
The jokes in this video! Lol you guys are either sauced or just have the giggles today 😅👌
"Because of the metric system" absolutely floored me 😂 I might have to give Pulp Fiction a rewatch some time soon.
Kenji must be California sober. Lol.
Kenji sacrificing Shokupan for science, so that we don't have to. I've lost my sweet tooth over the years but this looked fantastic all the same.
The best bread for French Toast is the one I eat with my wife in my home.
Challah is the best…end of discussion
Love this channel.
Kenji must've eaten something special (or smoked it) before this episode. 😂
I just about choked on my peas during that intro... "cause when you eat it you say furgetabowit"
I always learn something new here. Thank you
always been a fan of Challah for French Toast - or - for a decadent treat use leftover Panettone
for stale French or sourdough I soak it overnight in the fridge
I liked that Pulp Fiction reference
Did kenji hit the bong before this episode?😅
"How much weed did you and the crew have?"
"Yes"
In France they actually call it "Royale with toast"
Because of the metric system…
does the thickness and soaking time make any difference? another test with the same thickness and varying soaking times?
You are cracking me up. Yay Kenji!
the word he was looking for was 'integrity'. structural integrity
Probably "sturcturally sound" if he was committed to phraseology.
@@kenshinjenna oooh good point
We use a whole loaf of whatever we have...but if I use cinnamon chip, it's not enough for our family of nine. :)
I'm curious to know whether adding butter into the batter/custard is noticeable vs. not adding when you're cooking the French toast in that pool of butter.
Surprisingly, thick cut sourdough = winner
I don't know, I usually order my French toast without the bones, but you do you.
did you mix up the first two toasts?
kenji what's the science behind triangle-sliced bread/sandwiches tasting better
Can't recall a video where a measuring tool was used. Took me a second to figure out why the measuring cup felt different
Challah at ya boy!
"structural integrity". I'm with you on preferring to use fresh bread for French Toast. And I really don't like the super thick or artisan bread It just is all wrong with the texture. I'm eager to try your sugar trick and using more butter in the pan. You were so funny today. May we say giddy? I'm glad you're cheerful during these cold, dark days.
Good to see Kenji very happy in this video. As my grand-maman always used to say, you're either a pain perdu or a pain perdon't
you have a warming closet in the other place and a oven closet there?
I use the Hong Kong French Toast recipe by Mandy over at Souped Up Recipes. That said, I am not picky about the bread. I typically use sourdough just because I hate plastic bags more than I like bread.
well youre in quite the giggly mood today
I thought this was going to be comparing like white, potato, brioche, milk bread
What do they call Brussels Sprouts in Brussels?
That’s the weirdest food name
Holy crap that looks good. What do you do with the remaining custard? Can you scramble it up into a sweet omelette?
Lol, people from r/WeWantPlates wouldn't mind the presentation. It's the whole board with no grooves with syrup at a restaurant that would piss them off. Those grooves on that board are practically a moat lol, I'm envious, my board's grooves has barely any depth and my kitchen is slightly slanted so even cutting a steak can cause it to overflow.
Kenji got me hooting over here
I do remember that scene from Falling Down. Though I think that guy was selling more than just civil war memorabilia lol
Why does he paint his nails?
11/10 goober video, love it 😂
In central-eastern Europe we have these kinds of breakfast from time to time. No weight difference so far (multiple decades). In my family we use "hardy" bread that's stale but not yet croutons. Just like pancakes (crepes) - football whic you call soccer - it's almost a staple food. Sometimes the sugar is before the flip, sometimes it's after the frying. Sugar melts anyway so no real difference in sweetness.
Strangely enough, ours form some kind of tendrils, cotton-like, fibrous. No opinion on that. It's just breakfast.
Where are the links?
If this is your way of saying you're going to start doing videos about the culinary applications of marijuana, I'm all for it!
I like to use Panettone.
I love your videos! But please UA-cam, cut down on ad length/frequency
I leave the bread soaking longer, more like 30 minutes.
Is that too long??
4:02 was this a Zelda reference
What’s the reference?
@@JKenjiLopezAltIn one of the CDI Zelda games, there is a shopkeeper named Morshu with a line: "Sorry Link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little, mmm, richer!" It became a big internet meme for a while; you find it on UA-cam.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt ua-cam.com/video/X8HSnP1SiI0/v-deo.htmlsi=Aj-_oZFcjfA-GRxa&t=13 This guy from the shit Zelda is an internet meme and the way you paused on "mmm richer" coincidentally sounded alike.
Without even watching im going eith brioche. Its the best