The 98-Step Chicken Sandwich That Earned a Champion’s Belt
When Guy Fieri rolls into Virgil Village in Los Angeles—a neighborhood near K-Town he’d never visited before—he’s looking for a simple neon chicken sign on a strip mall. What he finds inside daybird is anything but simple: a Tournament of Champions winner running a four-item menu that takes nearly a hundred steps to execute.
“How do you explain it? I mean there’s just a little chicken neon on the outside, they’re only open for lunch,” Guy observes. “That’s how you explain it. Look for the chicken.”
Chef Mei Lin’s Sichuanese Spin on Nashville Hot
Chef Mei Lin, the Season 4 Tournament of Champions winner (complete with belt), has created what she calls Nashville hot fried chicken in a Sichuan Chinese ingredient style. For this special episode, Guy brought along some serious culinary firepower: Iron Chef Stephanie Izard, Chef Nate Appelman, and Chef Aaron May.
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The dish that steals the show is Mei Lin’s “98-Step” Hot Chicken Sando—and watching the process, you understand why it earned that name.
How the Magic Gets Made
The process starts with chicken thighs, pounded out on the thicker side and submerged in a brine of water, salt, granulated garlic, fish sauce, and buttermilk. “We got funk, acid, and salt,” Mei Lin explains, letting it marinate for 12 hours.
The chili oil alone is an overnight project: Sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, coriander seed, fennel seed, cumin seed, star anise, bay leaves, and cinnamon get dry-toasted until fragrant, then blended and combined with guajia chilies in oil. Sugar goes in, the spices follow, and it rests overnight before straining.
The pickling liquid uses mirin and sugar reduced by half, with toasted coriander, black peppercorns, and bay leaves, finished with white and rice vinegar. That liquid gets poured over shallots, Fresnos, and jalapeños. Then—in a clever move—the strained pickle liquid gets mixed with honey to create the hot honey.
The no-heat spice base combines bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, green peppercorns, black peppercorns, Sichuan peppercorns, coriander, cumin, fennel, clove, and green cardamom with mushroom powder, granulated onion and garlic, sugar, and salt. Different spice additions create the heat levels.
For that signature crunch, Mei Lin reveals a technique: “You see those corn flaky looking things on the chicken? They’re not actually corn flakes. We add a little bit of water to our flour,” rubbing it between her hands to create those chunks before combining with rice flour and corn starch. The chicken gets a double fry—325°F first, then 375°F.
The Verdict from the Counter
The sandwich comes with two house sauces: a habanero ranch (mayonnaise, sour cream, fish sauce, habanero hot sauce) and a DD sauce with Tabasco, Worcestershire, ketchup, and Kewpie mayo. The slaw features red and green cabbage, chives, cilantro, pickled shallots, and pickled chilies.
Chef Stephanie Izard’s reaction: “One of the best chicken crunches I’ve had. It’s very juicy.” After one chef tried the extreme heat level, she noted, “I just took a tiny bite of a tiny edge of your chicken and I’m like, I can’t even feel my tongue anymore.”
Guy summed it up perfectly: “Saddling up to this counter to eat together is really fun. Your mystique as Champ has made this an outstanding visit. Come down here and let the chicken talk for itself—and it has.”
For more spots like this, similar to Trap Fusion Jerk Lamb & Oxtails in Memphis or Roman-Style Pinza Puttanesca, explore our restaurant directory to find Triple D locations near you.