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  • a generous helping of golden yellow rice sits underneath 12 hour marinated chicken, seared until tender roasted gyro meat sliced straight from the verticals, packed together with crisp lettuce, tomato, onions and peppers, along with a few delicate slices of pita, served soft and more from stove.

  • But it's the extra creamy secret white sauce in notoriously spicy red sauce that made the halal guys chicken and Jarrah platter and New York legend.

  • The word halal refers to a specific way of butchering meat in the religion of Islam.

  • But in New York, because of this one food cart, people also use halal as shorthand for a whole collection of street meat sandwiches and combo platters, the most famous of which is a platter with only five key ingredients, like one of my favorite foods to eat.

  • So I came the first time I remember, and I ate it, and I was in love instantly, and it was like one of the best things I've ever in my life until now.

  • Yeah, I just feel like feels like home.

  • Yeah, combination.

  • Sure, Theo Combo platter starts with a layer of golden yellow rice, which is made from scratch off site before heading to the cart.

  • This basmati rice takes the longest to make, stood for over 45 minutes and prepared in £40 batches, enough to fill 60 to 70 platters.

  • But really, it's the chicken that takes the most care and attention.

  • It's always marinated for 12 hours, and although the recipe a secret Middle Eastern street meets generally use a marinade of herbs, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper.

  • The hello guys wait to chop the chicken until it's fully cooked.

  • This way it stays tender and becomes as juicy as can be after we cook it and well done way covered up by the beat up red, you would get the flavor off the chicken and the pita bread.

  • No problem.

  • Next comes the beloved beef Cairo, which is half cooked on a vertical spit.

  • Another secret recipe.

  • The seasoning likely has a mix of traditional gyro spices like salt, pepper, paprika and oregano.

  • Cooks shave it as soon as the meat becomes a dark brown color.

  • Using mechanic, slice it rather than a knife because it's quicker and more consistent.

  • Back at the cart, the gira shavings are placed on the stove and chopped into even squares.

  • Initially, the halal guys served gyro meat in long shavings, like many other halal food vendors.

  • But they switched to smaller pieces in order to keep up with demand.

  • And finally, But maybe most importantly, comes this question white sauce all over.

  • Yeah, just like just a little chicken.

  • Okay.

  • And over, like a lot of it.

  • Yeah, you have to get the sauces.

  • Most importantly, the white sauce.

  • Um, I personally never asked the exact name of it, but that really makes the meal right.

  • I think we all call it white sauce.

  • Carts across the city have tried to mimic the recipe, but the halal guys says no other place has cracked the code based on the to go packets of white sauce.

  • This creamy substance is a combination of mayo, black pepper, vinegar, salt and a few other ingredients.

  • But one thing was sure about.

  • The red sauce isn't for everyone.

  • We call the high sauce 911 because it's very, very spicy.

  • I personally have not tasted it.

  • Whatever.

  • Never I don't need spicy cannot tolerate.

  • Spicy sauce has a Scoville rating between 100,000 and 130,000, which is over 40 times hotter than to pass hot So soon.

  • Thedc Art guys won't let you walk away without telling you just how spicy be.

  • Recommend taking a couple of packets to go rather than drizzling too much on your planet.

  • I love the white sauce, and I love spicy, still definitely of the red sauce to recommend both.

  • Wait, this barbecue.

  • Oh, dude.

  • 30 years ago, there were few halal carts in Manhattan until the Halal Guys open one on West 53rd in Sixth Avenue.

  • It didn't take too long to win over customers, particularly cabdrivers looking for an easy way to eat.

  • Hello, Ato.

  • That time they didn't find any halal food in New York City, so they came up with the idea.

  • There's a lot of Muslims here.

  • Why can't we provide full halal meal for Muslim carries on?

  • It started that way.

  • Now street meat is everywhere, but those cabbies have spread the word about the platters in Giro's specifically from the halal.

  • Guys have deals for cab drivers.

  • Okay, like better pricing, a couple of bucks cheap or something down.

  • Not to mention there's even an express taxi line for drivers only.

  • It's unfair but this is their policy.

  • If you're a cab driver, you don't have to wait in the line.

  • Just came from here and we give your Sanders short.

  • Ever them you and you keep going.

  • So halal street food has become a staple meal for New Yorkers.

  • In a rite of passage for visitors, the cart has been praised by magazines, radio stations and celebrities.

  • Just something you have to try.

  • It's like you can't go to New York and not try.

  • Hello, guys.

  • Trying to does it remind you of home?

  • Love, sweetness?

  • Not sweetness.

  • Spiciness.

  • Oh my God.

  • The chicken is so tender, the rice is exquisite.

  • And the white sauce I wouldn't die for the white sauce.

  • Just how the white sauce complements the chicken and the spices that it's marinated.

  • And I really loved it.

  • I regret not trying it sooner.

  • Now I'm gonna spend the rest of my life any more of it.

  • Huts also know how you have it right now, right?

  • Yeah.

  • Alright, no problem.

  • Enjoy your food, sir.

  • Thank you.

  • Have a wonderful day.

  • Thank you.

  • Thank you.

a generous helping of golden yellow rice sits underneath 12 hour marinated chicken, seared until tender roasted gyro meat sliced straight from the verticals, packed together with crisp lettuce, tomato, onions and peppers, along with a few delicate slices of pita, served soft and more from stove.

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