But let's get current here: all Americans, on both sides of the Mason-Dixon, now live in country where maple bacon bourbon ice cream happens. You could argue that any Texan claiming chicken fried steak is "not that bad for you" is biased by his state's historic infatuation with gut-busting delights (as my Lufkin, TX buddy George pointed out, "When you come from an area that's willing to deep fry anything, fried steak almost sounds like health food."). Take the fry out of the equation, and you’re actually winning vs a thick, fattier steak (and dominating vs the marbled majesty of kobe beef). Second off, you’re starting off with a very thin, relatively fat-light cut (more on that later). If you're helping to end the earth as we know it, what's a few extra carbs and trans fats going to hurt?". As my dad, who’s been practicing medicine longer than he’ll permit me to tell you, said, “You’re already eating red meat filled with saturated fats, hormones, and antibiotics, not to mention contributing to global warming thanks to the massive amount of methane cattle produce. And yet no one questions how in chicken’s case a verb that implies one action came to imply two.įirst off, it’s not that much unhealthier than a regular old steak. ![]() When you think about it, if there’s any senselessness here, the blame lies with the term “fried chicken”, which is as responsible as any dish for conflating battering with frying. Frying doesn’t necessitate battering - all “fried” means is that the steak is cooked in a pan at lower heat than if it were sauteed. Simply calling it “fried steak” wouldn’t accurately describe it. Fried chicken got there first, won the name game, and demanded tribute from chicken fried steak. The probable reason it’s not simply called “fried steak” is two-fold:įried chicken gained popularity in America well before Austrian and German immigrants started batter-frying beef instead of the veal they’d traditionally used for schnitzel. You take a steak, and you batter & fry it in a manner similar to fried chicken. Honestly, I think the name makes perfect enough sense. The name is too confusing.” That's from a non-Texan, but many Texans agreed with the sentiment the only reason we’re not just as confused is that, as children, we were introduced to chicken fried steak long before we started caring whether the names of anything made sense. “I'd eat my own leg off the bone if it was fried, but I still don't know what a chicken fried steak is. Reason 1: People don’t understand what it is Then I proceeded to refute those rationales point-by-point, leaving naysayers with no ground to stand on, except of course in the comments section, where there’s always ground to stand on. Moan about the lack of chicken fried steak, and you’ll get “Why would anybody eat that?”.īecause the world needs chicken fried steak now more than ever, I decided to round up opinions from both Texans and non-Texans on why chicken fried steak hasn’t become a thing anywhere north of Oklahoma. ![]() Bitch to your friends that “There’s no good Tex-Mex up here,” and they’ll say, “You’re just stuck up, there are some great Mexican restaurants up here.” And while they’re clearly wrong (starting with the fact that they don’t know the difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican food), at least they’re only insulting you, not the cuisine. ![]() It’s not just chicken fried steak’s absence that’s painful it’s the way that it’s mocked as a redneck abomination any time a Texan complains about not being able to find it in his new home. Sadly for Texpats like myself, this meaty morality tale hasn’t spread nationwide the way other regional comfort foods like chicken & waffles have.
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