Chicken-Fried Steak: The Unofficial Meal of Texas
February 22, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Chicken-Fried Steak: The Unofficial Meal of Texas
What does a Minnesota culinary institute have to do with Texas cooking? With culinary trends moving away from highbrow cooking techniques and towards down home techniques with a twist, they have a lot to do with each other. Students at Minnesota culinary institutes are learning how to reinterpret classic comfort food cooking in new and unexpected ways. Let’s take a look at one of the mainstays of Texas cooking: chicken-fried steak.
Old Culinary Techniques Are New Again
You wouldn’t be far off if you thought that barbeque was the official food of Texas. After all, Texans love barbeque. Beef ribs, brisket, and smoked sausage are the most popular. But even though Texans love barbeque, there is one dish that is even closer to their hearts: chicken-fried steak. Ask any Texan and they’ll quickly name several places to get great chicken-fried steak, and one of those will be at mom’s house. It seems that every mom and grandma in Texas has her own “secret” recipe for great chicken-fried steak. The crispy breading, tender steak, and creamy white gravy create a flavor sensation unlike just about anything else.
How to Make It
Chicken-fried steak is made by pounding steaks to about a quarter-inch thickness to tenderize it. The steak is then dredged in eggs and flour mixed with salt, pepper, and other seasonings. The battered steaks are then pan fried in hot fat just like its Southern namesake fried chicken. Pan-frying is a culinary technique that creates delicate, crispy cutlets that are full of flavor.
It is traditionally served covered with peppered cream gravy and a side of mashed potatoes and a biscuit.
The usual cuts of beef used for chicken-fried steak are chuck, cube, or round steak. These cheaper and tougher cuts are perfect for the harsh treatment of this dish. Tender cuts like sirloin, rib eye, or fillet would simply fall apart.
History of Chicken-Fried Steak
The exact history of chicken-fried steak is unclear, but it most likely originated among German and Austrian immigrants to Texas in the mid- to late 1800s. They came with their traditional recipes of pork and veal cutlets (schnitzel) and adapted them to the most common cuts of meat available in Texas, steak. Even though Weiner schnitzel is traditionally made with veal, it was an easy transition to use steak instead. Most steak cuts easily handle the rough culinary techniques of tenderization and pan-frying used in making chicken-fried steak.
While there is no clear date for the use of the term chicken-fried steak, it didn’t become popular until after WWI, probably because of anti German sentiment during the war.
Variations
True to its German and Austrian heritage, many different types of meat may be substituted for the traditional steak, including pork and chicken. Pork is usually called a pork cutlet, while boneless chicken breast may be known in various parts of the country as chicken-fried chicken.
In addition to being served with mashed potatoes and gravy, a chicken-fried steak may also be served on a hamburger bun along with a side of French fries.
No matter how you serve it, you’ll see why this delicious comfort food is one of the most popular foods with Texans.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis/St. Paul offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota area. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Minneapolis-St-Paul for more information.
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