I simply cannot wrap my head around how you have lived in the states this long and did not run into a chicken fried steak until a Scottish guy told you about it
@@AdmiringObserverR Oddly I think of it more of a West of the Mississippi thing. Being from Michigan its not really a common thing on menus here and if it is not homemade style it is not worth it. Really common dish anywhere in the plains states. There is a lot of food people consider Southern that is not Southern at all. I suspect it was a German=American invention because it is essentially a beef schnitzel with a bechamel type sauce. Think of where beef became a staple in America (Texas, Okie, Kansas, Nebraska) and I would say it is more of a Western then Southern dish.
@@W_R_L_L_ The dish does not originate from Florida. Nominally it is thought maybe Texas, but the origin of the dish is German immigrants in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Most of the damn dishes people call Southern were actually originated in places like New England and Pennsylvania. You also have to remember in the 19th century the Deep South was not very good for growing things like wheat or raising beef. Other hand pork was the primary meat and rice was a grain that parts of the Deep South was very conducive to. Mostly in the Deep South they grew corn instead of wheat back then because of poor climate & weak soil for wheat. Also the South could raise sugarcane so it was more prevalent in 19th century cuisine. Have to remember things had to be sourced regionally more when these foods were created. Cornbread, American style biscuits, American pancakes/flap jacks, baked beans, American style fried chicken, and a ton of other stuff originated in the North and not the South. There is not 1 damn thing Florida about chicken fried steak. P.S. even your beloved chow-chow originated in the North.
Sorry, but we always heard that Chicken Fried Steak was created by the German Settlers of the Texas Hill Country around New Braunfels. They settled there before the civil war so it goes back a ways.
As a native Texan, this was one of the first things my grandma taught me how to cook. I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here you can also get chicken fried chicken (which is redundant), which is essentially a chicken breast pounded down to the thickness of the steak cutlet and prepared the same way, and is equally delicious, also to be eaten with a heaping portion of mashed potatoes on the side.
I dunno about that. The most cheated I've ever felt was when I was given what I thought was chicken fried steak that turned out to be chicken fried chicken. I still feel that sting. Ok, it was bad but not as bad as thinking I was about to chug ice water but down went luke warm unsweet tea.
I'm Canadian. 15ish years ago, I read that Chicken Fried Steak is the most commonly requested last meal among Texan death row inmates, and decided that I needed to learn how to cook it. I have made it for my son (now nearly 27) every year since then for his birthday. Every Canadian we've ever told about this tradition has been 1)confused 2) intrigued and 3) won over. If you haven't tried it - do! It's not something you'd want every day (for health reasons 😆) but definitely worth trying.
How many death row inmates are you feeding that you felt the need to learn this recipe? But no I kid, learning how to cook more things is never a bad thing.
@@SchemeTintFocus If you can find a Denny's in Canada. There are some around Toronto, and Calgary (which I remember from when I grew up there in the '70s), but it's not nearly as common here as in the U.S. Sadly, no Moon Over My Hammy for Atlantic Canada. Not yet, anyway.
Here's something that will really blow your mind... in some southern areas, Dairy Queen serves steak fingers. They're like chicken fingers, but also like chicken fried steak. You dip them in gravy. They're amazing.
We have a local place here in Albuquerque, NM called Mac's Steak in the Rough and that's exactly what you can expect. Steak fingers that are battered and fried and you dip them in gravy. It's fantastic. They used to have several locations in the chain, then it dropped to a single restaurant, now it's back up to two. Expensive, but tasty.
@@RonJDuncan Steak fingers are quite common in Texas, as they are just the drive-through version of CFS. And 've had more than one argument over the proper number of fingers in a steak finger basket. It's either three or five. An even number of fingers is just...weird...and wrong.
@@mph7282 I get that. Strangely enough, food plating in culinary school has you do food items in odd numbers because by design it's more appealing to the eye. That said, Mac's does serve it as four, but if I go for the double rough and make it 8, I'm so stuffed at the end I stop caring about the odd/even number
I'm Oklahoman, and I was sitting here watching this video, thinking that if Lawrence lived here, he wouldn't have to walk more than a few blocks to get some what he was questing for. There is also something called "chicken-fried chicken", which sounds silly, but it just means it's a chicken fillet cooked in the manner of chicken-fried steak. I personally prefer it, but there are a whole lot of folks here who love the original, as you can probably guess by the fact that it's considered our "state dish". 😋
As I usually live in Connecticut I have never heard of either. But when I went on a trip to Texas and found the chicken fried chicken. I ordered it because it is a funny name that doesn’t make much sense. And it was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. And it could be the restaurant but the chicken fried chicken is better than the chicken fried steak.
Shaun and Lawrence - when I was growing up we called chicken fried steak elephant scabs at the school cafeteria! Luved seeing you 2 together! XO from Colorado
@@bobbilynnsmith5146 Growing up, my son (45 now) always called the crumbs in the fried chicken pan scabs. As in "Don't give me any of the scabs!" Where as everyone else wanted them...🙄
The first time I had Chicken Fried Steak was when I was in Texas. The German connection makes sense, because there are a lot of towns there started by German immigrants. And, Texas Chile was said to have been created by a German immigrant. BTW, there are no beans in traditional Texas Chile.
Chili con carne was 900% invented by native people- likely the Aztecs or Maya, as the first documented chili pepper flavored stews were documented by conquistadors among the Aztecs in the 1500s. Texas chili came from the tejanos and is a bona fide part of their cuisine. NOT German.
The reason why Texans became so intent on seasoning their beef is because their scrub fed cows taste awful. Go to the upper Midwest and go enjoy cornfed beef, so rich you won't even want steak sauce
I wouldn't doubt that they did. Scrub those German food stereotypes out of your mind and go visit Bavaria or the Tyrol and it'll open your taste buds and mind. Also possible they both could have, Texan beef is famously garbage and anyone wanting to make it palatable HAS to season it.
I spent years perfecting my chicken fried steak recipe. It ended up being what made my wife realize I was a keeper! I still make it for her on her birthday.
My wife loves my recipe as well. I make it for her two or three times a year. I just posted my recipe in the comments. Mainly its my sawmill gravy recipe that I make with Conecuh hickory smoked sausage.
You're right! The gravy is everything. You can go to 5 different places and 3 will just serve canned gravy, but the other 2 places will make their own gravy. If you find a place that makes great gravy, then you'll have a great chicken fried steak. Any place that makes their own gravy will also have great biscuits and gravy.
True for the most part. I have run into places where one of their gravies are good, but some of their gravies are not so much. I've definitely seen where the biscuits and gravy were good, but the chicken friend steak gravy was too plain. I think because they had good sausage to lean on for flavor, but then made their country gravy too plain. I'm not sure I've encountered the reverse though, where they made a good country gravy and bad biscuit gravy.
@@lrom5445 I wonder if the bad gravy is because they used canned or instant gravy. An ex girlfriend and I went to one place once that normally had wonderful sausage and biscuits. That morning they had ran out of their gravy and was doing the instant or canned gravy. We turned it down. While it's true there are some that are good most of the time it's a shot in the dark with an uncalibrated a gun.
I went to a place and they tried to serve me canned sausage gravy on my country fried steak. I left. There's just no way to respect a place that does that.
Good gravy is a must. You are absolutely right about the biscuits and gray and I would like to add that it is excellent over good mashed potatoes (I even enjoy it with fries instead of ketchup).
Chicken/ country fried steak is actually one of the tougher cuts of beef jabbed full of holes, battered, fried, and smothered with gravy. It’s a good way of using a very tough piece of meat turning it into something useful. It’s usually flank or something very chewy that can’t be used normally. A punch full of needles is hit through the steak a number of times cutting up the fibers. It’s battered and fried. Usually a white gravy is poured on top. What you get is a very tender piece of beef that is perfect. I’ve made this a number of times and the punch is a pain to find at least the right one.
In the US, you can buy raw "cubed steak" in the grocery store, which are pieces of beef that have already been run through the "needle punch" you mention, so are already tenderized for chicken-fried steak, salisbury steak, etc.
Cube steak is typically top round or top sirloin. Flank would be one of the lesser desired cuts, but I suppose it's lesser desired for a lot of things, but especially deep frying. The needle punch is called a jaccard and there are a number of different sizes and brands available. The only one I've used was probably a nicer one I suppose, but it did the job just fine.
I'm a 37-year old lifelong bachelor who is a software engineer, someone you probably wouldn't expect to do much cooking, but Chicken Fried Steak has been one of my favorite things to cook since I was a teenager. At least once a week, I'll make either chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, or chicken fried pork, all served with white cream gravy.
Chicken fried pork cutlet, especially with pan gravy, is an amazing dish, but I rarely see it offered in the diner context. Guess pork cutlet is just to fancy for 'em.
How is your blood pressure? Guys your age are at the start of, “He was so young to have a widow-maker heart attack” territory. Of course you won’t have a widow to worry about but sodium=high blood pressure=heart disease and stroke, the top two causes of death for Americans.
As a Chicagoan that moved abroad, I would like to thank you for bringing me back home. Your videos with the shots of the city are very well done and should be recognized by the city's board of tourism for its positive representation of Chicago. Thanks again, Laurence!!
I almost fell out of my chair when you mentioned the small town of Lamesa. You even pronounced it correctly!!! I was born and raised there. Excellent reaction!
My Grandmother, a Texican through and through, loved the little town of Lamesa. She was born in Plain View, lived in Long View, then across the state in Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Kerrville. Still she was fond of Lamesa.
What's even better is to have the gravy on the side. That way the steak stays crispy as you dip each bite in a little gravy. It's still good with the gravy on top but if you don't want the breading to get soggy on the side helps that.
I agree completely. I don't like chicken fried steak smothered in gravy cuz the breading does gets soggy and the flavor isn't as good. I'm the same way with biscuits and gravy.
Oh, dear! As a Texan who used to work at the Black-Eyed Pea (before it was sold and destroyed), I can assure you that you have Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes smothered in the same gravy as the chicken-friend steak. The Houston police would come in and order their specialty (which we dubbed Heartattack On A Plate) of double chicken-friend steak and mashed potatoes with extra gravy. Alas, I no longer eat beef, but I do miss CFS from time to time. Oh, and it's called "chicken-fried" because the steak (after being pounded into a thin, large slab) is dipped in batter and then fried like fried chicken. Glad you enjoyed it!
Yeah, I remember Black-Eyed Pea. I like white gravy on the CFS and brown gravy on mashed potatoes though I also sometimes get white gravy on the mashed potatoes.
I was mortified when BEP got rid of their black eyed pea salad. I always thought they used french dressing....do you know if that's the case? You always got to choose 2 sides and my dad and I always got "double" baked squash sides. They published the squash recipe in the 80's in the now defunct Houston Post newspaper and it tastes identical. Lots of work, a huge stock pot for cooking the squash, but worth every minute. The secret is to use wheat rolls, just like BEP did. Gosh I miss that place.
@@rockyroad7345 Yes, the squash was delicious and a serious project for the cooks each day. I don't remember the dressing on the black-eyed pea salad. I know it was something exclusive to the BEP. They liked to make their own stuff as much as possible, including the croutons which were made from the leftover rolls. I also miss the BEP. Not working there but eating there. 😄
Two secrets to southern fried steak: 1) yes it's the gravy, make sure there is black pepper in the gravy, lots of it. 2) you can ruin it by using ingredients that are too high quality. It's not a fancy cut of meat, and the breading is plain and simple. I've seen it done.
Yep! It's best if kept simple. My parents almost never made this because they usually bought good steak and cooked it properly. So I grew up eating only grilled filets and New York strip steaks. Can't complain about that. But, that somehow resulted in a chicken fried cube steak becoming a rare treat.
There's a version of gravy called sawmill gravy in the South. The roux is cooked until it has browned, then add the milk. The gravy is caramel-colored rather than white. It's delicious.
I've done it and your right. There must be lots of black pepper, just like biscuits and gravy. Also right about keeping it simple. Nothing fancy about this dish, just great tasting.
Just get some tenderized cubed steaks and put it in flour and then egg and back in flour and put lots and lots of salt and pepper on it. Then heat up Crisco shortening (best way) and put steak in grease and cook until the blood comes up on the top, then flip it and cook a few more minutes. After all the steaks are cooked add flour and milk to the grease and make some gravy. That’s how my mom taught me to cook it at any rate, and it’s better than anything you’ll get at a restaurant.
The “steak” part is much the same between “Country-fried” and “Chicken-fried;” usually a tenderized slice of round steak (The cheap places might use a chopped and reformed ‘cutlet’, slightly better will use a cheaper cut such as round, better still will use sirloin or even ribeye but that is overkill.) the meat is flour used to bread it is seasoned with the chicken-fried sometimes having a bit more spice in it. Most will deep-fry the steak, the traditional places will fry it in a cast iron skillet with a lot of oil, not enough to submerge though; that’s the ‘chicken-frying’ part. But the biggest difference is the gravy. Country-fried steak will have brown gravy (stock-based) while chicken-fried steak always uses a cream-based gravy, often with a lot of cracked pepper in it. That gravy doesn’t soak into the breading as quickly, so the chicken-fried steak can often be crispier than its country-fried cousin. Both are based on schnitzel with country-fried more common in the eastern and southern states while chicken-fried is more western. But it’s gaining in popularity.
As someone from Oklahoma, all my chicken fried steaks/chickens have come with white gravy. Well, maybe a lot of places ask, to which I always answer white...
When I can I'll do Chicken-fried Elk. Elk is such a lean animal, the meat tends to be abit tough and dry. Hammering flat(tenderizing), Battering and frying, can make anything delicious, even horse.
Country fried is cooked with a skillet and oil why chicken fried is deep fried. However, they are used interchangeably just no egg and hashbrowns. Jezz
Chicken (or country fried) steak is pretty amazing, and when it's done right, there is no better meal. I was surprised that you ordered hash browns, but I guess that would be normal if you're having it for breakfast, with eggs. I've always had it for lunch or dinner, so mashed potatoes is the way I've always had it, and there's nothing better than a bite of steak with potatoes and gravy on top! If you ever get to Kansas City, go to Stroud's, which was originally opened in 1934 as a "road-house" and is best known for their fried chicken, but their CFS is to die for. And it's substantially larger than the plate upon which it's served!
Heh. I've been known to order it with breakfast, use the extra gravy for everything, save the steak for lunch. If I'm having it for lunch or dinner, I eat it with mashed potatoes and country green beans. It's just plain yum.
I make my country fried/chicken fried steak with white gravy, rice, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, homemade macaroni & cheese, biscuits and sometimes collard greens.
@@whiteowl4097 LOL. I haven’t made that dinner in years since it’s just me now but I used to make it twice a year. Only twice because it’s so much fried food and I wasn’t trying to kill my now ex husband at the time. I called it our Fryday because almost everything was fried. I forgot to include the fried corn I would make sometimes too.
For those of you who might be tempted to actually make this yourselves. Buy cubed steak from the grocery. The trick to good CFS is salt...a LOT of salt on the meat. Restaurants soak the steak in brine to tenderize it and also make it really salty. If you manually salt it, put 3 or 4 TIMES the amount of salt on it you think you should. Dredge the pieces of steak in flour. Then create a mixture of flour and eggs, with a bit of salt and pepper. It will be bout the consistency of wallpaper paste when it's right. Dredge the floured pieces of steak thru this concoction...then once more through the flour. Then put the pieces in a skillet with an inch or so of cooking oil on medium-high heat. Flip it over (and over) until it is golden brown. The cream gravy is trickier. Pour out about 95% of the oil in the skillet, keeping all the little "cracklins'" - just where the bottom of the skillet is covered about 1/16" in the leftover oil. Heat the skillet back up on medium. Put some salt and pepper into it - close to a teaspoon of salt and maybe 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Put flour into the skillet and mix it up with the grease, until its mixed together - probably 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour in a 14" skillet. It should be almost a moist solid. Add milk - maybe 1/2 cup to start and mix well - you should see it bubbling and it will start reducing. The tricky part is taking it out at the right time. If you drag a spoon across the bottom of the skillet, when it doesn't immediately go back together, it is about right. If you miss that timing, just add a bit more milk and mix again.
The white/milk gravy is a MUST with chicken fried steak! It makes ALL the difference. My husband even orders it when he gets steak fingers instead of the regular house made BBQ sauce. 😊
I didn't even know there was an option growing up. To this day, and I'm 49, about the only time I make brown gravy is thinking about it, otherwise it is always milk gravy. There is the fact I only make gravy about 4 times per year these days, it's not really very healthy, but I do get a taste for it every now and then. Still, I can't think of a single reason to make brown gravy.
@@shadodragonette - I know; me too! But yet I know of many people and restaurants that either serve it with brown gravy or ask which one you'd prefer. I guess some folks hear the word "steak" and automatically think brown gravy...but on CKS - YUCK!
As a native Texan, I also appreciate you pronouncing the name of "Lamesa" correctly. Also, if you're ever in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and want an authentic and fabulous Southern-style fried chicken dinner, look for a local chain named Babe's Chicken Dinner House. Yes, they will also make you a chicken-fried steak if you like.
He could do a whole video just making fun of the foreign place names Americans insist on pronouncing like kindergarteners. Lamesa is just one of thousands. Visit Dubois, Wyoming, Versailles, Missouri, Buena Vista, Colorado and Salida, Colorado just down the street, Latakia tobacco, . . .. I'm sure someone will chime in with dozens of others.
Chicken fried steak has been one of my favorite foods since I was a kid. My whole family being from Texas, means it has been necessary dish my whole life. Glad you finally got to try it. How you went through life not even knowing of it's existence is almost criminal. It's also pretty awesome on a sandwich.
Shaun's appreciation for American food is wonderful for those of us here who take it for granted. Seeing someone enjoy it for the first time puts it into perspective. Sometimes it is a wonderful experience to learn about the history and culture of a meal, whether it's before or after you consume it, and really appreciate the flavors. I'm pretty sure that's why The Townsends are a popular channel.
@@joeyricefried9621 The other day I was reading a cookbook where a New Englander claimed that "sky-high, feathery biscuits are a myth sold to Yankees." I promptly made some feathery sky-high biscuits, ate them, and felt great about my status as a Southerner. I've been all over the U.S. and the only food that can compete is Atlantic seafood. Lobster rolls are truly one of the most scrumptious things conceived by man. And fried razor clams.
@@TheErador Shaun is the Scotsman Lawrence was talking with at 3:20. He's done a number of videos on his previous trips to the US where he really goes into the differences and enjoyment of the various regions cuisine.
My wife and I were having dinner in a restaurant in Butte Montana, when a couple sat down at the booth next to ours. When the waitress came to take their order, the man asked if the "chicken fried steak" was all white meat. My wife and I assumed the couple were probably from Canada. However, we were taken aback when the waitress said she didn't know, and would check with the cook. The payoff came when she came back and said the cook wasn't sure if it was all white meat! In Montana truck stops, chicken fried steak is very common. To this day, my wife and I cannot figure out whether the couple, waitress and cook were all from Canada, OR, if by some glitz in the cosmos she and I had momentarily been transferred to a parallel universe where chicken fried steak was unknown.
@@N0sf3r4tuR1s3n You know, for some reason, my wife and I didn't think so, but could very well be right. I don't remember if I said this, but the other couple didn't order the chicken fried steak.
Fellow montanan! To be honest, I didn't actually figure out that chicken fried steak was beef until embarrassingly late in life (despite eating semi frequently). My guess is that the name is confusing enough to throw off even the people that eat it.
Chicken Fried Steak (CFS) is short for Steak Fried like Chicken, that's all really. I had my first CFS in the Air Force in Biloxi Mississippi in 1982. I loved it ever since. As it was starting to become popular in the northern states (around the late 80's), many diners called it "Country Fried Steak" to avoid confusion for newbies. CFS is a lower quality cut of beef that has been tenderized by pounding it with a textured mallot (very much the way Salisbury Steak is prepared). Then the steak is coated in the same batter that is used for frying chicken. It is then fried in a deep fryer (or sometimes in a pan). It is served covered in "Country Gravy" which is whole milk, a little butter, a little flour, some coarse ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt. As that mixture just starts to boil, it thickens. Sometimes a chicken or beef bullion cube is added for more flavor but the butter, salt, and pepper alone give it a rich but adapting flavor that picks up the flavor of whatever you put it on. Sometimes you can ask for Chicken Fried Steak with Sauage Gravy. Sausage Gravy is just Country Gravy that started by cooking broken of bits of sweet sausage, and then making the Country Gravy from there, keeping most of fat instead of butter (sometimes adding butter too). The Farmer's Daughter Diner in Dallas Texas has the best Chicken Fried Steak. In 2019 when I was working in Dallas, I would have Chicken Fried Steak every Sunday morning with country gravy (they served 2 big steaks in one order- that is Texas style) and biscuits with sausage gravy! Great food, great staff, and the owner treats all of his customers like gold. The owner once gave me breakfast on the house (he said it was from a stanger). I later found out that he did it because I always removed my Western Cowboy hat when I entered the diner and always complemented the staff and owner when I saw him on such great food and service. You would be surprised how many people fail to remove their hat indoors - especially as a guest in a home or restaurant. It is considered rude to leave you hat on, unless you are "under arms" - like police on duty and carrying firearms. My father taught me that and it was reinforced when I was in the US Air Force.
Thanks for pointing out the proper etiquette regarding hats! As a young boy, my grandmother always emphasized to us that a "gentleman" always removes his hat indoors. Nowadays, very few people seem to be aware of this custom. Glad to know that at least you were "brought up right". 🤣 Kudos to your Dad. 👍💯
@@johnvsymons I teach Summer STEM. Aside from science and whatnot, I teach my students to remove their hats indoors and few other other civil things many don't teach at home or in school. It's my house, I make the rules. When I was older and knew better, my father reminded me once to remove my hat at the dinner table by giving me a quick slap across my face, as my head spun to the side, my hat flew off and onto the floor, then on with dinner as nothing happended. He only did it once as I learned my lesson. My father was tough but fair. The oldest of 5 sons he rewarded us for doing very well, and punished us for doing wrong. The Air Force drill instructors went easier on me, they just yelled in my face if I wore my hat after crossing the threshold indoors. Getting back to my father. Mom and dad were taking us all out to Bonanza Steak house for dinner. He sat the 3 of us (at the time) down on the couch and quietly laid out the ground rules: no loud talk, no grab ass, eat all you take, be polite to everyone and have a good time - we knew the drill. As we were finishing dinner, a man from a nearby table walked up to my mom and dad and commented how well behaved his young boys were and it was a pleasure dining near us. My mom and dad were beaming, my dad could not give us enough praise, he took us to Carvel for ice cream.
Lawrence, your videos are a glimpse into the perspective my fiancé must have had when he visited from Britain. I attempted to introduce him to some of my favorite meals, Chicken Fried Steak being one, and his initial reaction to it was precious: "Wait, you guys FRY steak??" He loved it, along with the fried okra served with it.
Wow, Ive never tried okra either! And my mom was born and raised in the South! You'd think she would have tried that on us at least once. Well, she did give us artichokes which we dipped in lemon butter. We thought that was so fancy lol!
Glad you were able to try the dish. What you tasted is in my opinion very similar to the Oklahoma dish. But there truly is a huge variety in this dish. How thin is the meat, how thick is the breading, and how seasoned is it.
@@ericstromberg9608 As a Texan: PANKO?! It has it's uses (seafood, mainly), but not for a CFS. Flour, egg, flour to get it nice a craggly batter. Maybe mixing panko with the flour could be interesting? Cheap steak is a must since have to pound it out nice and thin anyway, so got that right at least. ;P I will admit I've considered trying a blasphemy of a beer batter chicken fry steak though (think traditional fish & chips type), but haven't yet... I'm just kinda amazed Lawrence found a decent looking country-gravy in Chicago.
Huge variety indeed. Depending on where you go, you can get it with white or brown gravy (or both in some places!) as a breakfast item with eggs + toast or a biscuit + hashbrowns or grits, or as a dinner item, with mashed potatoes and some sort of vegetable. I think most diners that serve it have it on their breakfast and supper menus, but will let you order off either menu at any time during the day, so you could have a breakfast chicken fried steak for supper, or a supper chicken fried steak for breakfast! YUM!
I am a native Texan, and I remember hearing that chicken fried steak was linked to our German immigrants. It was a way of preparing tough cuts of beef. They took the process of preparing Wiener schnitzel and applied it to steak.
This reminds me of a story I read in a historical book once--apparently, one day back in like the late 1600's or so, some English pre-American family in what we'd now call New England, was having dinner, and they had this German immigrant couple over. The not American yet family still prepared their food the stereotypical British way--throw everything in a pot and boil the crap out of it. One of the German people was like "We cook ours _this_ way. Here, have a taste." And it was FRIED. And the English immigrant family was STUNNED at how much more delicious it was. And on that day, America's legendary obsession with fried food was anecdotally born. So, IF that's true, apparently our major love of fried food originally came from the Germans! Kinda fits with the fact that our major fast-food sandwiches all have German-origin names...
Haha. That's every cut of Texas beef😅 meant with kindness in mind, want tender beef? Go to the Upper Midwest and have cornfed steak...no seasoning or sauces required
I…..I am just absolutely FLOORED how it took a Scotsman to tell you about chicken fried steak. It’s EVERYWHERE in the south and even up north if you’re east of the Mississippi
I can't believe you've never heard of chicken fried steak! it's such a common thing at most diners! It's even served as a breakfast at some places! It definitely is best with gravy for sure!
@@jonathanfinan722 The USA has EVERYTHING including a lot of things that are not fried.(and we are a first, second, and third world country)One does not have to eat the fried things. I eat country fried, or chicken fried steak once or twice a year, mostly because it’s fried and breaded. I prefer my steak, and even my chicken not fried or breaded.
My family is from the south(I grew up on the west coast) CFS was a staple to our diet. It was one of the first meals I made on my own as a child (started early cooking and baking) at 8 years old. We always served it with white gravy, green beans and mashed potatoes…dessert was buttermilk pie….hmmmm yummmm
As a Brit who has been to the US quite a few times, I've never had chicken fried steak, or your cream gravy. How do you make the gravy, please? I may give it a try!
@@evelynhillier2877 Hopefully someone can answer with measurements but you use some of the cooking oil, add flour to make a roux, season with salt and pepper and then add milk and stir until it thickens. Add more salt and pepper to taste. I haven't made it in years but we used about two heaping tablespoons of flour and maybe filled a 12 inch cast iron pan almost halfway with milk for a family of five to have leftovers.
@@evelynhillier2877 make a roux with flour, water and bacon fat (a staple in a southern home). Add milk, salt & pepper to taste. On low heat stirring constantly, cook until it has reached gravy consistency. Don’t step away from the pan or it will “lump up”.
A chicken fried steak expedition. Yes, you did right my friend. Pro Tip: It's best practice to ensure you don't need to walk more than 100 yards afterwards. Otherwise, well done.
I'm from Kentucky, but never heard of serving CFS for breakfast. Momma would serve it once in a blue moon for dinner (noon meal...lived on a farm and in the south), but chicken fried pork chops was a pretty common meal. We butchered our own hogs and always had lots of pork on hand. Happy times, happy memories.
In TX and OK the restaurants serve CFS for breakfast and have as long as I can remember. You can also get regular steak, pork chops or I've even seen a surge of CFC (chicken fried chicken) for breakfast as well.
It's really funny to me that Lawrence hadn't had CFS after over a decade in the Midwest. I grew up about 2.5 hours directly west of Chicago, and there wasn't a single diner I'd ever been to that didn't have it on the menu. My boyfriend is Korean and moved to the states when he was 10 and it was one of the first "American" foods that he ever tried after moving here and he loves it.
Only restaurants in Wisconsin that even have CFS on the menu is a Cracker Barrel restaurant and store. Why would anyone dredge steak in flour and egg and deep fry it like chicken is beyond me. I'll take grilled and roasted chicken as well instead of grease laden fried suff. Sorry. I don't cook with LARD either. Yuck.
@@candle86 I don't doubt the best is in the south, but I've lived in Illinois and near Dever and have yet to see an American diner that didn't have CFS on the menu. From Armenian owned places near my hometown, to chain diners I order CFS from at 2am while drunk
@@Og-Judy because it's delicious, that's why. People aren't dredging and frying prime rib or a ribeye steak. They're cheap cuts of steak that usually aren't suitable for more extensive preparations. People like flavor, not bland-ass grilled chicken seasoned minimally with salt and pepper.
I never had Chicken Fried Steak until I moved to Texas when I was 16. It instantly shot up to one of my favorite foods, absolutely love it! Glad you enjoyed it too 😁
My Mother and both grandmother's always cooked steak this way. I never knew there was another way to fix it until I was a teenager. I suspect beating it into a schnitzel (for lack of a better word), then flouring, frying, and fixing gravy in the remaining drippings and grease was a way to make scarce supplies stretch for a large family.
An important point is also that the cuts of beef used in a chicken fried steak are not something like a ribeye or even a good sirloin. They are cheaper, not as tender, cuts of beef that are usually cubed, or run through many many times with a sharp point to mechanically cut through the connective tissue that makes the meat so tough in the first place.
Three generations of my ancestors were from Texas (Hillsboro to Albany) I grew up on Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy w/Creamed Potatoes. It is absolute Comfort food to this day.
There's a bison place in my city that's pretty dang good. Unfortunately I have not been there in a while. The absolute best bison burger I've ever had was at Fort Robinson outside of Crawford, Nebraska. It's been several years and have not forgotten how good that was!
Thanks for showing some love to Stella's, one of my neighborhood favorites here in East Lakeview. Next time you go there, try their sweet and sour cabbage soup. It's incredible.
My mom used to make chicken fried steak with venison when I was growing up. It was one of two ways she’d cook the deer meat my grandpa would give us during hunting season. The other was to make it into tamales.
Just as a full Irish breakfast is slightly different from a full English, there are differences between schnitzel, chicken-fried steak, and country-fried steak. Schnitzel is typically veal or pork. Both CFSs start with round or cube steak, but the breading and topping differ. One is dipped in egg batter, seasoned flour (sometimes also bread or cracker crunbs), fried, and served with white gravy. The other is dredged only in flour, fried, and smothered in brown gravy.
Great video! I hadn't considered that the origins of Chicken Fried Steak might be Schnitzel, but it makes sense. I might have guessed it had a Scottish-descended origin. I eat this for my birthday every year, because that's all the punishment I feel I can justify doing to my body.
CFS is one of my favorite meals, one I learned to cook well at home. Eggs, hash browns...It's a breakfast classic, but it makes for great dinner too. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You went to the right diner.
At the two places around here where I get my CFS fix (Inland Cafe and Truck Corral), the meals end up being enough to have a full breakfast worth's left over the next day, plus a couple sandwich's worth as well.
Try the chain restaurant Po Folks. If you go on Saturday, country/chicken fried steak is all you can eat. Get the gravy on the side. One, you can choose which bite have gravy. Two, the gravy keeps warm better in a bowl than spread out on your "steak".
I’m 47 and born and raised in South Texas. It never occurred to me that other countries did not know about country fried steak. LOL. I was shocked to hear this is his first time, haha. We eat it with white gravy! Mmmmmmmm
Growing up and living in North Carolina one of my favorite comfort foods was Fried Cubed Steaks. Roughly the same as Chicken Fried Steak. Cubed steak is a tougher cut of meat, usually sliced from the beef Round Roast and then needled - cutting the fibrous connective tissue, dredged in a flour mixture and fried. The drippings left in the pan were then used to make a milk/cream gravy to be added atop the steak and smothered on biscuits. My mother would work a second shift job (3pm - 11pm) and if nothing was prepared for the family's dinner this was one of my father's staple dishes. Usually he would pan-fry potato slices as well as serve cold pork-n-beans. When I would be living away from home, I would make this meal (or a few others) to re-connect with when I was growing up and things were less stressful.
First off, you not having heard of this meal really helps to highlight the regional differences of food in the US. I love that you tried it as soon as you learned of it! So very common on the west coast and inland North West. I have been told by my Asian grocer that it is a favorite choice when going out to eat by her community. Love your show!
@@451_F How can you eat meat without cutting it with a knife? Do you just stuff the whole thing into your mouth? I've seen toddlers use their cutlery better than most Americans do.
@@jillhobson6128 Keeping the knife in your hand is considered poor etiquette. You cut, put the knife down on the plate, transfer the fork to your right hand, then eat with the fork. Your left hand is expected to rest on the napkin on your lap unless you are actively cutting food. Insulting strangers is also considered poor etiquette here in America.
@@angiebee2225 What a complete waste of time swapping your cutlery over. You then have to swap your knife back to your right hand to cut your meat and swap it back to eat it, your food must get cold. How do you eat your veg? What about left handed people? Does that explain why Americans stuff their mouths with huge portions of food and eat with their mouths open? That is classed as bad manners.
I love Chicken Fried Steak and I prefer it with the white gravy as opposed to brown gravy but it is pretty good with mushroom or onion gravy as well. It is a treat for me because something that good and that comforting cannot possibly be healthy. There is a diner here in Albuquerque that has a really good one and it is the size of a dinner plate. I am thinking I am about due to take a trip down to the Route 66 diner and get one very soon. I am glad you liked it, it really is a kind of traditional American dish right up there with biscuits and sausage gravy. I think I need a defibrillator just thinking about those two dishes. Cheers!
you, madam, are an individual with an obviously refined palette. indeed, chicken fried steak, and chicken fried chicken should be covered in white milk gravy, and black pepper. i applaud your appreciation of the finer things, and wish you well.
A lot of people don't really respect the distinction (i.e., they think it's the same dish with different names), but Chicken Fried Steak always comes with the white, pepper gravy and Country Fried Steak is what comes with the brown gravy (often with onions in it).
last night I got that video with you and Shaun walking around and you mentioned you never heard of chicken fried steak. The night after I get recc'd this vid. glad you tried it.
I know the restaurant gets a lot of flak, but as a youngster I used to love the country fried steak at Chili's. It included buttery corn on the cob and skin-on mashed potatoes as sides and tasted amazing.
I grew up eating CFS and still love it. I learned Country Fried Steak was just the meat dredged in season flour then fried. CFS was dredged in seasoned flour then egg wash( egg and a little milk beaten together) then back in the flour then fried. Also if you make CFS , remove it from the skillet to a low oven to keep warm then add some of the flour you used to the oil left in the skillet and make your cream gravy. When the gravy is done return the steaks to the pan and warm then up in the gravy.Then serve them with the gravy poured over the steaks. Still enjoy your videos.
I love your videos for your general humor and knowledge but even more so to see the familiar chicago northside areas passing by. I was over by Stella's this pass weekend and didn't even know it!
I am happy this Brit has discovered chicken fried steaks. I love chicken fried steaks. I have had them here in California, in Texas, and in Oklahoma, as well as in other places. All good. I must admit, at no time have I ever been able to see an actual chicken in the process of frying my steak. I have come to believe this is a fraud perpetrated on all unsuspecting diner patrons and all such steaks are actually fried by a human who is secluded in the diner's kitchen. But, never mind, a steak fried by a human is acceptable.
I'm in Canada, and my first exposure to country/chicken fried steak was through the Wendy's fast food chain, which used to have a country fried steak sandwich on its value menu, but removed it over a decade ago. Which is probably a good thing for my arteries, because they were pretty tasty. I've since had a more authentic experience with CFS in U.S. diners, but I'm glad it's not easy to get in my neck of the woods.
My dad was from Oklahoma and he LOVED Chicken Fried Steak. And you are correct, the gravy completes it. You need a savory milk and flour (and when *I* make it, sausage) gravy seasoned with ground peppercorn. The batter should have a generous amount of pepper as well. The meat is a well tenderized (aka beaten within an inch of its former life) cube or round steak. CFS is a way to use more of the cow than you might otherwise, so the Oklahoma nature of the dish makes sense. Basically, a cut that is nigh inedible gets a delicious, battered, juicy makeover. And very importantly, I can assure you I have had chicken fried steak in Oklahoma diners and living in Milwaukee now, both northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin diners and if they made it with white gravy, eggs (sometimes put ON the steak and under the gravy...my preferred positioning), and hashbrowns (preferably the shredded and fried kind with only salt and pepper...no cubed potato and DEFINITELY no onion or bell peppers) then, Lawrence, you have had the "Dish of Oklahoma". Please tell me you've had Deep Dish Pizza...and if you have, feel free to go "viral" by favorably comparing it to New York or New Jersey Pizza. Bomb throwing, incendiary promotion idea free
You had what is without question my absolute favorite breakfast. I like to get an extra side of gravy and put it over the eggs and hashed browns as well. Another great way to have country fried steak is as a dinner, with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. The broccoli makes you feel like you're eating healthy.
Well, if you battered the broccoli then I'd eat it. Steamed, nah. But to your point, yeah, if I had a tiny piece of it, then I could tell my family I ate healthy at the time. But they would probably not believe me considering my distaste for broccoli that isn't battered/friend or at least chopped up and put into a frittata. I am waiting for him to try out a plate of Rocky Mountain Oysters.
What a fun video! I mentioned Stella's Diner in last Friday's American Food live stream. Funny I never realized chicken fried steak an offshoot of schnitzel... and I am German. So I am guessing the Hoosier pork sandwich is another variation of schnitzel.
I never made the connection either, but it absolutely makes sense. Wiener schnitzel is traditionally pork or veal, so if you're too poor for veal, you substitute cubed steak... The gravy puts it over the top.
@@AndrewAMartin Thanks Andrew. schnitzel can be any form of meat: chicken, beef, mutton, pork or veal. Wiener schnitzel is with veal, where Schweineschnitzel uses pork.
Both cooked similar to a delicious schnitzel. Also many people of German decent live in Indian so definitely Hoosier pork sandwich is like a schnitzel.
I am happy for you that you finally got to try Chicken Fried Steak. Although eating it in Chicago is probably like eating “Chicago Style Pizza” in Houston. 😄 CFS is a staple in Texas and Oklahoma, so if you want the best, you’ll want to try it there. Growing up in Texas, I thought CFS was just standard American food…until I tried ordering it while traveling cross country and got some very strange looks. 😆 We do have a wide assortment of cuisine in this country (which may explain our ever expanding waistlines). Bon Appetit!
Veal parm is the origin of chicken fried steak. Its amazing how much good food comes from Rome. The difference between country and chicken fried is the breading batter. Country is supposed to be a slightly denser peppery breading and chicken fried is supposed to be a fluffier herbal (like kfc) breading. Chicken fried is also good with a chopped mac n cheese with gravy spices in it instead of gravy. Try that on a baked tater.
Was so thrilled when saw you guys together ❤️ Laurence and Shaun 😀 been watching both of you 4 over 2 yrs and yep it was great 2 c u both together 😀 let's do more......the crowd shouts out :/)
@@denisenilsson1366 That’s right! I completely forgot about it too! It’s delicious… do you remember making chocolate pudding on the stove using the boxed pudding? It tastes a lot like that pudding when it was hot, except it’s usually thinner. Really good for breakfast on pancakes or biscuits…. And probably ice cream too🐝❤️🤗btw… chocolate sauce and chocolate gravy are different. The sauce was more like warm candy, the gravy was more like warm pudding
Chicken fried steak is one of my husband's favorites. He orders it almost every time we go out to breakfast. I like it too, but eat it for dinner. Just the way I was raised. I thought this was one of your best videos. I prefer diners to other types of restaurants. Good variety, and usually owned by great people, not nameless corporations.
How the fuck have I never tried this I was born here in the US. Maybe its because im from Cali and diners are not really a thing here unless your of the older demographic.
It is pretty hard to make a bad CFS.. I think it's because it's got so many great things going into it.. the steak, the batter, the deep-frying, the gravy.. each one is good on its own, but together, well, like I said, that's pretty hard to really screw up. Hard, but not impossible.. I once ate at a Denny's with a friend, and he got the CFS, and ended up throwing up in the bathroom from food poisoning before we even finished the meal.. Because we were young and stupid, we actually went back to the same Denny's for dinner a week or so later, but even I wasn't dumb enough to order the CFS there again (but unfortunately, my friend apparently was exactly that dumb, and ended up paying for it the same way a second time. That restaurant did have a bit of a change of management shortly afterward, for some unknown reason...)
@@Morrissey2k Eh, not a fan of the chain diners because I'm pretty sure those come in frozen and the steak inside is more akin to a hamburger steak than a round steak.
Great video Lawrence! The look on your face when you took your first bite of chicken fried steak was the look of pure happiness. And I did not notice any egg in your beard.
As a child I wondered the same thing about whether chicken fried steaks were chicken or beef. Imagine my disappointment when I ordered it one time only to find it was country fried steak with a weird name! The variety of country fried steaks is astounding for such a simple looking dish. Expect totally different seasonings, gravies, and qualities of meat if you ever order it elsewhere!
Chicken Fried Steak is the best and I am so happy you were finally able to get a taste of it. More importantly, I loved the fact that you called it CFS. We called it that in High School because everyone Thursday was CFS day. Yay!!!!
I'm Texan. CFS is definitely a staple dish in the South. Just to let know the differences: Fried Chicken - a whole chicken cut into pieces and dipped in batter or dredged in buttermilk and spiced flour and fried. Chicken Fried Steak - a beef steak pounded until it's thin, dipped in batter or dredged in buttermilk and spiced flour and fried. Chicken Fried Chicken - Same as CFS, but its a large pounded thinly piece of chicken in batter/dredge and fried.
They seem to be replacing “chicken” with country more and more, probably because “chicken fried steak” is too confusing, nobody knows why it is called that. But now I do, because you explained that to me literally three minutes ago. Thanks Lawrence!
There are differences in the preparation and crispiness but many restaurants ignore them and do whatever they want. If that had been a properly served Country Fried Steak he was served it would have been covered in brown gravy.
I'm from Texas and in all the restaurants I've dined at, there is a difference in chicken fried steak and country fried steak. Chicken fried is battered with a wet batter and served with gravy. Country fried is very lightly dredged in flour and often served without gravy or brown gravy.
I am surprised you weren't aware of Chicken Fried steak... since it's a pretty common food. My favorite memory is going to a Bed and Breakfast in Texas where the lady of the house made us CFS for dinner.. it was GREAT!.. made out of Deer meat.. the best I've tasted. I think like everything there are recipe's and then there are recipe's. There are folks from Germany that settled in the Fredricksburg TX... so I can see it in TX for that reason, but also the whole "Cowboy" quisine would of course require a pounded beef with breading and gravy.
i met many from the north/northeast who don't know about it. I was in St. Louis 5 years ago and asked for DQ's Chicken fried steak sandwich, and workers never heard of it. Instead they offer a fried pork version.
Seminole Tx is over near me in Lamesa and there's a large German Mennonite community over there. Lamesa is mostly hispanic now but historically there was lots of various peoples coming through the area.
You’re funny Laurence ! I get a big kick out of watching your videos. Your deadpan British humor sends me into stitches !!!! I love it ! Love it when you collaborate with Shaun or even show up at the Townsends studio. Nothing is off limits and I love it !!! You keep America entertained with your videos, and we see ourselves thru your British lenses.
My mom, when we were growing up, would rarely make something, which I'm pretty sure she called chicken fried steak. But hers was a finger food (and so no gravy) on a stick . I thought then that it was called chicken fried because it was shaped kind of like a chicken drum stick.
Chicken fried steak (or country-fried) is my favorite diner food by far. It is an excellent way to make an otherwise tough cut of beef rather palatable. I always add a few drops of hot sauce to liven the dish up a bit.
Laurence, I am glad to see that the question “How do you want your eggs?” doesn’t faze you now. I’ve got a cyber pal from Sussex planning a ruby wedding trip to the States and I advised her that if she goes to a diner and wants an English fried egg she needs to ask for “sunny side up”. Thank you for finally making me ponder the question, “What exactly IS chicken fried steak?” They serve it in school cafeterias and I ate it for years assuming it was a chicken cutlet!
I lived in the US for 34 years and never had chicken fried steak. I don't really like fried food at all and since i discovered broiled rare filet mignon when I went to university I don't have steak any other way. Love the videos, didn't notice the egg in your beard. The uptick in humour is most welcome. JIM Oaxaca
Hi! I love chicken fried steak - it was an exotic southern dish, along with biscuits and gravy, that I enjoyed whenever leaving the midwest. Now, though, I live in Oklahoma - and it's everywhere. I have to restrain myself from eating it daily! Thanks for bringing joy in sharing your first experience with it!
I simply cannot wrap my head around how you have lived in the states this long and did not run into a chicken fried steak until a Scottish guy told you about it
I suspect it is mainly southern. For instance would it be on menus in east coast diners? Genuinely curious.
@@AdmiringObserverR Don't know about the east coast, but it's available in Iowa.
@@AdmiringObserverR Oddly I think of it more of a West of the Mississippi thing. Being from Michigan its not really a common thing on menus here and if it is not homemade style it is not worth it. Really common dish anywhere in the plains states. There is a lot of food people consider Southern that is not Southern at all. I suspect it was a German=American invention because it is essentially a beef schnitzel with a bechamel type sauce. Think of where beef became a staple in America (Texas, Okie, Kansas, Nebraska) and I would say it is more of a Western then Southern dish.
Guess he's never been to Florida and Cracker Barrel.
@@W_R_L_L_ The dish does not originate from Florida. Nominally it is thought maybe Texas, but the origin of the dish is German immigrants in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Most of the damn dishes people call Southern were actually originated in places like New England and Pennsylvania. You also have to remember in the 19th century the Deep South was not very good for growing things like wheat or raising beef. Other hand pork was the primary meat and rice was a grain that parts of the Deep South was very conducive to. Mostly in the Deep South they grew corn instead of wheat back then because of poor climate & weak soil for wheat. Also the South could raise sugarcane so it was more prevalent in 19th century cuisine. Have to remember things had to be sourced regionally more when these foods were created. Cornbread, American style biscuits, American pancakes/flap jacks, baked beans, American style fried chicken, and a ton of other stuff originated in the North and not the South. There is not 1 damn thing Florida about chicken fried steak.
P.S. even your beloved chow-chow originated in the North.
My nephew works in Lamesa, Texas and during the Chicken Fried Steak Festival last year he won the competition for making the best chicken fried steak.
Sorry, but we always heard that Chicken Fried Steak was created by the German Settlers of the Texas Hill Country around New Braunfels. They settled there before the civil war so it goes back a ways.
Hold up- There’s a town with a Chicken Fried steak festival?! Now I know where my next vacation will be 😋
I had never heard of the festival either until he won. From the pictures I saw it looked like a pretty big deal.
@@lennarolan3792 How have I lived in an around west Texas my whole life and not known about this?!
Say what what?? There's a CFS festival in texas with a competition? noted.
As a native Texan, this was one of the first things my grandma taught me how to cook. I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here you can also get chicken fried chicken (which is redundant), which is essentially a chicken breast pounded down to the thickness of the steak cutlet and prepared the same way, and is equally delicious, also to be eaten with a heaping portion of mashed potatoes on the side.
Wouldn't that be chicken fried steak fried chicken?
Don't forget the red eye gravy!
That's just fried chicken.
@@bob7975 I agree, but I didn't name it.
I dunno about that. The most cheated I've ever felt was when I was given what I thought was chicken fried steak that turned out to be chicken fried chicken. I still feel that sting. Ok, it was bad but not as bad as thinking I was about to chug ice water but down went luke warm unsweet tea.
I'm Canadian. 15ish years ago, I read that Chicken Fried Steak is the most commonly requested last meal among Texan death row inmates, and decided that I needed to learn how to cook it. I have made it for my son (now nearly 27) every year since then for his birthday. Every Canadian we've ever told about this tradition has been 1)confused 2) intrigued and 3) won over. If you haven't tried it - do! It's not something you'd want every day (for health reasons 😆) but definitely worth trying.
Denny's does one in Canada, if I remember correctly
How many death row inmates are you feeding that you felt the need to learn this recipe?
But no I kid, learning how to cook more things is never a bad thing.
@@SchemeTintFocus If you can find a Denny's in Canada. There are some around Toronto, and Calgary (which I remember from when I grew up there in the '70s), but it's not nearly as common here as in the U.S. Sadly, no Moon Over My Hammy for Atlantic Canada. Not yet, anyway.
You get my vote for Mother of the Year.
I like it with brown gravy. Im not a fan of white.
The secret to southern US food is that you can not go wrong if it is deep fried and covered in gravy. The same applies to the MN state fair.
Here's something that will really blow your mind... in some southern areas, Dairy Queen serves steak fingers. They're like chicken fingers, but also like chicken fried steak. You dip them in gravy. They're amazing.
We have a local place here in Albuquerque, NM called Mac's Steak in the Rough and that's exactly what you can expect. Steak fingers that are battered and fried and you dip them in gravy. It's fantastic. They used to have several locations in the chain, then it dropped to a single restaurant, now it's back up to two. Expensive, but tasty.
@@RonJDuncan Steak fingers are quite common in Texas, as they are just the drive-through version of CFS. And 've had more than one argument over the proper number of fingers in a steak finger basket. It's either three or five. An even number of fingers is just...weird...and wrong.
It’s funny to me that you find it amazing, but I grew up in Oklahoma 😆
@@mph7282 I get that. Strangely enough, food plating in culinary school has you do food items in odd numbers because by design it's more appealing to the eye. That said, Mac's does serve it as four, but if I go for the double rough and make it 8, I'm so stuffed at the end I stop caring about the odd/even number
My favorite as a kid... Was just craving those the other day. The toast somehow completes it too 😆
I'm Oklahoman, and I was sitting here watching this video, thinking that if Lawrence lived here, he wouldn't have to walk more than a few blocks to get some what he was questing for. There is also something called "chicken-fried chicken", which sounds silly, but it just means it's a chicken fillet cooked in the manner of chicken-fried steak. I personally prefer it, but there are a whole lot of folks here who love the original, as you can probably guess by the fact that it's considered our "state dish". 😋
Yeah... I'm from Tennessee but I prefer chicken fried chicken.
As I usually live in Connecticut I have never heard of either. But when I went on a trip to Texas and found the chicken fried chicken. I ordered it because it is a funny name that doesn’t make much sense. And it was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. And it could be the restaurant but the chicken fried chicken is better than the chicken fried steak.
Native Okie here too! Classic Oklahoman dish. That and fried okra.
@@HankMeyer there's a trick to frying Okra. If you don't know it, it sux. But if you *do* know it... Yum!
(My father-in-law taught me)
French Canadian here, used to work in Tulsa. My colleagues LOVED my look of confusion when they'd bring up chicken fried steak!
Haha brilliant video - chicken fried steak was a memorable part of our road trip for sure, especially as we stopped at a lot of diners 🍽
2nd like!
Who is this "Chicken Fried Meat" you speak of?
Shaun and Lawrence - when I was growing up we called chicken fried steak elephant scabs at the school cafeteria! Luved seeing you 2 together! XO from Colorado
It's one of my favorites!
My Mom taught me how to make it 🤤👍💪
@@bobbilynnsmith5146 Growing up, my son (45 now) always called the crumbs in the fried chicken pan scabs. As in "Don't give me any of the scabs!" Where as everyone else wanted them...🙄
The first time I had Chicken Fried Steak was when I was in Texas. The German connection makes sense, because there are a lot of towns there started by German immigrants. And, Texas Chile was said to have been created by a German immigrant. BTW, there are no beans in traditional Texas Chile.
Chili con carne was 900% invented by native people- likely the Aztecs or Maya, as the first documented chili pepper flavored stews were documented by conquistadors among the Aztecs in the 1500s. Texas chili came from the tejanos and is a bona fide part of their cuisine. NOT German.
@@SavageGreywolf Yeah, highly doubt the people who invented the chicken fried steak also created chili. German food's too mild for that.
A lot of people in Texas speak German and it even has its on version " Texas German."
The reason why Texans became so intent on seasoning their beef is because their scrub fed cows taste awful.
Go to the upper Midwest and go enjoy cornfed beef, so rich you won't even want steak sauce
I wouldn't doubt that they did. Scrub those German food stereotypes out of your mind and go visit Bavaria or the Tyrol and it'll open your taste buds and mind.
Also possible they both could have, Texan beef is famously garbage and anyone wanting to make it palatable HAS to season it.
I spent years perfecting my chicken fried steak recipe. It ended up being what made my wife realize I was a keeper! I still make it for her on her birthday.
My wife loves my recipe as well. I make it for her two or three times a year. I just posted my recipe in the comments. Mainly its my sawmill gravy recipe that I make with Conecuh hickory smoked sausage.
Wanna share any tips?
You're right! The gravy is everything. You can go to 5 different places and 3 will just serve canned gravy, but the other 2 places will make their own gravy. If you find a place that makes great gravy, then you'll have a great chicken fried steak. Any place that makes their own gravy will also have great biscuits and gravy.
True for the most part. I have run into places where one of their gravies are good, but some of their gravies are not so much. I've definitely seen where the biscuits and gravy were good, but the chicken friend steak gravy was too plain. I think because they had good sausage to lean on for flavor, but then made their country gravy too plain. I'm not sure I've encountered the reverse though, where they made a good country gravy and bad biscuit gravy.
@@lrom5445 I wonder if the bad gravy is because they used canned or instant gravy. An ex girlfriend and I went to one place once that normally had wonderful sausage and biscuits. That morning they had ran out of their gravy and was doing the instant or canned gravy. We turned it down. While it's true there are some that are good most of the time it's a shot in the dark with an uncalibrated a gun.
If the gravy makes or breaks the CFS, you did it wrong.
I went to a place and they tried to serve me canned sausage gravy on my country fried steak. I left. There's just no way to respect a place that does that.
Good gravy is a must. You are absolutely right about the biscuits and gray and I would like to add that it is excellent over good mashed potatoes (I even enjoy it with fries instead of ketchup).
Chicken/ country fried steak is actually one of the tougher cuts of beef jabbed full of holes, battered, fried, and smothered with gravy. It’s a good way of using a very tough piece of meat turning it into something useful. It’s usually flank or something very chewy that can’t be used normally. A punch full of needles is hit through the steak a number of times cutting up the fibers. It’s battered and fried. Usually a white gravy is poured on top. What you get is a very tender piece of beef that is perfect. I’ve made this a number of times and the punch is a pain to find at least the right one.
In the US, you can buy raw "cubed steak" in the grocery store, which are pieces of beef that have already been run through the "needle punch" you mention, so are already tenderized for chicken-fried steak, salisbury steak, etc.
@@idoc-2 Salisbury is made from ground beef. Basically mini meatloaf seasoned slightly differently and no ketchup.
Cube steak is typically top round or top sirloin. Flank would be one of the lesser desired cuts, but I suppose it's lesser desired for a lot of things, but especially deep frying. The needle punch is called a jaccard and there are a number of different sizes and brands available. The only one I've used was probably a nicer one I suppose, but it did the job just fine.
Try it with queso cheese on top 🤤
@@dannyfrog Thou shalt not ruin Chicken Fried Steak should have been a commandment : )
I'm a 37-year old lifelong bachelor who is a software engineer, someone you probably wouldn't expect to do much cooking, but Chicken Fried Steak has been one of my favorite things to cook since I was a teenager. At least once a week, I'll make either chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, or chicken fried pork, all served with white cream gravy.
Can I come over? :P
Chicken fried pork cutlet, especially with pan gravy, is an amazing dish, but I rarely see it offered in the diner context. Guess pork cutlet is just to fancy for 'em.
That is committment.
@@malleusflavus1160 Make it at home all the time. Pan gravy is great for flavor and for getting rid of the fat in the pan.
How is your blood pressure? Guys your age are at the start of, “He was so young to have a widow-maker heart attack” territory. Of course you won’t have a widow to worry about but sodium=high blood pressure=heart disease and stroke, the top two causes of death for Americans.
As a Chicagoan that moved abroad, I would like to thank you for bringing me back home. Your videos with the shots of the city are very well done and should be recognized by the city's board of tourism for its positive representation of Chicago. Thanks again, Laurence!!
I almost fell out of my chair when you mentioned the small town of Lamesa. You even pronounced it correctly!!! I was born and raised there. Excellent reaction!
My Grandmother, a Texican through and through, loved the little town of Lamesa. She was born in Plain View, lived in Long View, then across the state in Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Kerrville. Still she was fond of Lamesa.
What's even better is to have the gravy on the side. That way the steak stays crispy as you dip each bite in a little gravy. It's still good with the gravy on top but if you don't want the breading to get soggy on the side helps that.
that white gravy is also really good with chicken tenders.
@@andrewschliewe6392 I'll have to try that. Sounds good.
@@anitachiquita70 When I lived in TX, this chicken place, the chicken came with the white gravy.
this person chicken-fried-steaks properly!
I agree completely. I don't like chicken fried steak smothered in gravy cuz the breading does gets soggy and the flavor isn't as good. I'm the same way with biscuits and gravy.
Oh, dear! As a Texan who used to work at the Black-Eyed Pea (before it was sold and destroyed), I can assure you that you have Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes smothered in the same gravy as the chicken-friend steak. The Houston police would come in and order their specialty (which we dubbed Heartattack On A Plate) of double chicken-friend steak and mashed potatoes with extra gravy. Alas, I no longer eat beef, but I do miss CFS from time to time. Oh, and it's called "chicken-fried" because the steak (after being pounded into a thin, large slab) is dipped in batter and then fried like fried chicken. Glad you enjoyed it!
I remember eating at the Black-Eyed Pea in Houston, TX area as a kid and I remember it was delicious to eat there.
Yeah, I remember Black-Eyed Pea. I like white gravy on the CFS and brown gravy on mashed potatoes though I also sometimes get white gravy on the mashed potatoes.
I was mortified when BEP got rid of their black eyed pea salad. I always thought they used french dressing....do you know if that's the case? You always got to choose 2 sides and my dad and I always got "double" baked squash sides. They published the squash recipe in the 80's in the now defunct Houston Post newspaper and it tastes identical. Lots of work, a huge stock pot for cooking the squash, but worth every minute. The secret is to use wheat rolls, just like BEP did. Gosh I miss that place.
@@rockyroad7345 Yes, the squash was delicious and a serious project for the cooks each day. I don't remember the dressing on the black-eyed pea salad. I know it was something exclusive to the BEP. They liked to make their own stuff as much as possible, including the croutons which were made from the leftover rolls. I also miss the BEP. Not working there but eating there. 😄
I loved the Black Eyed Pea in its hey-day!! The best green beans! I was so sorry to see it deteriorate.
Two secrets to southern fried steak:
1) yes it's the gravy, make sure there is black pepper in the gravy, lots of it.
2) you can ruin it by using ingredients that are too high quality. It's not a fancy cut of meat, and the breading is plain and simple. I've seen it done.
Yep! It's best if kept simple. My parents almost never made this because they usually bought good steak and cooked it properly. So I grew up eating only grilled filets and New York strip steaks. Can't complain about that. But, that somehow resulted in a chicken fried cube steak becoming a rare treat.
There's a version of gravy called sawmill gravy in the South. The roux is cooked until it has browned, then add the milk. The gravy is caramel-colored rather than white. It's delicious.
I've done it and your right. There must be lots of black pepper, just like biscuits and gravy. Also right about keeping it simple. Nothing fancy about this dish, just great tasting.
Just get some tenderized cubed steaks and put it in flour and then egg and back in flour and put lots and lots of salt and pepper on it. Then heat up Crisco shortening (best way) and put steak in grease and cook until the blood comes up on the top, then flip it and cook a few more minutes. After all the steaks are cooked add flour and milk to the grease and make some gravy. That’s how my mom taught me to cook it at any rate, and it’s better than anything you’ll get at a restaurant.
It's definitely about the gravy. However, I prefer a true sausage gravy to the simpler white country gravy.
The “steak” part is much the same between “Country-fried” and “Chicken-fried;” usually a tenderized slice of round steak (The cheap places might use a chopped and reformed ‘cutlet’, slightly better will use a cheaper cut such as round, better still will use sirloin or even ribeye but that is overkill.) the meat is flour used to bread it is seasoned with the chicken-fried sometimes having a bit more spice in it. Most will deep-fry the steak, the traditional places will fry it in a cast iron skillet with a lot of oil, not enough to submerge though; that’s the ‘chicken-frying’ part. But the biggest difference is the gravy. Country-fried steak will have brown gravy (stock-based) while chicken-fried steak always uses a cream-based gravy, often with a lot of cracked pepper in it. That gravy doesn’t soak into the breading as quickly, so the chicken-fried steak can often be crispier than its country-fried cousin. Both are based on schnitzel with country-fried more common in the eastern and southern states while chicken-fried is more western. But it’s gaining in popularity.
Dude you get an a+
As someone from Oklahoma, all my chicken fried steaks/chickens have come with white gravy. Well, maybe a lot of places ask, to which I always answer white...
When I can I'll do Chicken-fried Elk. Elk is such a lean animal, the meat tends to be abit tough and dry.
Hammering flat(tenderizing), Battering and frying, can make anything delicious, even horse.
dude, you're making me hungry. i haven't had one in at least a month. yum!
Country fried is cooked with a skillet and oil why chicken fried is deep fried. However, they are used interchangeably just no egg and hashbrowns.
Jezz
Chicken (or country fried) steak is pretty amazing, and when it's done right, there is no better meal. I was surprised that you ordered hash browns, but I guess that would be normal if you're having it for breakfast, with eggs. I've always had it for lunch or dinner, so mashed potatoes is the way I've always had it, and there's nothing better than a bite of steak with potatoes and gravy on top! If you ever get to Kansas City, go to Stroud's, which was originally opened in 1934 as a "road-house" and is best known for their fried chicken, but their CFS is to die for. And it's substantially larger than the plate upon which it's served!
Heh. I've been known to order it with breakfast, use the extra gravy for everything, save the steak for lunch. If I'm having it for lunch or dinner, I eat it with mashed potatoes and country green beans. It's just plain yum.
I love going to Stroud's.
I make my country fried/chicken fried steak with white gravy, rice, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, homemade macaroni & cheese, biscuits and sometimes collard greens.
I am salivating right now.
@@whiteowl4097 LOL. I haven’t made that dinner in years since it’s just me now but I used to make it twice a year. Only twice because it’s so much fried food and I wasn’t trying to kill my now ex husband at the time. I called it our Fryday because almost everything was fried. I forgot to include the fried corn I would make sometimes too.
Change the collard greens to polk salat and you'll have me!
I’ll be there at supper!!
For those of you who might be tempted to actually make this yourselves. Buy cubed steak from the grocery. The trick to good CFS is salt...a LOT of salt on the meat. Restaurants soak the steak in brine to tenderize it and also make it really salty. If you manually salt it, put 3 or 4 TIMES the amount of salt on it you think you should. Dredge the pieces of steak in flour. Then create a mixture of flour and eggs, with a bit of salt and pepper. It will be bout the consistency of wallpaper paste when it's right. Dredge the floured pieces of steak thru this concoction...then once more through the flour. Then put the pieces in a skillet with an inch or so of cooking oil on medium-high heat. Flip it over (and over) until it is golden brown.
The cream gravy is trickier. Pour out about 95% of the oil in the skillet, keeping all the little "cracklins'" - just where the bottom of the skillet is covered about 1/16" in the leftover oil. Heat the skillet back up on medium. Put some salt and pepper into it - close to a teaspoon of salt and maybe 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Put flour into the skillet and mix it up with the grease, until its mixed together - probably 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour in a 14" skillet. It should be almost a moist solid. Add milk - maybe 1/2 cup to start and mix well - you should see it bubbling and it will start reducing. The tricky part is taking it out at the right time. If you drag a spoon across the bottom of the skillet, when it doesn't immediately go back together, it is about right. If you miss that timing, just add a bit more milk and mix again.
The white/milk gravy is a MUST with chicken fried steak! It makes ALL the difference. My husband even orders it when he gets steak fingers instead of the regular house made BBQ sauce. 😊
Yes. I can eat it all day long.
Yes, also smothered steak. SOOO good!
I didn't even know there was an option growing up. To this day, and I'm 49, about the only time I make brown gravy is thinking about it, otherwise it is always milk gravy. There is the fact I only make gravy about 4 times per year these days, it's not really very healthy, but I do get a taste for it every now and then. Still, I can't think of a single reason to make brown gravy.
@@shadodragonette - I know; me too! But yet I know of many people and restaurants that either serve it with brown gravy or ask which one you'd prefer. I guess some folks hear the word "steak" and automatically think brown gravy...but on CKS - YUCK!
As an Idahoan…I have to address Fingersteaks being called “steak fingers” as an outrage to our state dish. 😉
As a native Texan, I also appreciate you pronouncing the name of "Lamesa" correctly. Also, if you're ever in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and want an authentic and fabulous Southern-style fried chicken dinner, look for a local chain named Babe's Chicken Dinner House. Yes, they will also make you a chicken-fried steak if you like.
Babe's is the closest thing you can get to eating at my grandma's house
It's about as authentic an experience as possible... Stuffing yourself too death on desserts included
He also says Chicago correctly. CHIcken in the CAr and the car won't GO.
He could do a whole video just making fun of the foreign place names Americans insist on pronouncing like kindergarteners. Lamesa is just one of thousands. Visit Dubois, Wyoming, Versailles, Missouri, Buena Vista, Colorado and Salida, Colorado just down the street, Latakia tobacco, . . .. I'm sure someone will chime in with dozens of others.
As a native Texan, that was NOT correct. lol
Chicken fried steak has been one of my favorite foods since I was a kid. My whole family being from Texas, means it has been necessary dish my whole life. Glad you finally got to try it. How you went through life not even knowing of it's existence is almost criminal. It's also pretty awesome on a sandwich.
Shaun's appreciation for American food is wonderful for those of us here who take it for granted. Seeing someone enjoy it for the first time puts it into perspective. Sometimes it is a wonderful experience to learn about the history and culture of a meal, whether it's before or after you consume it, and really appreciate the flavors. I'm pretty sure that's why The Townsends are a popular channel.
Its just nice to see someone not predetermine it to be trash simply because it's American.
Southern Food is the best. All other regions copy Southern Dishes. Including BBQ, which is SOUTHERN.
@@joeyricefried9621 The other day I was reading a cookbook where a New Englander claimed that "sky-high, feathery biscuits are a myth sold to Yankees." I promptly made some feathery sky-high biscuits, ate them, and felt great about my status as a Southerner.
I've been all over the U.S. and the only food that can compete is Atlantic seafood. Lobster rolls are truly one of the most scrumptious things conceived by man. And fried razor clams.
Who's Shaun? LiTP is called Lawrence.
@@TheErador Shaun is the Scotsman Lawrence was talking with at 3:20. He's done a number of videos on his previous trips to the US where he really goes into the differences and enjoyment of the various regions cuisine.
CFS is often made with cubed steak. That is a less tender cut of beef that is tenderized by running it through a machine that punches and pokes it.
Or an angry chef just beats the hell out of it with a tenderizer.
Cube steak can also be tenderized with a vinegar marinade. Nothing wrong with adding some acid to your meat.
My wife and I were having dinner in a restaurant in Butte Montana, when a couple sat down at the booth next to ours. When the waitress came to take their order, the man asked if the "chicken fried steak" was all white meat. My wife and I assumed the couple were probably from Canada. However, we were taken aback when the waitress said she didn't know, and would check with the cook. The payoff came when she came back and said the cook wasn't sure if it was all white meat!
In Montana truck stops, chicken fried steak is very common. To this day, my wife and I cannot figure out whether the couple, waitress and cook were all from Canada, OR, if by some glitz in the cosmos she and I had momentarily been transferred to a parallel universe where chicken fried steak was unknown.
Hello fellow Butant!
I think the waitress and the cook were just screwing with them.
@@N0sf3r4tuR1s3n You know, for some reason, my wife and I didn't think so, but could very well be right. I don't remember if I said this, but the other couple didn't order the chicken fried steak.
Fellow montanan!
To be honest, I didn't actually figure out that chicken fried steak was beef until embarrassingly late in life (despite eating semi frequently). My guess is that the name is confusing enough to throw off even the people that eat it.
I turned this on randomly. You said Chicago and Chicken Fried Steak and 4 Miles and I'm like "This guys going to Stella's" good stuff!
You do that nostalgic BBC reporting voice so well lol. And I love seeing it juxtaposed with American culture.
Chicken Fried Steak (CFS) is short for Steak Fried like Chicken, that's all really. I had my first CFS in the Air Force in Biloxi Mississippi in 1982. I loved it ever since. As it was starting to become popular in the northern states (around the late 80's), many diners called it "Country Fried Steak" to avoid confusion for newbies. CFS is a lower quality cut of beef that has been tenderized by pounding it with a textured mallot (very much the way Salisbury Steak is prepared). Then the steak is coated in the same batter that is used for frying chicken. It is then fried in a deep fryer (or sometimes in a pan). It is served covered in "Country Gravy" which is whole milk, a little butter, a little flour, some coarse ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt. As that mixture just starts to boil, it thickens. Sometimes a chicken or beef bullion cube is added for more flavor but the butter, salt, and pepper alone give it a rich but adapting flavor that picks up the flavor of whatever you put it on. Sometimes you can ask for Chicken Fried Steak with Sauage Gravy. Sausage Gravy is just Country Gravy that started by cooking broken of bits of sweet sausage, and then making the Country Gravy from there, keeping most of fat instead of butter (sometimes adding butter too).
The Farmer's Daughter Diner in Dallas Texas has the best Chicken Fried Steak. In 2019 when I was working in Dallas, I would have Chicken Fried Steak every Sunday morning with country gravy (they served 2 big steaks in one order- that is Texas style) and biscuits with sausage gravy! Great food, great staff, and the owner treats all of his customers like gold.
The owner once gave me breakfast on the house (he said it was from a stanger). I later found out that he did it because I always removed my Western Cowboy hat when I entered the diner and always complemented the staff and owner when I saw him on such great food and service. You would be surprised how many people fail to remove their hat indoors - especially as a guest in a home or restaurant. It is considered rude to leave you hat on, unless you are "under arms" - like police on duty and carrying firearms. My father taught me that and it was reinforced when I was in the US Air Force.
Thanks for pointing out the proper etiquette regarding hats! As a young boy, my grandmother always emphasized to us that a "gentleman" always removes his hat indoors. Nowadays, very few people seem to be aware of this custom. Glad to know that at least you were "brought up right". 🤣 Kudos to your Dad. 👍💯
@@johnvsymons I teach Summer STEM. Aside from science and whatnot, I teach my students to remove their hats indoors and few other other civil things many don't teach at home or in school. It's my house, I make the rules. When I was older and knew better, my father reminded me once to remove my hat at the dinner table by giving me a quick slap across my face, as my head spun to the side, my hat flew off and onto the floor, then on with dinner as nothing happended. He only did it once as I learned my lesson. My father was tough but fair. The oldest of 5 sons he rewarded us for doing very well, and punished us for doing wrong. The Air Force drill instructors went easier on me, they just yelled in my face if I wore my hat after crossing the threshold indoors.
Getting back to my father. Mom and dad were taking us all out to Bonanza Steak house for dinner. He sat the 3 of us (at the time) down on the couch and quietly laid out the ground rules: no loud talk, no grab ass, eat all you take, be polite to everyone and have a good time - we knew the drill. As we were finishing dinner, a man from a nearby table walked up to my mom and dad and commented how well behaved his young boys were and it was a pleasure dining near us. My mom and dad were beaming, my dad could not give us enough praise, he took us to Carvel for ice cream.
Lawrence, your videos are a glimpse into the perspective my fiancé must have had when he visited from Britain. I attempted to introduce him to some of my favorite meals, Chicken Fried Steak being one, and his initial reaction to it was precious: "Wait, you guys FRY steak??" He loved it, along with the fried okra served with it.
As someone who grew up in Britain, I find his remark hilarious and ironic coming from someone who lives where they deep fry mars bars..LOL
@@FranWest. - Deep fried Mars Bars! Ah, yes, one of the fine points of Scottish "cooking."
Wow, Ive never tried okra either! And my mom was born and raised in the South! You'd think she would have tried that on us at least once. Well, she did give us artichokes which we dipped in lemon butter. We thought that was so fancy lol!
Glad you were able to try the dish. What you tasted is in my opinion very similar to the Oklahoma dish. But there truly is a huge variety in this dish. How thin is the meat, how thick is the breading, and how seasoned is it.
I use cheap cubed steak because it tends to be uniform, but breaded with Japanese panko. I typically use just some salt and pepper.
There are varieties of chicken-fried steak, just as there are varieties of pizza.
@@ericstromberg9608 As a Texan: PANKO?! It has it's uses (seafood, mainly), but not for a CFS. Flour, egg, flour to get it nice a craggly batter. Maybe mixing panko with the flour could be interesting? Cheap steak is a must since have to pound it out nice and thin anyway, so got that right at least. ;P
I will admit I've considered trying a blasphemy of a beer batter chicken fry steak though (think traditional fish & chips type), but haven't yet...
I'm just kinda amazed Lawrence found a decent looking country-gravy in Chicago.
Still an American staple. And delicious. I haven't had it for a while. I'll have to fix that.
Huge variety indeed. Depending on where you go, you can get it with white or brown gravy (or both in some places!) as a breakfast item with eggs + toast or a biscuit + hashbrowns or grits, or as a dinner item, with mashed potatoes and some sort of vegetable. I think most diners that serve it have it on their breakfast and supper menus, but will let you order off either menu at any time during the day, so you could have a breakfast chicken fried steak for supper, or a supper chicken fried steak for breakfast! YUM!
I am a native Texan, and I remember hearing that chicken fried steak was linked to our German immigrants. It was a way of preparing tough cuts of beef. They took the process of preparing Wiener schnitzel and applied it to steak.
CFS = Texas beef schnitzel
This reminds me of a story I read in a historical book once--apparently, one day back in like the late 1600's or so, some English pre-American family in what we'd now call New England, was having dinner, and they had this German immigrant couple over. The not American yet family still prepared their food the stereotypical British way--throw everything in a pot and boil the crap out of it. One of the German people was like "We cook ours _this_ way. Here, have a taste."
And it was FRIED.
And the English immigrant family was STUNNED at how much more delicious it was.
And on that day, America's legendary obsession with fried food was anecdotally born.
So, IF that's true, apparently our major love of fried food originally came from the Germans!
Kinda fits with the fact that our major fast-food sandwiches all have German-origin names...
Haha. That's every cut of Texas beef😅
meant with kindness in mind, want tender beef? Go to the Upper Midwest and have cornfed steak...no seasoning or sauces required
I…..I am just absolutely FLOORED how it took a Scotsman to tell you about chicken fried steak. It’s EVERYWHERE in the south and even up north if you’re east of the Mississippi
It’s up north west of the Mississippi. It is a staple of the cattle country of the plains states.
I can't believe you've never heard of chicken fried steak! it's such a common thing at most diners! It's even served as a breakfast at some places! It definitely is best with gravy for sure!
When the USA realises that you don’t have to fry everything or wrap it in awful bread, then it might get a chance to enter the first world.
Best with *** cream *** gravy, not that thin brown soup they pour on mashed potatoes.
@@jonathanfinan722 Bitter much? It is obvious that you have issues.
@@jonathanfinan722 The USA has EVERYTHING including a lot of things that are not fried.(and we are a first, second, and third world country)One does not have to eat the fried things. I eat country fried, or chicken fried steak once or twice a year, mostly because it’s fried and breaded. I prefer my steak, and even my chicken not fried or breaded.
Because he's from "across the pond" he'd never heard of it. I've never had Toad in the Hole but I'm willing to try it!👍
Nothing better than a chicken fried steak, smothered in flour gravy! For a southwestern flair, put some green chili on top❤️
DAMN DAMN DAMN SKIPPY!!!!!!!
I've always called it milk gravy or country gravy. Yes chicken fried steak is the BEST.
Cream Gravy
@@nom-de-sobriquet yep, cream gravy.
Needs hot sauce mmmmmm
My family is from the south(I grew up on the west coast) CFS was a staple to our diet. It was one of the first meals I made on my own as a child (started early cooking and baking) at 8 years old. We always served it with white gravy, green beans and mashed potatoes…dessert was buttermilk pie….hmmmm yummmm
Buttermilk pie. That's a new one for me. I gotta research that. Thanks for the prompt
As a Brit who has been to the US quite a few times, I've never had chicken fried steak, or your cream gravy. How do you make the gravy, please? I may give it a try!
@@evelynhillier2877 Hopefully someone can answer with measurements but you use some of the cooking oil, add flour to make a roux, season with salt and pepper and then add milk and stir until it thickens. Add more salt and pepper to taste. I haven't made it in years but we used about two heaping tablespoons of flour and maybe filled a 12 inch cast iron pan almost halfway with milk for a family of five to have leftovers.
@@cowboys1960 well, that sounds like a Bechemel sauce, so that's easy! Thank you.
@@evelynhillier2877 make a roux with flour, water and bacon fat (a staple in a southern home). Add milk, salt & pepper to taste. On low heat stirring constantly, cook until it has reached gravy consistency. Don’t step away from the pan or it will “lump up”.
Biscuits and gravy is also another southern dish that is phenomenal after a late night.
Mmmm biscuits and gravy ….
A chicken fried steak expedition. Yes, you did right my friend. Pro Tip: It's best practice to ensure you don't need to walk more than 100 yards afterwards. Otherwise, well done.
It's cubed steak (beef) that is breaded and fried like chicken. "Chicken-fried" is a description of how it's cooked. Gotta go to Texas for the best.
I don't know, best I ever had was at the country club at the Del Webb in Roseville CA
Little restaurant in Broken Bow? OK , called Pier 41
I'm from Kentucky, but never heard of serving CFS for breakfast. Momma would serve it once in a blue moon for dinner (noon meal...lived on a farm and in the south), but chicken fried pork chops was a pretty common meal. We butchered our own hogs and always had lots of pork on hand. Happy times, happy memories.
In TX and OK the restaurants serve CFS for breakfast and have as long as I can remember. You can also get regular steak, pork chops or I've even seen a surge of CFC (chicken fried chicken) for breakfast as well.
Up in North Dakota diners that serve CFS have dinner and breakfast versions that differ as to what sides come with.
It's breakfast all over the West Coast.
Breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can get CFS in the southwest.
In Missouri you can get CFS for any meal.
It's really funny to me that Lawrence hadn't had CFS after over a decade in the Midwest. I grew up about 2.5 hours directly west of Chicago, and there wasn't a single diner I'd ever been to that didn't have it on the menu.
My boyfriend is Korean and moved to the states when he was 10 and it was one of the first "American" foods that he ever tried after moving here and he loves it.
Only restaurants in Wisconsin that even have CFS on the menu is a Cracker Barrel restaurant and store. Why would anyone dredge steak in flour and egg and deep fry it like chicken is beyond me. I'll take grilled and roasted chicken as well instead of grease laden fried suff. Sorry. I don't cook with LARD either. Yuck.
You gotta come south to get really good ones, they originated down here in Texas, because by God we texan's will fry/deep fry anything, trust me.
@@Og-Judy congrats
@@candle86 I don't doubt the best is in the south, but I've lived in Illinois and near Dever and have yet to see an American diner that didn't have CFS on the menu. From Armenian owned places near my hometown, to chain diners I order CFS from at 2am while drunk
@@Og-Judy because it's delicious, that's why. People aren't dredging and frying prime rib or a ribeye steak. They're cheap cuts of steak that usually aren't suitable for more extensive preparations. People like flavor, not bland-ass grilled chicken seasoned minimally with salt and pepper.
We need Lawrence to do a series on cooking American food at home.
I never had Chicken Fried Steak until I moved to Texas when I was 16. It instantly shot up to one of my favorite foods, absolutely love it!
Glad you enjoyed it too 😁
My Mother and both grandmother's always cooked steak this way. I never knew there was another way to fix it until I was a teenager. I suspect beating it into a schnitzel (for lack of a better word), then flouring, frying, and fixing gravy in the remaining drippings and grease was a way to make scarce supplies stretch for a large family.
Flooring it step on it Ethel
@@makingd.o.123 haha. I think you're getting giddy. Maybe it's just the thought of chicken fried steak. 😃
Yes, speaking from experience it is a way to stretch what you have to feed everyone, but golly, isn’t it delicious! I can almost taste it!
I hate this stupid autocorrect. If it doesn't recognize a word, it fights you.
Chicken fried steak, eggs with runny yolk mixed into the hash browns might just be my favorite diner food. I'm so glad you like it too.
Yes!!!
put some cholula on the egg/hashbrown mixture
An important point is also that the cuts of beef used in a chicken fried steak are not something like a ribeye or even a good sirloin. They are cheaper, not as tender, cuts of beef that are usually cubed, or run through many many times with a sharp point to mechanically cut through the connective tissue that makes the meat so tough in the first place.
I'm just amazed that he found a diner that didn't serve it. It'd be like finding a burger joint that doesn't serve fries.
Three generations of my ancestors were from Texas (Hillsboro to Albany) I grew up on Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy w/Creamed Potatoes. It is absolute Comfort food to this day.
Your adorableness keeps me coming back for more! Have you tried a BISON BURGER yet? If not, you NEED to!!!
There's a bison place in my city that's pretty dang good. Unfortunately I have not been there in a while.
The absolute best bison burger I've ever had was at Fort Robinson outside of Crawford, Nebraska. It's been several years and have not forgotten how good that was!
@@jovetj Sounds like I know where YOU will be eating soon!
@@ReleaseTheQuackers I actually had Chicken Fried Steak for lunch today!
Thanks for showing some love to Stella's, one of my neighborhood favorites here in East Lakeview. Next time you go there, try their sweet and sour cabbage soup. It's incredible.
Brilliant coverage of country fried steak! ~Sharon (From Florida)
My mom used to make chicken fried steak with venison when I was growing up. It was one of two ways she’d cook the deer meat my grandpa would give us during hunting season. The other was to make it into tamales.
Just as a full Irish breakfast is slightly different from a full English, there are differences between schnitzel, chicken-fried steak, and country-fried steak.
Schnitzel is typically veal or pork.
Both CFSs start with round or cube steak, but the breading and topping differ. One is dipped in egg batter, seasoned flour (sometimes also bread or cracker crunbs), fried, and served with white gravy. The other is dredged only in flour, fried, and smothered in brown gravy.
Great video! I hadn't considered that the origins of Chicken Fried Steak might be Schnitzel, but it makes sense. I might have guessed it had a Scottish-descended origin. I eat this for my birthday every year, because that's all the punishment I feel I can justify doing to my body.
The reason CFS is so popular in Texas and Oklahoma is the huge waves of German immigrants that came in the 1800 and 1900s.
Very good and it has quite a history in my life
Schnitzel is a chicken fried steak. Veal is the usual choice, but they couldn't get it. So they substituted and 'older' cut of meat.
What's Scotland got to do with a schnitzel?
@@jillhobson6128 idk about schnitzel. That's German but the Scottish taught the African slaves in America how to fry chicken.
CFS is one of my favorite meals, one I learned to cook well at home. Eggs, hash browns...It's a breakfast classic, but it makes for great dinner too. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You went to the right diner.
It’s a personal favourite of mine as well
At the two places around here where I get my CFS fix (Inland Cafe and Truck Corral), the meals end up being enough to have a full breakfast worth's left over the next day, plus a couple sandwich's worth as well.
Try the chain restaurant Po Folks. If you go on Saturday, country/chicken fried steak is all you can eat.
Get the gravy on the side. One, you can choose which bite have gravy. Two, the gravy keeps warm better in a bowl than spread out on your "steak".
I’m 47 and born and raised in South Texas. It never occurred to me that other countries did not know about country fried steak. LOL. I was shocked to hear this is his first time, haha.
We eat it with white gravy! Mmmmmmmm
Growing up and living in North Carolina one of my favorite comfort foods was Fried Cubed Steaks. Roughly the same as Chicken Fried Steak. Cubed steak is a tougher cut of meat, usually sliced from the beef Round Roast and then needled - cutting the fibrous connective tissue, dredged in a flour mixture and fried. The drippings left in the pan were then used to make a milk/cream gravy to be added atop the steak and smothered on biscuits. My mother would work a second shift job (3pm - 11pm) and if nothing was prepared for the family's dinner this was one of my father's staple dishes. Usually he would pan-fry potato slices as well as serve cold pork-n-beans. When I would be living away from home, I would make this meal (or a few others) to re-connect with when I was growing up and things were less stressful.
First off, you not having heard of this meal really helps to highlight the regional differences of food in the US. I love that you tried it as soon as you learned of it! So very common on the west coast and inland North West. I have been told by my Asian grocer that it is a favorite choice when going out to eat by her community. Love your show!
chicken fried steak is considered a southern staple in the south.
@@toomanyaccounts Right . It's only popular in some southern states .....definitely not healthy dining.
You forgot to mention that it's a Southern staple as well.
@@donjose6520 we never said a full Dixie diet was good for people, just delicious.
@@N0sf3r4tuR1s3n yes amen to that . Love fried chicken too....but chicken fried steak with that Gravy.....I only had it once and don't crave it.
Laurence, you've Americanized yourself enough that you're eating with the fork in the right hand.
Unfortunately still keeps the knife in his hand the entire time though.
@@451_F How can you eat meat without cutting it with a knife? Do you just stuff the whole thing into your mouth? I've seen toddlers use their cutlery better than most Americans do.
@@jillhobson6128 Keeping the knife in your hand is considered poor etiquette. You cut, put the knife down on the plate, transfer the fork to your right hand, then eat with the fork. Your left hand is expected to rest on the napkin on your lap unless you are actively cutting food. Insulting strangers is also considered poor etiquette here in America.
@@angiebee2225 What a complete waste of time swapping your cutlery over. You then have to swap your knife back to your right hand to cut your meat and swap it back to eat it, your food must get cold. How do you eat your veg? What about left handed people?
Does that explain why Americans stuff their mouths with huge portions of food and eat with their mouths open? That is classed as bad manners.
I love Chicken Fried Steak and I prefer it with the white gravy as opposed to brown gravy but it is pretty good with mushroom or onion gravy as well. It is a treat for me because something that good and that comforting cannot possibly be healthy. There is a diner here in Albuquerque that has a really good one and it is the size of a dinner plate. I am thinking I am about due to take a trip down to the Route 66 diner and get one very soon. I am glad you liked it, it really is a kind of traditional American dish right up there with biscuits and sausage gravy. I think I need a defibrillator just thinking about those two dishes. Cheers!
you, madam, are an individual with an obviously refined palette. indeed, chicken fried steak, and chicken fried chicken should be covered in white milk gravy, and black pepper. i applaud your appreciation of the finer things, and wish you well.
Yeah the gravy has to be white.
I don't consider it chicken fried steak unless it has white gravy! it's my favorite dish!
Was it Range Cafe in Albuquerque? That place is a little gem that I like to go to when I'm in ABQ.
A lot of people don't really respect the distinction (i.e., they think it's the same dish with different names), but Chicken Fried Steak always comes with the white, pepper gravy and Country Fried Steak is what comes with the brown gravy (often with onions in it).
The editing was amazing. Such high quality.
last night I got that video with you and Shaun walking around and you mentioned you never heard of chicken fried steak. The night after I get recc'd this vid. glad you tried it.
I know the restaurant gets a lot of flak, but as a youngster I used to love the country fried steak at Chili's. It included buttery corn on the cob and skin-on mashed potatoes as sides and tasted amazing.
Chili’s is good!
I loved their chicken fried steak! I was bummed when they took it off the menu.
Denny's CFS isn't too bad either.
There was a chain restaurant down in Texas back in the 90s called, Po Folks. Friday night they had all you can eat CFS.
@@andrewschliewe6392 They existed in Arizona when I was a kid. I think I may have only eaten there once though and don't remember the food.
Traditionally in Missouri, it's a milk gravy, served with green beans and a dinner roll. Of course, you need hot sauce for the gravy. Good stuff
Oh yes definitely hot sauce! I like Tabasco but Frank's Red Hot Sauce is good too!
I'm from Louisiana and in my neck of the woods we never put hot sauce in the gravy that goes on chicken fried steak. No way!
@@451_F Biskets and gravy, what do you do put the hot sauce on the biskets? Hot sauce definitely goes in the gravy
I grew up eating CFS and still love it. I learned Country Fried Steak was just the meat dredged in season flour then fried. CFS was dredged in seasoned flour then egg wash( egg and a little milk beaten together) then back in the flour then fried. Also if you make CFS , remove it from the skillet to a low oven to keep warm then add some of the flour you used to the oil left in the skillet and make your cream gravy. When the gravy is done return the steaks to the pan and warm then up in the gravy.Then serve them with the gravy poured over the steaks. Still enjoy your videos.
Great video, Laurence! 👍💝
I love your videos for your general humor and knowledge but even more so to see the familiar chicago northside areas passing by. I was over by Stella's this pass weekend and didn't even know it!
I am happy this Brit has discovered chicken fried steaks. I love chicken fried steaks. I have had them here in California, in Texas, and in Oklahoma, as well as in other places. All good. I must admit, at no time have I ever been able to see an actual chicken in the process of frying my steak. I have come to believe this is a fraud perpetrated on all unsuspecting diner patrons and all such steaks are actually fried by a human who is secluded in the diner's kitchen. But, never mind, a steak fried by a human is acceptable.
If i were to guess, I would say it comes down to the breading process. And frying it of course...
I have eaten chicken fried rice, too. Had no idea that chickens were such good cooks! ;)
Andy…it’s a joke.
Haha :P
@@kathleengillick1899 Yeah, I misread that.
Oh god, did those pictures have brown gravy on them? No no no that is so wrong! You need cream gravy or sausage gravy on it.
No doubt
Cream gravy made with the fat rendered during cooking the steak
I was hoping it was a bad light. Only white gravy
It’s southern food, southern CHICAGO food
No, it was cream sausage gravy.
Mmmmm!
A four mile walk is about what you need if you eat a chicken fried steak.
I'm in Canada, and my first exposure to country/chicken fried steak was through the Wendy's fast food chain, which used to have a country fried steak sandwich on its value menu, but removed it over a decade ago. Which is probably a good thing for my arteries, because they were pretty tasty. I've since had a more authentic experience with CFS in U.S. diners, but I'm glad it's not easy to get in my neck of the woods.
My dad was from Oklahoma and he LOVED Chicken Fried Steak. And you are correct, the gravy completes it. You need a savory milk and flour (and when *I* make it, sausage) gravy seasoned with ground peppercorn. The batter should have a generous amount of pepper as well. The meat is a well tenderized (aka beaten within an inch of its former life) cube or round steak. CFS is a way to use more of the cow than you might otherwise, so the Oklahoma nature of the dish makes sense. Basically, a cut that is nigh inedible gets a delicious, battered, juicy makeover.
And very importantly, I can assure you I have had chicken fried steak in Oklahoma diners and living in Milwaukee now, both northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin diners and if they made it with white gravy, eggs (sometimes put ON the steak and under the gravy...my preferred positioning), and hashbrowns (preferably the shredded and fried kind with only salt and pepper...no cubed potato and DEFINITELY no onion or bell peppers) then, Lawrence, you have had the "Dish of Oklahoma".
Please tell me you've had Deep Dish Pizza...and if you have, feel free to go "viral" by favorably comparing it to New York or New Jersey Pizza. Bomb throwing, incendiary promotion idea free
You had what is without question my absolute favorite breakfast. I like to get an extra side of gravy and put it over the eggs and hashed browns as well. Another great way to have country fried steak is as a dinner, with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. The broccoli makes you feel like you're eating healthy.
Well, if you battered the broccoli then I'd eat it. Steamed, nah. But to your point, yeah, if I had a tiny piece of it, then I could tell my family I ate healthy at the time. But they would probably not believe me considering my distaste for broccoli that isn't battered/friend or at least chopped up and put into a frittata. I am waiting for him to try out a plate of Rocky Mountain Oysters.
I prefer green beans or corn, but yeah...
OMG, you just had to mention the hash browns...guess i'm eating at IHOP at midnight now.
Steamed broccoli is delicious. I'd love that with that for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Healthier than the fried okra we usually had with it.
What a fun video! I mentioned Stella's Diner in last Friday's American Food live stream. Funny I never realized chicken fried steak an offshoot of schnitzel... and I am German. So I am guessing the Hoosier pork sandwich is another variation of schnitzel.
I never made the connection either, but it absolutely makes sense. Wiener schnitzel is traditionally pork or veal, so if you're too poor for veal, you substitute cubed steak... The gravy puts it over the top.
@@AndrewAMartin Thanks Andrew. schnitzel can be any form of meat: chicken, beef, mutton, pork or veal. Wiener schnitzel is with veal, where Schweineschnitzel uses pork.
@@johnhelwig8745 I make a decent version of Jaeger schnitzel myself... This video and all this food chat is making me hungry again!
Both cooked similar to a delicious schnitzel. Also many people of German decent live in Indian so definitely Hoosier pork sandwich is like a schnitzel.
I am happy for you that you finally got to try Chicken Fried Steak. Although eating it in Chicago is probably like eating “Chicago Style Pizza” in Houston. 😄 CFS is a staple in Texas and Oklahoma, so if you want the best, you’ll want to try it there. Growing up in Texas, I thought CFS was just standard American food…until I tried ordering it while traveling cross country and got some very strange looks. 😆 We do have a wide assortment of cuisine in this country (which may explain our ever expanding waistlines). Bon Appetit!
People outside the South sometimes think you are pranking/mocking them when you order this. It's sad.
True. Like getting Mexican food in Texas, but only have Taco Bell up north. Not even the same food group.
Veal parm is the origin of chicken fried steak. Its amazing how much good food comes from Rome. The difference between country and chicken fried is the breading batter. Country is supposed to be a slightly denser peppery breading and chicken fried is supposed to be a fluffier herbal (like kfc) breading. Chicken fried is also good with a chopped mac n cheese with gravy spices in it instead of gravy. Try that on a baked tater.
Was so thrilled when saw you guys together ❤️ Laurence and Shaun 😀 been watching both of you 4 over 2 yrs and yep it was great 2 c u both together 😀 let's do more......the crowd shouts out :/)
That dish is a classic. I love it too… lots of gravy, everything is better with gravy. 🐝❤️🤗
Even ice cream?
@@denisenilsson1366 🤗lol…. Well, maybe not ice cream. Unless you call chocolate sauce gravy??🐝❤️🤗
@@deborahdanhauer8525 I believe that in Alabama (I may be wrong), chocolate sauce is referred to as "chocolate gravy."
@@denisenilsson1366 That’s right! I completely forgot about it too! It’s delicious… do you remember making chocolate pudding on the stove using the boxed pudding? It tastes a lot like that pudding when it was hot, except it’s usually thinner. Really good for breakfast on pancakes or biscuits…. And probably ice cream too🐝❤️🤗btw… chocolate sauce and chocolate gravy are different. The sauce was more like warm candy, the gravy was more like warm pudding
@@deborahdanhauer8525 Thank you for the information!
Chicken fried steak is one of my husband's favorites. He orders it almost every time we go out to breakfast. I like it too, but eat it for dinner. Just the way I was raised. I thought this was one of your best videos. I prefer diners to other types of restaurants. Good variety, and usually owned by great people, not nameless corporations.
I prefer my CFS in a dinner configuration as well.
How the fuck have I never tried this I was born here in the US. Maybe its because im from Cali and diners are not really a thing here unless your of the older demographic.
Chicken Fried Steak never disappoints! Even the dodgiest diner seems to turn out a pretty good CFS. I think it's the gravy.
I think it says somethin about the dish if even somewhere like Dennys or Ihop can have a good one lol.
Not ihop. 50% chance of diarrhea or food poisoning
It is pretty hard to make a bad CFS.. I think it's because it's got so many great things going into it.. the steak, the batter, the deep-frying, the gravy.. each one is good on its own, but together, well, like I said, that's pretty hard to really screw up.
Hard, but not impossible.. I once ate at a Denny's with a friend, and he got the CFS, and ended up throwing up in the bathroom from food poisoning before we even finished the meal.. Because we were young and stupid, we actually went back to the same Denny's for dinner a week or so later, but even I wasn't dumb enough to order the CFS there again (but unfortunately, my friend apparently was exactly that dumb, and ended up paying for it the same way a second time. That restaurant did have a bit of a change of management shortly afterward, for some unknown reason...)
@@Morrissey2k True, Denny's and IHOP both make a pretty decent chicken fried steak.
@@Morrissey2k Eh, not a fan of the chain diners because I'm pretty sure those come in frozen and the steak inside is more akin to a hamburger steak than a round steak.
I was introduced to chicken fried steak while traveling in the southern U.S. Yes, when done right it is absolutely wonderful!
Great video Lawrence! The look on your face when you took your first bite of chicken fried steak was the look of pure happiness. And I did not notice any egg in your beard.
Have you ever had good Southern buscuits & gravy?
People are going to flame me for this... But some very good B&G can be found at the Hardee's fast food restaurants during their breakfast.
@@centauri61032 I was going to suggest that. Their gravy is loaded with sausage and pepper too. I love it.
As a child I wondered the same thing about whether chicken fried steaks were chicken or beef. Imagine my disappointment when I ordered it one time only to find it was country fried steak with a weird name!
The variety of country fried steaks is astounding for such a simple looking dish. Expect totally different seasonings, gravies, and qualities of meat if you ever order it elsewhere!
I remember being shocked when I learned it was beef lol, I always thought it was chicken lmfao.
Damn, that looked good. Haven’t had chicken fried steak in far too long.
And this makes me want to visit Chicago again.
Notice that he had to go fairly far out to find CFS around Chicago. No shortage of other good food things there that are unique to the area.
Chicken Fried Steak is the best and I am so happy you were finally able to get a taste of it. More importantly, I loved the fact that you called it CFS. We called it that in High School because everyone Thursday was CFS day. Yay!!!!
I'm Texan. CFS is definitely a staple dish in the South. Just to let know the differences:
Fried Chicken - a whole chicken cut into pieces and dipped in batter or dredged in buttermilk and spiced flour and fried.
Chicken Fried Steak - a beef steak pounded until it's thin, dipped in batter or dredged in buttermilk and spiced flour and fried.
Chicken Fried Chicken - Same as CFS, but its a large pounded thinly piece of chicken in batter/dredge and fried.
They seem to be replacing “chicken” with country more and more, probably because “chicken fried steak” is too confusing, nobody knows why it is called that. But now I do, because you explained that to me literally three minutes ago. Thanks Lawrence!
There are differences in the preparation and crispiness but many restaurants ignore them and do whatever they want. If that had been a properly served Country Fried Steak he was served it would have been covered in brown gravy.
I think its just the non Southerners that get confused. We've called it chicken-fried steak for more than a century here in Texas.
I'm from Texas and in all the restaurants I've dined at, there is a difference in chicken fried steak and country fried steak. Chicken fried is battered with a wet batter and served with gravy. Country fried is very lightly dredged in flour and often served without gravy or brown gravy.
I am surprised you weren't aware of Chicken Fried steak... since it's a pretty common food. My favorite memory is going to a Bed and Breakfast in Texas where the lady of the house made us CFS for dinner.. it was GREAT!.. made out of Deer meat.. the best I've tasted. I think like everything there are recipe's and then there are recipe's. There are folks from Germany that settled in the Fredricksburg TX... so I can see it in TX for that reason, but also the whole "Cowboy" quisine would of course require a pounded beef with breading and gravy.
i met many from the north/northeast who don't know about it. I was in St. Louis 5 years ago and asked for DQ's Chicken fried steak sandwich, and workers never heard of it. Instead they offer a fried pork version.
Seminole Tx is over near me in Lamesa and there's a large German Mennonite community over there. Lamesa is mostly hispanic now but historically there was lots of various peoples coming through the area.
You’re funny Laurence ! I get a big kick out of watching your videos. Your deadpan British humor sends me into stitches !!!! I love it ! Love it when you collaborate with Shaun or even show up at the Townsends studio. Nothing is off limits and I love it !!! You keep America entertained with your videos, and we see ourselves thru your British lenses.
I'm really digging the background music :). Kudos, as always!
My mom, when we were growing up, would rarely make something, which I'm pretty sure she called chicken fried steak. But hers was a finger food (and so no gravy) on a stick . I thought then that it was called chicken fried because it was shaped kind of like a chicken drum stick.
Chicken fried steak (or country-fried) is my favorite diner food by far. It is an excellent way to make an otherwise tough cut of beef rather palatable. I always add a few drops of hot sauce to liven the dish up a bit.
I live in Minnesota and the deli in my town serves chicken fried steak as a special a few times a month. I'm surprised you hadn't tried it yet!
Laurence, I am glad to see that the question “How do you want your eggs?” doesn’t faze you now. I’ve got a cyber pal from Sussex planning a ruby wedding trip to the States and I advised her that if she goes to a diner and wants an English fried egg she needs to ask for “sunny side up”. Thank you for finally making me ponder the question, “What exactly IS chicken fried steak?” They serve it in school cafeterias and I ate it for years assuming it was a chicken cutlet!
Chicken fried steak is called as such because of the poultry seasoning in the batter
I lived in the US for 34 years and never had chicken fried steak. I don't really like fried food at all and since i discovered broiled rare filet mignon when I went to university I don't have steak any other way. Love the videos, didn't notice the egg in your beard. The uptick in humour is most welcome. JIM Oaxaca
Hi! I love chicken fried steak - it was an exotic southern dish, along with biscuits and gravy, that I enjoyed whenever leaving the midwest. Now, though, I live in Oklahoma - and it's everywhere. I have to restrain myself from eating it daily! Thanks for bringing joy in sharing your first experience with it!