No Chicken in Chicken-Fried Steak!

The other day my friend Mani was eating chicken-fried steak at lunch and talking about how she was eating chicken so often. It became clear that after living in Texas for 12 years, she still did not know what chicken-fried steak really is (besides the Texas equivalent of the food of the gods).

Those who are not Native Texans often have a hard time grasping the concept that there is no chicken in chicken-fried steak. It is simply thin, tenderized (pounded) steak that has been fried Southern style as if it were chicken. It is best eaten with real (never instant!) mashed potatoes, cream gravy, and black-eyed peas.

True Texas chicken-fried steak has black pepper and various secret spices (depending on the cook) in the batter to make it a heavenly eating experience. Just as the best Texas cooks have secret recipes for fried chicken, they are not going to tell you exactly how they work their magic to create chicken-fried steak.

The best chicken-fried steak restaurants become legends. For example, there was one in Tomball that people would make the pilgrimage to from Houston (or the Compaq campus) for years and years. I don’t know if it’s still there or not, and I can’t think of the name.

As far as I know, the current reigning chicken-fried steak (CFS) champion in the Houston area is Wuensche Bros. in Old Town Spring. A young Aggie ex (Texas A&M graduate) and CFS addict that I referred to Wuensche Bros pronounced their CFS to be the best he had ever had. Apparently he had made it his hobby to try out all the most highly recommended CFS joints between Houston, Austin, and surroundings. He was in heaven at Wuensche Bros.

For those who are not in the know about the current best CFS joint in their area, or who can’t make it to Wuensche Bros. for some reason, there is (just for you) a chain of restaurants that specializes in that fine old Texas delicacy. It’s called The Black-eyed Pea. (Remember my telling you that the classic CFS meal includes black-eyed peas?) Their other food is good, too.

In Texas, at least, you can generally find one of the Black-eyed Pea restaurants in your area. Outside of Texas, you may be out of luck, but ask around anyway. Maybe there is a good CFS joint in your area.

If not, I hope you do get to taste some real, honest-to-Texas chicken-fried steak with all the trimmings sometime. Just be sure that when you ask around, you ask a true, dyed-in-the-wool Texan (or a diligent student of Texas culture) to make sure you are getting the real thing.

Well, time for lunch. I’ll talk atcha later.