Tremendous Chicken Fried Steak
Prep
20m
Cook
20m
Total
40m
Bigly says
Sit down for this one. Chicken fried steak. TREMENDOUS chicken fried steak. And right away, right at the top, I am going to address the question I get more than any other — and I get a LOT of questions, people stop me on the sidewalk, at the grocery store, at the dentist, the dentist had her hands in my mouth and she said 'mmm bigly tell me about the chicken fried steak,' I am not making this up — and the question is: why is it called chicken fried steak when there's no chicken in it. Pay attention. It is called chicken fried steak because the STEAK is fried like CHICKEN. Like fried chicken. The crust, the buttermilk, the seasoned flour, the screaming hot oil — that is fried chicken technique applied to a piece of beef. Simple as that. Anyone who tells you different is wrong. Just wrong.
This dish is the SOUL of Texas comfort food. The greatest comfort food in the history of comfort foods, and there have been a lot of comfort foods — the pilgrims had comfort food, the pioneers had comfort food, the cowboys riding across the plains in 1875 had this exact dish on cold mornings, I had people look it up — and every single chicken fried steak before today is INFERIOR to what we are about to make. A slaughter. Not even close.
Most chefs are afraid to commit. They take thin cuts of round steak straight from the package, they skip the tenderizing, they barely season the flour, they refuse to double-dredge, and the result is a sad, pale, droopy disc with gravy that tastes like wallpaper paste. A crime against beef. A crime against gravy. Statisticians have run the numbers and the average chicken fried steak in America right now is a 3 out of 10. THREE. Out of ten. We are fixing this today. We are dragging the national average back up where it belongs. You and me, in your kitchen, with a cast iron skillet and a serious pile of pepper. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 4 (about 6 oz each)cube steaks (top round, tenderized)(or pound your own round steak to 1/4-inch thick)
- 2 cups, dividedall-purpose flour
- 2 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 2 tsp, dividedblack pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tspgarlic powder
- 1 tsponion powder
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 1/4 tspcayenne pepper
- 1.5 cupsbuttermilk
- 2large eggs
- 1 tbsphot sauce
- 1.5 cupsvegetable oil (for frying)
- 2.5 cups, for the gravywhole milk
- 2 tbsp, for the gravyunsalted butter
Steps
- 1
If using non-tenderized round steak, pound it between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness with a meat mallet.
- 2
Season the steaks generously on both sides with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.
- 3
Set up two shallow dishes. In the first, whisk 1.5 cups flour with the garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, remaining 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper. In the second, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and hot sauce.
- 4
Dredge each steak in the seasoned flour, pressing to coat. Dip in the buttermilk mixture, letting excess drip off. Dredge in the flour a second time, pressing firmly to build a craggy crust. Place on a wire rack and let rest 10 minutes — this is how the breading sticks.
- 5
Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat to 350F. The oil should be about 1/2-inch deep.
- 6
Fry the steaks in batches (do not crowd the pan) for 3-4 minutes per side, until deep golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a wire rack to drain. Keep warm in a 200F oven.
- 7
Carefully pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil and drippings from the skillet, leaving behind the browned bits.
- 8
Add the butter to the skillet over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup flour and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty.
- 9
Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring, until thick and creamy.
- 10
Season the gravy generously with salt and a LOT of fresh black pepper — at least 1 tsp. Taste and adjust.
- 11
Plate the steaks and ladle the gravy generously over the top. Serve immediately with mashed potatoes or biscuits.
One more thing
When you sit down to this plate — the crispy craggy steak, the snow-white cream gravy with the pepper specks, the side of mashed potatoes drowning in MORE gravy because of course more gravy, why would you not — you understand America. You understand Texas. You understand why people put up with the heat down there. It is because of this dish. This is the payoff. This is the contract. You sweat through August, you get chicken fried steak in return. Fair trade. Honest deal. Tell your friends.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Tremendous Chicken Fried Steak.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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