Dallas Food - Chicken-fried Steak Countdown

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Chicken-fried Steak Countdown
Posted on Tuesday, June 13 @ 19:40:49 PDT
Topic: Chicken-fried Steak

I've long considered chicken-fried steak to be one of the four basic food groups. My earliest, fondest food memories derive from this regional specialty, and it remains my quintessential "comfort food." Over the next few months, I'll be taking a closer look at the state of the dish in Dallas.

Chicken-fried steak's origins qua chicken-fried steak are somewhat murky. The first published recipe for "chicken-fried steak" appeared around 1950, though the dish turned up in Texas restaurants much earlier. Though Texans weren't the first to come up with the idea of pounding meat flat, breading/battering, and frying it, the direction we've taken the technique results in a dish that's meaningfully different from its Old World predecessors. Even the least discriminating diner can tell a chicken-fried steak from Wiener schnitzel or costoletta alla Milanese.

The first thing that sets the chicken-fried steak apart from similar dishes is the choice of meat. Instead of veal or pork, chicken-fried steak traditionally relies on beef (often from the round).

Second, chicken-fried steak is typically dredged in flour and battered (or sometimes breaded with cracker crumbs), rather than being coated with breadcrumbs (with or without a hard grated cheese).

Third, chicken-fried steak is usually fried, rather than lightly sautéed. Pan-frying--an entirely appropriate and, some would argue, preferable cooking method for chicken-fried steak--falls in a gray area between deep-frying and the gentle sautéing employed on some of CFS's elder cousins. But since deep-frying of CFS is far more common than pan-frying in Texas restaurants, that widens the distinction.

Fourth, chicken-fried steak is typically accompanied by cream gravy. Recipes for cream gravy vary, though all are basically pepped up béchamel. You won't see anything like that on a Wiener schnitzel.

And, fifth, chicken-fried steak shares a plate with regional side dishes that further set it apart. Mashed potatoes are almost always on board. Fried okra, black-eyed peas, green beans, Texas toast, biscuits, corn (on or off the cob), greens (e.g., mustard or collard), and summer squash (or squash casserole) also make frequent appearances. (And let's not forget grits, when CFS shows up for breakfast.)

The deviations from tradition may seem slight, but they accumulate. And, at its finest, the bold beef flavor, the tender texture, the crisp coating, the gravy's salty sweetness (accented with peppery bite)...it's a unique form of poetry to the palate.

Of course, not all poetry is good poetry. When I moved back to Dallas years ago, my first order of business was finding a solid chicken-fried steak. I asked friends, family, and (by e-mail) a couple of local food writers who they thought had the best CFS in Dallas. The leads proved inconsistent. Somewhere along the line, I quit looking for the Grail CFS and settled for the two or three places I'd found that did "pretty good" versions.

One afternoon last December, while trying (and failing) to work up the courage to check out a couple of obscure Dallas barbecue joints, it occurred to me that my early CFS explorations were not exhaustive--nowhere near exhaustive. In all, I probably went to a dozen restaurants in that early push. So, for a change of pace, I went to a new place for chicken-fried steak. And then another. And, within a month, the "change of pace" had itself become the pace.

A truly exhaustive survey of chicken-fried steaks in Dallas would be a monumental undertaking. I wouldn't be surprised if there were over a hundred versions out there (not counting multiple locations of chains). Knowing, or at least reasonably suspecting, that they're out there is one thing. Finding them is another.

Racking up 10 or 15 is no sweat. Hit some chains and the better-known diners and home-cooking joints and you're there. Searching the Dallas Morning News and D Magazine restaurant listings will get you into the 20s without too much effort.

Once you get into the lower 30s, it's slightly more challenging. Combing through print reviews and online sources produces little but déjà vu. Sometimes, while driving here or there, a place will catch your eye as a likely hiding place for another CFS. Next time you're in the area, you pop in, and Bingo!

The upper 30s are work. At this point, you're driving through strange parts of town for the sole purpose of scouting out possible CFS locations. You're cold calling restaurants to ask if they serve the dish. You leave your car in "no parking" zones while running in to quickly scan menus. Fist pumping when you see the magic words.

The 40s are a meditation. There's enough time between chicken-fried steaks to ponder the great questions, such as: "Would it be sacrilegious to pray for divine guidance in finding another CFS?" Or, "Do I have obsessive compulsive disorder or just obsessive compulsive tendencies?" Finding a new CFS feels like winning the lottery.

At the end of the road, I've eaten CFS at 50 places (often multiple times) within Dallas city limits. Some were good, some were bad, some were ugly. Notes and photos were taken and a running ranking maintained.

Next week, we'll begin the Chicken-fried Steak Countdown.

Links to other CFS reports: Introduction; Part 1 (#50-46); Part 2 (#45-41); Part 3 (#40-36); Interlude in Austin; Part 4 (#35-31); Part 5 (#30-26); Calibration in Fort Worth and Suburbs; Part 6 (#25-21); Part 7 (#20-16).