Our greatest chicken-fried steak recipe will transport you straight to a Texas nook grill. For a lot of from the Lone Star State, the tender cutlet with its crispy, golden crust and blanket of peppery white gravy is the final word consolation meals, proper up there with mac and cheese and stewed collards. Opposite to what you could suppose, there’s no hen right here. The title, typically rephrased as country-fried steak, comes as a result of the crust ought to mimic that of one other Southern icon, fried hen. You received’t want a deep fryer right here, although, because the skinny minimize of beef cooks rapidly when shallow-fried in a deep-sided pan (a cast-iron skillet is right).
For the meat, search for dice steak (typically labelled spherical steak), a comparatively reasonably priced minimize of meat that’s often been docked by a tenderizer earlier than packaging. If yours hasn’t, use the pointed facet of a meat mallet to work the steak into skinny cutlets. We add a little bit of cornstarch to the seasoned flour combination, a nontraditional contact that ensures the breading comes out crisp. After frying the steak in sizzling oil, you’ll use the identical pan (and the drippings) to make the wealthy cream gravy. Thickened with a roux, this nation gravy recipe will get its increase of umami from Worcestershire and soy sauce and steadiness from sharp Dijon and sizzling sauce.
For a basic sq. meal, serve chicken-fried steak with buttermilk mashed potatoes, inexperienced beans, and cornbread—yeehaw, non-compulsory.
