Chicken Fried Everything

Previously I told you I try to avoid deep frying in my small apartment, but when my wife is out of the house – it is time to deep fry everything. Whatever you wish to deep fry the basics are the same, and though “chicken fried steak” usually means flour-based batter with no breadcrumbs, I prefer the good old breading, so that’s what I describe here.

The process is quite easy – make three plates, one with flour, one with eggs mixed with mustard, and one with breadcrumbs. The mustard is not a must but I recommend it, the taste pairs really nicely with the deep-fried food. In the breadcrumbs, you can add ground spices you like – sesame seeds, paprika, black pepper, or just salt. Then just cover the steak/cheese/vegetable in flour, then egg, and then breadcrumbs.

If you are looking for a healthy meal – this is probably not it, but I promise a healthier version in a future post.

Here I fried three types of cheeses, mushrooms, and a beefsteak, but I also like chicken breast and cauliflower. The cheeses I chose to fry are – mozzarella sticks, halloumi slices, and feta cubes. The mozzarella sticks are great by themselves and especially next to a cold beer, while the halloumi and feta are nice additions to a salad. If you feel especially industrious you should sauté the halloumi with no breading in a bit of oil and let it cool before breading it – getting even stronger umami out of it.

For the chicken fried steak, I used Rump steak cut to thin slices and pounded with a meat tenderizer.

You should use an oil with a high enough smoking point, and not too heavy in taste – peanut oil is probably the best for it, but as I can’t find it in the supermarket near me, I use canola oil. As I usually do small batches of deep frying and don’t reuse the oil, it works well enough for me. The oil should be hot – but not smoking, burnt oil will ruin the taste. If you are frying a chicken leg or other thick meats you should test the oil’s temperature to make sure the meat cooks evenly without the exterior burning (for thicker meats you should use lower temperature).

For vegetables and cheese, I use a pot with oil for deep frying, but for steak, chicken breast or fish, I prefer using a pan with shallow oil and flipping the steak when the side facing the pan is ready.

Baked Chicken Fried Steak

When deep frying on the stove is not possible, I resort to using the oven. The breading is the same, it just takes a bit longer and is a bit less crisp, but still delicious. Cover, with a thin layer of oil, an oven tray with baking paper, and place the breaded steak on it. Place them in an oven set to the maximum temperature and turn them upside down in the middle of the baking – baking time will change depending on your oven, mine took 15 minutes on each side. When turning, the side facing the tray may be soft, so you will need to gently turn them without breaking the breaded layer from the steak. When it is ready both sides will be crispy.