Real Texans Know The Difference: Country Fried vs Chicken Fried

Just because your driver's license has a Jasper, Texas address and the Texas Classic tag on your truck says Lone Star State doesn't qualify you as a "real Texan. Real Texans are a special breed of people. Honest, fair, hard-working, God-loving, and very particular about the way food is prepared are some of the trademarks I associate with people I consider to be "Real Texans".

One thing that I have discovered during my time in Texas is that people have strong opinions on steak. For example, if you're at a cookout in Texas and someone asks you to prepare their steak well-done, if you're a real Texan you politely ask that individual to leave the cookout and never come back.

Another "beef" about steak comes in the debate over Country Fried vs Chicken Fried. I was shocked to learn that so many Texas cooks I admire, don't have a clue as to what the difference between the two "styles" of steak preparation are. Do you?

There seem to be two schools of frying protocol. There are those that dip the “host” into a flour mixture, then an egg wash, then back into another coating, and finally into the grease for cooking. There is another school of thought that suggests the “host” be dipped in a wet batter and then dropped into hot grease for frying.

I don’t think in either case you’d find anyone from Texas who might take offense to being served meat, chicken, fish, seafood, green tomatoes, or almost any other item that has been prepared following either of these two disciplines.

But this now brings us to our bigger question and the one that even the most festival-hardened fry cook in Texas struggles to answer. It’s a question about chicken fried versus country fried. What’s the difference and are there times when one method is preferred over the other?

The Shocking Differences Between Chicken Fried and Country Fried

Here comes the shocking part, it’s less about how you fry and more about how you serve and what kind of gravy you make to go with the meal. That’s what the difference between chicken fried and country fried really "simmers" down to.

For Chicken Fried, as in Chicken Fried Steak, you’d pull the meat through your seasoned egg wash. Then you dredge the egg-coated meat in season flour. From there you drop the meat into the hot oil for frying. Or if you’re a wet batter person, this is where you’d dip your chicken before placing it in the hot oil.

In most cases, you’d want to have enough oil in the pan to cover the meat for even cooking. Chicken fried steak, like chicken fried chicken, should have a crispy delicious crust. It’s served with seasoned white gravy that can be poured over the meat or used for dipping. The gravy is usually very thick and can sometimes be the consistency of pudding.

For Country Fried meats you’re going to take similar steps, but you’ll see the difference between the country fried and the chicken fried will come down to texture and gravy in the end. The country-fried meat is dredged in seasoned flour. For some cooks that may be the only step. Others might give the meat a quick dip in an egg wash, but country-fried steak is more like a smothered steak. The coating on the meat is not nearly as crisp or plentiful.

Because you’re looking for different results with your crust, you won’t need as much oil as you would for “chicken” frying. But you do need to watch the heat of your pan because it can burn the flour and anyone who has ever “blackened” a roux can tell you that does not enhance the dish at all. The gravy is a seasoned brown gravy. It’s very savory and goes well not only with the meat but with traditional side dishes.

If you're still unclear, this video should help you.

Personally, I can agree with and do enjoy each of these methods for frying food. I think I like chicken frying for chicken and pork chops. I like country frying and thick white gravy for steak. As far as sides go, if you don’t have rice then you better have mashed potatoes. Because we are not about to let all that great gravy go to waste without mixing it up on the plate or smearing some on a biscuit.