Why fried chicken is so common but fried beef is nowhere to be found?
In: Other
Chicken fried steak (country fried steak).
Steak Fingers.
Um…. I’m sure I’m missing some common fried beef dishes.
I think it depends on region. Just last week I’ve eaten fried beef (beef wienerschnitzel) and from what I’ve heard it’s really common in Austria
I don’t think you’re looking hard enough.
Beef is fried (breaded or not) in Chinese / Americhinese cuisine, prime example being Panda Express’ Beijing Beef – essentially ‘beef nuggets’ that are deep fried then sauced.
Beef is also stir-fried in a lot of other cuisines. In Asia, Central, and South America.
But it seems like you’re specifically asking about batter and deepfry rather than pan frying or stir frying, right?
In that case, while still not ‘nowhere to be found’ it is rarer than chicken. But off the top of my head there are:
– above-mentioned beijing beef or similar asian dishes.
– types of middle-eastern kibbeh, a deep-fried food.
– schnitzel and katsu type dishes.
– some burgers are deep-fried in tallow or lard
— there are likely other dishes, and probably a lot more dishes if we include any type of frying and not just deep frying.
I think the core reason though is desired doneness and moisture content. Poorer people stir-fry / bread and fry shitty cuts of beef to make them more desirable, while expensive cuts are usually desired for their moisture and juiciness so it’d be counterintuitive to deep fry.
Source: am hungry
Someone with culinary expertise probably has a better explanation of this but I think it also has something to do with how tender the meat is and the fast cook time that comes with frying.
This is why beef that is fried is often tenderized. Chicken fried steak essentially is the same process in that that it is battered, floured, and fried. But the cut is often thin, pounded, rolled, and/or swissed beforehand.
It’s not nowhere. You have chicken fried steak, after all. Beef is also used in Stir Fry recipes.
It’s less common because people like the grilled (steak/hamburgers), cured (jerky), and baked (meatloaf) forms of beef better.