I simply cannot wrap my head around how you have lived in the states this long and did not run into a chicken fried steak until a Scottish guy told you about it

As a native Texan, this was one of the first things my grandma taught me how to cook. I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here you can also get chicken fried chicken (which is redundant), which is essentially a chicken breast pounded down to the thickness of the steak cutlet and prepared the same way, and is equally delicious, also to be eaten with a heaping portion of mashed potatoes on the side.

I'm Canadian. 15ish years ago, I read that Chicken Fried Steak is the most commonly requested last meal among Texan death row inmates, and decided that I needed to learn how to cook it. I have made it for my son (now nearly 27) every year since then for his birthday. Every Canadian we've ever told about this tradition has been 1)confused 2) intrigued and 3) won over. If you haven't tried it - do! It's not something you'd want every day (for health reasons 😆) but definitely worth trying.

As a Chicagoan that moved abroad, I would like to thank you for bringing me back home. Your videos with the shots of the city are very well done and should be recognized by the city's board of tourism for its positive representation of Chicago. Thanks again, Laurence!!

My nephew works in Lamesa, Texas and during the Chicken Fried Steak Festival last year he won the competition for making the best chicken fried steak.

Here's something that will really blow your mind... in some southern areas, Dairy Queen serves steak fingers. They're like chicken fingers, but also like chicken fried steak. You dip them in gravy. They're amazing.

The first time I had Chicken Fried Steak was when I was in Texas. The German connection makes sense, because there are a lot of towns there started by German immigrants. And, Texas Chile was said to have been created by a German immigrant. BTW, there are no beans in traditional Texas Chile.

I spent years perfecting my chicken fried steak recipe. It ended up being what made my wife realize I was a keeper! I still make it for her on her birthday.

Haha brilliant video - chicken fried steak was a memorable part of our road trip for sure, especially as we stopped at a lot of diners 🍽

You're right! The gravy is everything. You can go to 5 different places and 3 will just serve canned gravy, but the other 2 places will make their own gravy. If you find a place that makes great gravy, then you'll have a great chicken fried steak. Any place that makes their own gravy will also have great biscuits and gravy.

The secret to southern US food is that you can not go wrong if it is deep fried and covered in gravy. The same applies to the MN state fair.

I…..I am just absolutely FLOORED how it took a Scotsman to tell you about chicken fried steak. It’s EVERYWHERE in the south and even up north if you’re east of the Mississippi

Chicken/ country fried steak is actually one of the tougher cuts of beef jabbed full of holes, battered, fried, and smothered with gravy. It’s a good way of using a very tough piece of meat turning it into something useful. It’s usually flank or something very chewy that can’t be used normally. A punch full of needles is hit through the steak a number of times cutting up the fibers. It’s battered and fried. Usually a white gravy is poured on top. What you get is a very tender piece of beef that is perfect. I’ve made this a number of times and the punch is a pain to find at least the right one.

I'm Oklahoman, and I was sitting here watching this video, thinking that if Lawrence lived here, he wouldn't have to walk more than a few blocks to get some what he was questing for. There is also something called "chicken-fried chicken", which sounds silly, but it just means it's a chicken fillet cooked in the manner of chicken-fried steak. I personally prefer it, but there are a whole lot of folks here who love the original, as you can probably guess by the fact that it's considered our "state dish". 😋

The “steak” part is much the same between “Country-fried” and “Chicken-fried;” usually a tenderized slice of round steak (The cheap places might use a chopped and reformed ‘cutlet’, slightly better will use a cheaper cut such as round, better still will use sirloin or even ribeye but that is overkill.) the meat is flour used to bread it is seasoned with the chicken-fried sometimes having a bit more spice in it. Most will deep-fry the steak, the traditional places will fry it in a cast iron skillet with a lot of oil, not enough to submerge though; that’s the ‘chicken-frying’ part. But the biggest difference is the gravy. Country-fried steak will have brown gravy (stock-based) while chicken-fried steak always uses a cream-based gravy, often with a lot of cracked pepper in it. That gravy doesn’t soak into the breading as quickly, so the chicken-fried steak can often be crispier than its country-fried cousin. Both are based on schnitzel with country-fried more common in the eastern and southern states while chicken-fried is more western. But it’s gaining in popularity.

Chicken fried steak has been one of my favorite foods since I was a kid. My whole family being from Texas, means it has been necessary dish my whole life. Glad you finally got to try it. How you went through life not even knowing of it's existence is almost criminal. It's also pretty awesome on a sandwich.

I'm a 37-year old lifelong bachelor who is a software engineer, someone you probably wouldn't expect to do much cooking, but Chicken Fried Steak has been one of my favorite things to cook since I was a teenager. At least once a week, I'll make either chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, or chicken fried pork, all served with white cream gravy.

What's even better is to have the gravy on the side. That way the steak stays crispy as you dip each bite in a little gravy. It's still good with the gravy on top but if you don't want the breading to get soggy on the side helps that.

I almost fell out of my chair when you mentioned the small town of Lamesa. You even pronounced it correctly!!! I was born and raised there. Excellent reaction!

Chicken (or country fried) steak is pretty amazing, and when it's done right, there is no better meal. I was surprised that you ordered hash browns, but I guess that would be normal if you're having it for breakfast, with eggs. I've always had it for lunch or dinner, so mashed potatoes is the way I've always had it, and there's nothing better than a bite of steak with potatoes and gravy on top! If you ever get to Kansas City, go to Stroud's, which was originally opened in 1934 as a "road-house" and is best known for their fried chicken, but their CFS is to die for. And it's substantially larger than the plate upon which it's served!

Oh, dear! As a Texan who used to work at the Black-Eyed Pea (before it was sold and destroyed), I can assure you that you have Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes smothered in the same gravy as the chicken-friend steak. The Houston police would come in and order their specialty (which we dubbed Heartattack On A Plate) of double chicken-friend steak and mashed potatoes with extra gravy. Alas, I no longer eat beef, but I do miss CFS from time to time. Oh, and it's called "chicken-fried" because the steak (after being pounded into a thin, large slab) is dipped in batter and then fried like fried chicken. Glad you enjoyed it!

Shaun's appreciation for American food is wonderful for those of us here who take it for granted. Seeing someone enjoy it for the first time puts it into perspective. Sometimes it is a wonderful experience to learn about the history and culture of a meal, whether it's before or after you consume it, and really appreciate the flavors. I'm pretty sure that's why The Townsends are a popular channel.

We need Lawrence to do a series on cooking American food at home.

As a native Texan, I also appreciate you pronouncing the name of "Lamesa" correctly. Also, if you're ever in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and want an authentic and fabulous Southern-style fried chicken dinner, look for a local chain named Babe's Chicken Dinner House. Yes, they will also make you a chicken-fried steak if you like.

CFS is often made with cubed steak. That is a less tender cut of beef that is tenderized by running it through a machine that punches and pokes it.

Two secrets to southern fried steak: 1) yes it's the gravy, make sure there is black pepper in the gravy, lots of it. 2) you can ruin it by using ingredients that are too high quality. It's not a fancy cut of meat, and the breading is plain and simple. I've seen it done.

A chicken fried steak expedition. Yes, you did right my friend. Pro Tip: It's best practice to ensure you don't need to walk more than 100 yards afterwards. Otherwise, well done.

I am a native Texan, and I remember hearing that chicken fried steak was linked to our German immigrants. It was a way of preparing tough cuts of beef. They took the process of preparing Wiener schnitzel and applied it to steak.

The white/milk gravy is a MUST with chicken fried steak! It makes ALL the difference. My husband even orders it when he gets steak fingers instead of the regular house made BBQ sauce. 😊

My wife and I were having dinner in a restaurant in Butte Montana, when a couple sat down at the booth next to ours. When the waitress came to take their order, the man asked if the "chicken fried steak" was all white meat. My wife and I assumed the couple were probably from Canada. However, we were taken aback when the waitress said she didn't know, and would check with the cook. The payoff came when she came back and said the cook wasn't sure if it was all white meat! In Montana truck stops, chicken fried steak is very common. To this day, my wife and I cannot figure out whether the couple, waitress and cook were all from Canada, OR, if by some glitz in the cosmos she and I had momentarily been transferred to a parallel universe where chicken fried steak was unknown.

I never had Chicken Fried Steak until I moved to Texas when I was 16. It instantly shot up to one of my favorite foods, absolutely love it! Glad you enjoyed it too 😁

I'm just amazed that he found a diner that didn't serve it. It'd be like finding a burger joint that doesn't serve fries.

I make my country fried/chicken fried steak with white gravy, rice, fried green tomatoes, fried okra, homemade macaroni & cheese, biscuits and sometimes collard greens.

Lawrence, your videos are a glimpse into the perspective my fiancé must have had when he visited from Britain. I attempted to introduce him to some of my favorite meals, Chicken Fried Steak being one, and his initial reaction to it was precious: "Wait, you guys FRY steak??" He loved it, along with the fried okra served with it.

You do that nostalgic BBC reporting voice so well lol. And I love seeing it juxtaposed with American culture.

Biscuits and gravy is also another southern dish that is phenomenal after a late night.

Thanks for showing some love to Stella's, one of my neighborhood favorites here in East Lakeview. Next time you go there, try their sweet and sour cabbage soup. It's incredible.

Brilliant coverage of country fried steak! ~Sharon (From Florida)

The editing was amazing. Such high quality.

Was so thrilled when saw you guys together ❤️ Laurence and Shaun 😀 been watching both of you 4 over 2 yrs and yep it was great 2 c u both together 😀 let's do more......the crowd shouts out :/)

Chicken Fried Steak (CFS) is short for Steak Fried like Chicken, that's all really. I had my first CFS in the Air Force in Biloxi Mississippi in 1982. I loved it ever since. As it was starting to become popular in the northern states (around the late 80's), many diners called it "Country Fried Steak" to avoid confusion for newbies. CFS is a lower quality cut of beef that has been tenderized by pounding it with a textured mallot (very much the way Salisbury Steak is prepared). Then the steak is coated in the same batter that is used for frying chicken. It is then fried in a deep fryer (or sometimes in a pan). It is served covered in "Country Gravy" which is whole milk, a little butter, a little flour, some coarse ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt. As that mixture just starts to boil, it thickens. Sometimes a chicken or beef bullion cube is added for more flavor but the butter, salt, and pepper alone give it a rich but adapting flavor that picks up the flavor of whatever you put it on. Sometimes you can ask for Chicken Fried Steak with Sauage Gravy. Sausage Gravy is just Country Gravy that started by cooking broken of bits of sweet sausage, and then making the Country Gravy from there, keeping most of fat instead of butter (sometimes adding butter too). The Farmer's Daughter Diner in Dallas Texas has the best Chicken Fried Steak. In 2019 when I was working in Dallas, I would have Chicken Fried Steak every Sunday morning with country gravy (they served 2 big steaks in one order- that is Texas style) and biscuits with sausage gravy! Great food, great staff, and the owner treats all of his customers like gold. The owner once gave me breakfast on the house (he said it was from a stanger). I later found out that he did it because I always removed my Western Cowboy hat when I entered the diner and always complemented the staff and owner when I saw him on such great food and service. You would be surprised how many people fail to remove their hat indoors - especially as a guest in a home or restaurant. It is considered rude to leave you hat on, unless you are "under arms" - like police on duty and carrying firearms. My father taught me that and it was reinforced when I was in the US Air Force.

Glad you were able to try the dish. What you tasted is in my opinion very similar to the Oklahoma dish. But there truly is a huge variety in this dish. How thin is the meat, how thick is the breading, and how seasoned is it.

Three generations of my ancestors were from Texas (Hillsboro to Albany) I grew up on Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy w/Creamed Potatoes. It is absolute Comfort food to this day.

I turned this on randomly. You said Chicago and Chicken Fried Steak and 4 Miles and I'm like "This guys going to Stella's" good stuff!

My family is from the south(I grew up on the west coast) CFS was a staple to our diet. It was one of the first meals I made on my own as a child (started early cooking and baking) at 8 years old. We always served it with white gravy, green beans and mashed potatoes…dessert was buttermilk pie….hmmmm yummmm

Have you ever had good Southern buscuits & gravy?

Great video, Laurence! 👍💝

My mom used to make chicken fried steak with venison when I was growing up. It was one of two ways she’d cook the deer meat my grandpa would give us during hunting season. The other was to make it into tamales.

Nothing better than a chicken fried steak, smothered in flour gravy! For a southwestern flair, put some green chili on top❤️

I can't believe you've never heard of chicken fried steak! it's such a common thing at most diners! It's even served as a breakfast at some places! It definitely is best with gravy for sure!

I love your videos for your general humor and knowledge but even more so to see the familiar chicago northside areas passing by. I was over by Stella's this pass weekend and didn't even know it!

I'm really digging the background music :). Kudos, as always!

A four mile walk is about what you need if you eat a chicken fried steak.

An important point is also that the cuts of beef used in a chicken fried steak are not something like a ribeye or even a good sirloin. They are cheaper, not as tender, cuts of beef that are usually cubed, or run through many many times with a sharp point to mechanically cut through the connective tissue that makes the meat so tough in the first place.

Great video Lawrence! The look on your face when you took your first bite of chicken fried steak was the look of pure happiness. And I did not notice any egg in your beard.

Dude, I love your channel!! New sub!!!

My Mother and both grandmother's always cooked steak this way. I never knew there was another way to fix it until I was a teenager. I suspect beating it into a schnitzel (for lack of a better word), then flouring, frying, and fixing gravy in the remaining drippings and grease was a way to make scarce supplies stretch for a large family.

I'm from Kentucky, but never heard of serving CFS for breakfast. Momma would serve it once in a blue moon for dinner (noon meal...lived on a farm and in the south), but chicken fried pork chops was a pretty common meal. We butchered our own hogs and always had lots of pork on hand. Happy times, happy memories.

Hi Laurence, I learned about you from my son, Jared's City Dweller podcast. I really enjoyed that. I've always had a fascination with England. My paternal great grandfather was from Beverly, Yorkshire. Besides that connection, I am fascinated by the history, ancient buildings, thatched cottages, English decorating, English transfer dishes, beautiful gardens, and English accents. I look forward to watching and listening to more of your fun videos.

last night I got that video with you and Shaun walking around and you mentioned you never heard of chicken fried steak. The night after I get recc'd this vid. glad you tried it.

CFS is one of my favorite meals, one I learned to cook well at home. Eggs, hash browns...It's a breakfast classic, but it makes for great dinner too. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You went to the right diner.

Chicken fried steak, eggs with runny yolk mixed into the hash browns might just be my favorite diner food. I'm so glad you like it too.

My absolute favorite meal on this planet!! So happy you enjoyed!

Hi! I love chicken fried steak - it was an exotic southern dish, along with biscuits and gravy, that I enjoyed whenever leaving the midwest. Now, though, I live in Oklahoma - and it's everywhere. I have to restrain myself from eating it daily! Thanks for bringing joy in sharing your first experience with it!

Great video! I hadn't considered that the origins of Chicken Fried Steak might be Schnitzel, but it makes sense. I might have guessed it had a Scottish-descended origin. I eat this for my birthday every year, because that's all the punishment I feel I can justify doing to my body.

Your adorableness keeps me coming back for more! Have you tried a BISON BURGER yet? If not, you NEED to!!!

good stuff ... ! LOVE that CFS... !

I’m 47 and born and raised in South Texas. It never occurred to me that other countries did not know about country fried steak. LOL. I was shocked to hear this is his first time, haha. We eat it with white gravy! Mmmmmmmm

I grew up eating CFS and still love it. I learned Country Fried Steak was just the meat dredged in season flour then fried. CFS was dredged in seasoned flour then egg wash( egg and a little milk beaten together) then back in the flour then fried. Also if you make CFS , remove it from the skillet to a low oven to keep warm then add some of the flour you used to the oil left in the skillet and make your cream gravy. When the gravy is done return the steaks to the pan and warm then up in the gravy.Then serve them with the gravy poured over the steaks. Still enjoy your videos.

First off, you not having heard of this meal really helps to highlight the regional differences of food in the US. I love that you tried it as soon as you learned of it! So very common on the west coast and inland North West. I have been told by my Asian grocer that it is a favorite choice when going out to eat by her community. Love your show!

Just love your videos your so funny

I'm in Canada, and my first exposure to country/chicken fried steak was through the Wendy's fast food chain, which used to have a country fried steak sandwich on its value menu, but removed it over a decade ago. Which is probably a good thing for my arteries, because they were pretty tasty. I've since had a more authentic experience with CFS in U.S. diners, but I'm glad it's not easy to get in my neck of the woods.

It's cubed steak (beef) that is breaded and fried like chicken. "Chicken-fried" is a description of how it's cooked. Gotta go to Texas for the best.

Try the chain restaurant Po Folks. If you go on Saturday, country/chicken fried steak is all you can eat. Get the gravy on the side. One, you can choose which bite have gravy. Two, the gravy keeps warm better in a bowl than spread out on your "steak".

Just as a full Irish breakfast is slightly different from a full English, there are differences between schnitzel, chicken-fried steak, and country-fried steak. Schnitzel is typically veal or pork. Both CFSs start with round or cube steak, but the breading and topping differ. One is dipped in egg batter, seasoned flour (sometimes also bread or cracker crunbs), fried, and served with white gravy. The other is dredged only in flour, fried, and smothered in brown gravy.

My mom, when we were growing up, would rarely make something, which I'm pretty sure she called chicken fried steak. But hers was a finger food (and so no gravy) on a stick . I thought then that it was called chicken fried because it was shaped kind of like a chicken drum stick.

I know the restaurant gets a lot of flak, but as a youngster I used to love the country fried steak at Chili's. It included buttery corn on the cob and skin-on mashed potatoes as sides and tasted amazing.

You’re funny Laurence ! I get a big kick out of watching your videos. Your deadpan British humor sends me into stitches !!!! I love it ! Love it when you collaborate with Shaun or even show up at the Townsends studio. Nothing is off limits and I love it !!! You keep America entertained with your videos, and we see ourselves thru your British lenses.

Making peace and friendship across the pond, one video at a time.

Laurence, your facial expression on the train ride home, priceless!

Laurence, you've Americanized yourself enough that you're eating with the fork in the right hand.

I love Chicken Fried Steak and I prefer it with the white gravy as opposed to brown gravy but it is pretty good with mushroom or onion gravy as well. It is a treat for me because something that good and that comforting cannot possibly be healthy. There is a diner here in Albuquerque that has a really good one and it is the size of a dinner plate. I am thinking I am about due to take a trip down to the Route 66 diner and get one very soon. I am glad you liked it, it really is a kind of traditional American dish right up there with biscuits and sausage gravy. I think I need a defibrillator just thinking about those two dishes. Cheers!

The diner in my home town has a special every Friday for CFS. So we've always called it Fry-day, because it's the one day of the week that we all gather to share a dinner.

Growing up in west Texas we ate this at least once a week with taters and corn. It’s funny that you had to search for it up there; here you can go just about anywhere and find it. I like it with a chili relleno.

It's really funny to me that Lawrence hadn't had CFS after over a decade in the Midwest. I grew up about 2.5 hours directly west of Chicago, and there wasn't a single diner I'd ever been to that didn't have it on the menu. My boyfriend is Korean and moved to the states when he was 10 and it was one of the first "American" foods that he ever tried after moving here and he loves it.

I am happy this Brit has discovered chicken fried steaks. I love chicken fried steaks. I have had them here in California, in Texas, and in Oklahoma, as well as in other places. All good. I must admit, at no time have I ever been able to see an actual chicken in the process of frying my steak. I have come to believe this is a fraud perpetrated on all unsuspecting diner patrons and all such steaks are actually fried by a human who is secluded in the diner's kitchen. But, never mind, a steak fried by a human is acceptable.

Awww… I love that you both felt like you needed an address to find chicken fried steak 🥺🥲

Definitely up there with my top comfort foods!

Cracker Barrel has a very good CFS.

I live in Minnesota and the deli in my town serves chicken fried steak as a special a few times a month. I'm surprised you hadn't tried it yet!

I love your videos. Always fun to see the differences from your perspective. As to the meat In Chicken Fried Steak, it is usually beef. And usually a shoulder cut. The meat is cubed, or tenderized. Then battered, fried chicken style, and either pan fried or deep fried. The ‘chicken’ part of the title refers to how it’s prepared. But just to make this more interesting, there is also Chicken Fried Chicken at some diners, lol. Thanks again for taking us along on your adventures.

This guy is very good: I’m subbed.

What a fun video! I mentioned Stella's Diner in last Friday's American Food live stream. Funny I never realized chicken fried steak an offshoot of schnitzel... and I am German. So I am guessing the Hoosier pork sandwich is another variation of schnitzel.

Chicken fried steak is one of my husband's favorites. He orders it almost every time we go out to breakfast. I like it too, but eat it for dinner. Just the way I was raised. I thought this was one of your best videos. I prefer diners to other types of restaurants. Good variety, and usually owned by great people, not nameless corporations.

I am so glad you got to try CFS after all this time! When I saw your video with Shaun, I was astounded that you had not eaten it (or country fried steak; whatever!). I prefer it for dinner with green beans and mashed potatoes with even more gravy. Buttermilk biscuits are a nice addition, too. We were at Cracker Barrel yesterday and the hubs got CFS (I had the meatloaf) and the biscuits came out with even more gravy! We were both disappointed in the gravy but otherwise, it was acceptable. Good job, as usual!

I was introduced to chicken fried steak while traveling in the southern U.S. Yes, when done right it is absolutely wonderful!

Chicken Fried Steak never disappoints! Even the dodgiest diner seems to turn out a pretty good CFS. I think it's the gravy.

I am happy for you that you finally got to try Chicken Fried Steak. Although eating it in Chicago is probably like eating “Chicago Style Pizza” in Houston. 😄 CFS is a staple in Texas and Oklahoma, so if you want the best, you’ll want to try it there. Growing up in Texas, I thought CFS was just standard American food…until I tried ordering it while traveling cross country and got some very strange looks. 😆 We do have a wide assortment of cuisine in this country (which may explain our ever expanding waistlines). Bon Appetit!

I can't believe Lamesa TX made it into your video! That's about 60 miles from me! Which BTW in Texas is like a city block in the rest of the country

Chicken Fried Steak is the best and I am so happy you were finally able to get a taste of it. More importantly, I loved the fact that you called it CFS. We called it that in High School because everyone Thursday was CFS day. Yay!!!!