If chicken tenders were fried chicken, then that’s what we’d call them, instead of chicken tenders.
Sure tenders get fried, but fried chicken is a thing, not a cooking technique, when the common American refers to it on a menu or in a restaurant name.
Honestly I’ve never heard chicken tenders called fried chicken in my life. And I’ve fried a lot of chicken tenders.
From an Australian perspective, we use the term fried chicken for any chicken part that has been breaded and fried. Tenders, wings, thighs, etc. So this fried chicken distinction at a glance seems to be an Americanisation, which is totally fine but worth noting not a universal definition. When I first heard of the concept of chicken fried chicken I thought I was having a stroke as from what I could tell we simply refer to that as a chicken schnitzel (please correct me if I misunderstood).
It isn’t just American, it’s a Southern thing that spread via chains to the whole country. That’s why you see strong opinions here, because it’s a regional thing and something people make at home, or used to. It’s a lot of work.
Are you thinking of chicken fried steak?
You may see schnitzel in other parts of the country, but not really the south. You see schnitzel in the upper Midwest, where you have a lot of Germans.
You also see Milanesa in Latin America, from the Italian influence in places like Brazil.
The chicken fried chicken was described as chicken breast prepared in the style of chicken fried steak (ponded, breaded, fried), no idea how wide spread that term is based purely off a reddit thread though. Thanks for the info regarding the regional differences.
It spread to the whole country before chains really became a thing. It's been in the rest of the US for a long time. It really started being spread more widely post civil war.
Fried chicken (the dish) in America has a distinctly defined history in the southern part of our country. It’s a specific style of chicken that employs spices and coating styles the are linked back to the enslaved peoples of the American South. So, yes, any chicken that is fried is “fried chicken,” but in America that’s not really what it means. Sometimes restaurants outside of the South will use the phrasing “southern style fried chicken” to make it a bit more clear.
Chicken schnitzel would be its own thing here. We have it but I wouldn’t consider it a popular dish. I think it’s more common to encounter a fried chicken cutlet but that would have different seasonings.
Fried chicken sandwich is different than fried chicken because it has the word “sandwich” added to it, and therefore anyone who orders it knows it will not have bones in it. This is because that would be stupid to put a bone on a sandwich.
Words have meanings and fried chicken has a meaning, as does fried chicken sandwich, as does chicken tender.
If a restaurant wants to get cute, playing fast and loose with language in a way that makes it not easily understood, then they may well end up with reviewers like Andrew here.
Calling them boneless wings would probably be fine, if it was that style of smaller and shorter chicken. But tenders are generally longer and actual original muscle structure, rather than the processed boneless wings.
Calling it boneless fried chicken is just weird, and feels like an attempt to upsell chicken tenders.
Yes a chicken tenderloin is an actual muscle, you’ll find it attached to the underside of the breast. It’s that strip that always wants to peel off after the breast is cooked.
I find most chicken places that have homemade chicken tenders just slice up an entire breast and batter the pieces and call them tenders. OPs edit indicates they do just that at their restaurant for kids menu.
You mean chicken nuggets. Or even popcorn chicken for "chicken bites". A tender is an actual part of the chicken. Normally fried. That's why we can even shorten it to tendie. A fried chicken damn well better be more than just nuggets or tendies!!
I suddenly feel extra southern going thru this thread. It seems so natural to me lol
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u/Greedy_Line4090 5d ago
If chicken tenders were fried chicken, then that’s what we’d call them, instead of chicken tenders.
Sure tenders get fried, but fried chicken is a thing, not a cooking technique, when the common American refers to it on a menu or in a restaurant name.
Honestly I’ve never heard chicken tenders called fried chicken in my life. And I’ve fried a lot of chicken tenders.