Chicken fingers (also known as chicken goujons, tendies, chicken strips, chicken tenders, or chicken fillets) are chicken meat prepared from the pectoralis minor muscles of the animal.[1] These strips of white meat are located on either side of the breastbone, under the breast meat (pectoralis major).[2] They may also be made with similarly shaped pieces cut from chicken meat, usually the breast, or sometimes just pulverized chicken flesh.[3]
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Alternative names | Chicken tenders, chicken strips, chicken fillets, chicken goujons |
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Course | Appetizer, main course |
Place of origin | Manchester, New Hampshire, United States |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Chicken, breading |
![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Dairy_Queen_-_May_2022_-_Sarah_Stierch_02.jpg/220px-Dairy_Queen_-_May_2022_-_Sarah_Stierch_02.jpg)
Chicken fingers are prepared by coating chicken meat in a breading mixture and then deep frying them, in a manner similar to the preparation of schnitzel.[4] They are a very popular snack or main course due to their convenience and have become a staple across the United States. Chicken fingers are a popular fast-food snack in the U.S.[5] Some of the most popular fast-food restaurants that sell chicken fingers include Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, Chick-fil-A, Church's Chicken, KFC, Popeyes, Zaxby's and Culver's.[6]
![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/AmericanChinese_Chickenfingers.jpg/230px-AmericanChinese_Chickenfingers.jpg)
Chicken tenders were first made in Manchester, New Hampshire at the Puritan Backroom in 1974.[7] Restaurants in Savannah, Georgia, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana have challenged this claim with later assertions to the invention of chicken tenders, although the general consensus supports the claim in Manchester.[8] In 2023, Manchester was officially declared the "Chicken Tender Capital of the World" by Mayor Joyce Craig.[9]
Mass production
editChicken fingers are a mass-produced product in the United States.[10][11] They gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1980s as an alternative fast food choice to chicken nuggets, since they retained more chicken meat.[12] Production can involve coating chicken meat with spices, polyphosphate and breading or crumbs, flash-frying the product to hold the breading in place, and then freezing it[10] prior to shipment for consumer, retail and commercial use. Tyson Foods is one such company that mass-produces chicken fingers.[11] Some are manufactured with a specific flavor profile, such as with a Buffalo-style hot sauce flavor.[11] They are also manufactured with flavors such as Honey BBQ and Parmesan Herb Encrusted.[13]
Variants
editChicken fingers are sometimes grilled rather than fried; they may accompany salads or pasta.[14]
The chicken tenders invented at Puritan Backroom in 1974 were marinated in duck sauce, and marinated "Manchester chicken tenders" can be found at other restaurants in the Manchester area.[15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The History of Chicken Fingers" Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine. Leite's Culinaria.
- ^ RecipeTips. "Chicken – Description of Parts". RecipeTips.com.
- ^ "Give a hand for homemade chicken fingers".
- ^ Ellie Krieger. Crispy Chicken Fingers Recipe. Food Network
- ^ How can I make Chinese chicken fingers like in the northeast?. Cooking.stackexchange.com. Retrieved on 2012-04-19.
- ^ McDowell, Erin. "I ordered chicken tenders from 8 fast-food chains and the best were from the smallest chain". Insider. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- ^ "The History of Chicken Tenders and the Best Places to Get Them". The Epicentre. 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ SouthFloridaReporter.com (2019-07-27). "Chicken Fingers Were Created In Baton Rouge, Savannah Or Manchester (NH)?". South Florida Reporter. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
- ^ "Reviewing culinary history in Manchester, the Chicken Tender Capital of the World". Liu, Michelle and Furukawa, Julia. New Hampshire Public Radio. Published August 18, 2023. Accessed December 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Booth, R.G. (2012). Snack Food. Springer US. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-4613-1477-6. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ a b c Bangura, Fatima (April 17, 2019). "You still can't eat Tyson Buffalo-style chicken strips sold in Michigan". WSYM-TV. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ Simon 2020, p. 102.
- ^ "Breaded Chicken | Tyson® Brand". www.tyson.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- ^ "Grilled Chicken Tenders". FeelGoodFoodie. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- ^ Jagoda, Caleb (2023-02-15). "Love Me Tenders: A Chicken Tender Crawl Through Manchester". New Hampshire Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
Works cited
edit- Simon, Bryant (2020). The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469661377.
- “Fooddata Central Search Results.” FoodData Central, https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/2108385/nutrients.
- “Crispy Chicken Strips.” Tyson® Brand, https://www.tyson.com/products/breaded-chicken-crispy-chicken-strips/.
- Jawad, Yumna Jawad, et al. “Grilled Chicken Tenders.” FeelGoodFoodie, 12 June 2021, https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/grilled-chicken-tenders/.
External links
edit- Media related to Chicken strips at Wikimedia Commons