 | |
| Alternative names | Chicken tenders, chicken strips, chicken fillets, chicken goujons |
|---|---|
| Course | Appetizer, main course |
| Place of origin | Manchester, New Hampshire, United States |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Chicken, breading |
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][2] These strips of white meat are located on either side of the breastbone, under the breast meat (pectoralis major).[3] They may also be made with similarly shaped pieces cut from chicken meat, usually the breast, or sometimes just pulverized chicken flesh.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
Chicken tenders were first made in Manchester, New Hampshire at the Puritan Backroom in 1974.[2][8] 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.[9] In 2023, Manchester was officially declared the "Chicken Tender Capital of the World" by Mayor Joyce Craig.[10]
- ^ "The History of Chicken Fingers" Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine. Leite's Culinaria.
- ^ a b Wells, Pete (1 October 2024). "How Chicken Tenders Conquered America". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ 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.