There are so many different ways to burn a hole in your wallet at the State Fair of Texas. There’s the Midway games, face painting, that fluorescent pink ride with DJ Tiesto’s face on it that blares techno. But one of the most popular ways to blow through your tickets is by chowing down on greasy, fair food.
I attended the 10th annual Big Tex Choice Awards and gorged on every single item that was nominated (you must try the fried Gulf shrimp boil), but not everything that’s new to the fair this year was given the spotlight. There are plenty of calorific items sliding into fryer baskets under-the-radar. Here’s a list of some new greasy morsels that deserve some love, too.
Deep Fried Pork Rind Nachos: These are pretty much exactly what they sound like, nachos made with pork rinds instead of tortilla chips. The heaping mound of fried pork skins (which are made on site) come served loaded with cheese, chili, pico de gallo and jalapeños.
Biscuit Fries with Chocolate Gravy: Fried buttermilk biscuit dough dusted with powdered sugar, with a side of chocolate sauce for dipping. Or guzzling. The choice is yours.
Hot Soul Cake: I’m having a difficult time wrapping my brain around this one. To start, deep fried chicken is sprinkled with something called “TT’s Fairy Dust (a savory seasoning),” I’m not entirely sure what this means, but I like the words “fairy” and “savory.” So, there’s that. The fried nugget is then paired with cream cheese and stuffed into the center of a vanilla cupcake. The cupcake is dipped in waffle batter and fried. But wait, there’s more. It’s then topped with a cream cheese glaze and powdered sugar.
Deep Fried Stuffed Gordita: This one is fairly self-explanatory. It’s a gordita filled with beef fajita meat and frijoles a la charra (pinto beans, onions, garlic and bacon) that is deep fried and topped with queso fresco, lime cabbage slaw and avocado crema sauce.
Deep Fried Milk and Cookies on a Stick: Whole milk, half and half and heavy cream are combined with sugar and cookies. The creamy, sweet mixture is then slow cooked into a custard that is refrigerated for several hours. After it’s fully chilled, it is sliced and dipped in an egg wash and rolled in bread crumbs. It is then deep fried. It comes served with powered sugar and choice of chocolate or strawberry sauce.
Polynesian Pop: A shish kebab built from pieces of chicken, red bell pepper, onion, and pineapple that’s then dipped in batter and deep fried.
Pioneer Kettle Corn: Sweet and salty popcorn. Duh.
Deep Fried Smoked Brisket: Brisket that’s been smoked for 12 hours and is then dipped in buttermilk egg wash, flour, more egg wash, and then coated with panko bread crumbs and deep fried. It’s served with BBQ sauce, an onion ring and pickle slices.
Frozen Daiquiris: Wine-based, frozen alcoholic beverages. Flavors include strawberry, orange mango, piña colada, blue hurricane, and something called the “Pookie Swirl.”
Deep Fried Sweet Tea: Sweet-tea-infused custard on a graham cracker crust that is then deep fried and topped off with homemade sweet tea syrup.
Cowboy Burrito: A mound of skillet potatoes, sirloin steak and cheese is rolled into a tortilla. It’s not deep fried — it’s grilled.
Texas Fried Chicken in a Waffle Cone: A waffle cone is layered with fried chicken, and then slathered with sausage gravy. Interesting.
Apricot Chamoy Empanada: Deep fried apricot empanadas that are dusted with powdered sugar.
Fried Chocolate Maple Bacon Amazeballz: Chocolate cake is mixed with chocolate frosting, maple syrup and bacon. Yes, bacon. The blend is then rolled into balls and deep fried. But that’s not all. Then, they are dusted with powdered sugar, drizzled with chocolate and maple syrup and sprinkled with more bacon crumbles.
