Chislic Recipe - How to Make South Dakota Chislic | Hank Shaw (2024)

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Chislic is one of those semi-secret regional foods that if you know, you know, and if not, well, you probably are having a hard time even forming the sound of this dish’s name in your head.

Pronounced “chiz-lick,” or in some places more like “chis-lick,” chislic is, simply, chunks of red meat grilled or fried, either on a skewer or served with toothpicks. It’s what you eat at a South Dakota bar after limiting out on pheasants, or while watching the Vikings.

Chislic is deeply South Dakotan, and in its purest form is fried mutton with garlic salt, served with Saltines on the side. But there are variations, and beef and venison chislic are common.

I’ve eaten it in various divey bars while pheasant hunting, or just passing through SoDak. I happen to like the “Buffalo wings” presentation, with hot sauce and blue cheese sauce on the side. And fries are more substantial than the Saltines, but both are good.

If you’ve heard Chef David Chang use the term “ugly delicious,” this is that and then some. Chislic is probably more “dirty delicious,” because it makes you feel that way after eating a half pound of deep-fried venison chunks with a plate of fries and, ahem, several beers.

Chislic is unusual in that it is fried directly — no coating. This darkens your oil in a hurry, and my advice is to reuse it only for future batches of chislic. Your oil needs to be hot, and you don’t want to fry the venison very long or it will be gray at the center.

So far as seasoning, keep it simple: Garlic salt is all I use. Whatever you use, avoid paprika or other chile peppers, because they will burn in the oil and turn bitter. If you need a pepper fix, get it with hot sauce.

Saltines, as I’ve mentioned, are traditional, but if you want to make your own fries, here is a good recipe for homemade French fries.

While you can eat chislic as a main meal, it’s normally a bar snack or appetizer. If you want to continue the theme, try making this with my Buffalo meatballs. (Yep, meatballs served exactly like Buffalo wings), or honey mustard wings from either pheasants or ducks.

If you’re interested in a south-of-the-border take on this, it turns out there’s a kind of taco you can find in Hermosillo, Sonora, that bears a strong resemblance to chislic: chicharron de ribeye.