“Calabash” refers to a method of frying something with just a light dusting of breader rather than a heavy batter. It originated in Calabash, NC as a way of preparing shrimp and other seafood (but mostly shrimp).
Some recipes use flour, some use cornmeal and some use a mixture of both but almost all of them will be heavy on black pepper and call for marinating the protein in milk or buttermilk.
We have a restaurant chain here in the Carolinas and Georgia called Fatz Café that has perfected the art of calabash fried chicken (seriously, it’s sooooo goooooood!) so I set out to recreate it this weekend.
Captain Bennett's Calabash Seafood Buffet, North Myrtle Beach
I used whole boneless, skinless breasts and then cut them into thin strips to mimic the size of the shrimp that put “calabash style” frying on the map but feel free to use chicken breast tenderloins or, of course, shrimp!
My favorite dipping sauce for Calabash Chicken is honey mustard but my kids are addicted to Chick-fil-A Sauce so I decided to make some. I kept hearing it was just honey mustard and barbeque sauce so I thought I’d mix some together and see what the kids had to say about it.
They said it was a dead ringer! I added a pinch of paprika because I can see it in Chick-fil-A sauce but other than that, I literally just mixed 3 parts honey mustard and 1 part barbeque sauce. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s but any traditional tomato based sauce will work.
Nc Seafood Restaurant
Southern Fried Chicken Breasts with Gravy- Chicken marinated in buttermilk then seasoned to perfection and fried until golden brown with homemade pan gravy.
Nashville Hot Fish Fingers- A quick and easy recipe for fried fish fingers prepared the ‘Nashville Hot’ way, slathered in a spicy sauce then served with pickles and bread.
Naked Chicken Tenders- Pan-fried chicken tenders with NO BREADING with twice the flavor and half the work of traditional fried chicken tenders.
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