The State Fair of Texas is still a few months away, but many throughout the metroplex are starting to get excited as more news about the 2023 event is shared. Already fair organizers have released the musical acts and entertainment for this year’s fair, but now they have announced the thing everyone wants to know about, the food. The semifinalists for the 2023 Big Tex Choice Awards were recently unveiled, and as usual there are plenty of food concoctions included that many thought could never exist.
There will be 36 different dishes competing for the Big Tex Choice Awards at the State Fair of Texas this year, with 19 coming from the “savory” group and 17 from the “sweet group.” According to Dallas Morning News, there are five different drink concepts included in the semifinalists, and 14 different dishes containing the word “fried.” The semifinalists will be cut down to 10 in August, before the winners are announced before the state fair opens. Check out all the semifinalists below.
SAVORY
Butchers Block: Mac and cheese topped with smoked brisket, fried chicken, candied bacon bits and jalapeños. Sausage comes on the side.
Cornbread Sausage Bombs: A slice of pecan-smoked Texas sausage, then pimento cheese, then a slice of jalapeño, all dipped in cornbread batter and fried. Served with jalapeño ranch dipping sauce.
Creole Etouffee Beignets: Shrimp and sausage etouffee is stuffed inside of a beignet, topped with powdered sugar.
Deep Fried Birria Bomb: “Birria bombs are stuffed with birria, Oaxaca cheese and home-style mashed potatoes. Then they are rolled into a ball of perfection, dipped in a special batter and deep fried until they reach a golden brown. Lastly, they are topped with fire-roasted poblano ranch dressing and fresh cilantro”
Deep Fried Pho: This dish combine noodles, beef, herbs, bean sprouts and pho broth. Each plate comes with a side of broth as well as lime, jalapeños, cilantro, hoisin and Sriracha.
Deep Fried Surf & Turf Empanada: Combine lobster, crab and chorizo into a corn masa pastry that also includes corn, cream, cilantro, paprika and lime. It’s fried and served with garlic aioli infused with avocado oil.
Deep Fried Sushi Bombs: Imitation crab, salmon and sushi rice are rolled up and fried in panko. Seaweed and Yum Yum sauce come on the side.
Deep Fried Cheesy Crab Tater Bites: Crab meat, shredded potato and cheese are formed into tater tots, fried, and topped with cheesy Cajun sauce.
Fried Monte Qristo: Brisket, American cheese, smoked turkey and Swiss, all fried, then sprinkled with powdered sugar. Raspberry chipotle barbecue sauce comes on the side.
Fried Texas BBQ Shotgun Shells: Brisket, Velveeta, cream cheese and a dash of Meat Church Texas Sugar Rub. All of that is rolled in a pasta sheet, wrapped in bacon and rolled in jalapeño breadcrumbs.
Loaded Fries Pizza: This pizza starts with ranch dressing on top of dough. Then comes shredded mozzarella, French fries, cheddar cheese and bacon.
OX’cellent Soul Roll: The oxtail is simmered, chunked and combined with crumbled cornbread, butter, celery and sweet onions. This mixture is then put into a spring roll and fried.
Raspberry Chipotle Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese: Jalapeños with cream cheese and raspberry chipotle jam wrapped in bacon. The peppers are sandwiched between white bread and cheddar cheese, then warmed on the griddle.
Taki Ramen Tostada: “Ramen noodle cake [that] is flash-fried, smothered with made-from-scratch savory seasoned taco meat and topped with crispy Asian sesame seed slaw and a drizzle of garlic lime aioli.”
Texas Thai Up: Deep-fried pad Thai topped with cashews and green onions.
The Balboa: Bread slathered with garlic aioli and stacked with pepperoni, capicola, soppressata, provolone, tomatoes, banana peppers, artichokes, onions, black olives, mushrooms, arugula and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
The Tomato-Tomahto Potato-Potatho Slyder: Fried green tomatoes, standing in for burger buns. Between the two is a beef patty with cheese, sautéed bell peppers, pickles and lettuce. Covered in queso with a seasoned potatoes served underneath the burger.
The Triple C: Nashville hot chicken tenders served in a waffle cone. There’s mac and cheese in there, too.
Turkey Ribs: “Take the best part of turkey you never knew you loved, gently fry it and serve it with stuffing-seasoned fries, homemade giblet gravy and a secret salsa recipe. You can also order it Texas Style with BBQ sauce fries, jalapeños, and pickles.”
SWEET
Biscoff Delight: This sweet treat is New York-style cheesecake with Belgian chocolate and Biscoff cookies.
Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas: Sopapillas come topped with vanilla-caramel-infused bananas, bourbon syrup, candied pecans, sweetened mascarpone cheese and crumbled Nilla Wafers.
Churreos: Mini churros, tossed in cinnamon-sugar, then drizzled with chocolate syrup, cream cheese icing and crushed Oreos.
Cotton Candyrita: Cotton candy in a margarita
Deep Fried Honey Butter Brisket Swirls: Buttery dough is laced with brisket, then rolled with honey-butter sauce and fried.
Deep Fried Texas Oatmeal Pie: Oatmeal cream pie, dip it in Dr Pepper-infused pancake batter and fry it. Then topped with Big Red reduction, marshmallow sauce and powdered sugar.
Deep Fried Vietnamese Coffee: Deep-fried cake served with sweetened condensed milk typically used in Vietnamese coffee.
Deep Fried Candy Pecan Bacon Bread Pudding: Bite-sized bread pudding, fried then tossed with cinnamon-sugar, candied pecans and bacon. It’s finished with two sauces: New Orleans-style praline sauce and salted caramel bourbon sauce.
Fried Cherry Pie in the Sky: The fried cherry pastry has the addition of shortbread cookies and a butter-almond-shortbread crumble. It comes with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and sugared cherries.
Fried Fireball Shot: “The fluffy, airy, melt-in-your-mouth sweetness of angel food cake meets the red-hot and fiery cinnamon flavor of Fireball Cinnamon malt liquor. After deep frying to a perfect golden brown, Fireball Cinnamon is poured over the top and into a shot glass.”
Island Delight Deep Fried Piña Colada: Rum cake gets baked, then smooshed into balls with pineapple, creme de coconut and lime. After it’s fried, each piece is topped with golden sprinkles and sugar glitter.
Not’Cho Average Nachos: A wonton wrapper is filled with cherry or apple filling, then fried and topped with whipped cream, brownies, fruit, citrus glaze and chocolate sauce. It comes with a churro filled with cajeta.
Rest in Heavenly Peach: Two pieces of angel food cake that are grilled until charred. They sit upon whipped cream, with a scoop of peach pie filling on top.
Strawberry Chicks-On-the-Stick: Four chicken wings get dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried, then covered in honey-garlic sauce. Then, they are “infused” with strawberries, sprinkled with lemon and powdered sugar and positioned atop whipped cream and strawberry syrup.
Sweet Encanto: This loaded waffle is topped with a swirl of caramel dulce de leche; a cream with slices of strawberry, kiwi, peach and shredded coconut; raspberry jam and sweetened condensed milk.
The Fruity Pebble Pickle: It’s a pickle wrapped in a Fruit-Roll-Up and Fruit by the Foot, coated with Fruity Pebbles. The fruity pickle is then drizzled with strawberry snow cone syrup.
Trail-Ade: This non-alcoholic drink is a blend of fruit, cucumber, mint and lemonade. It’s served in a cowboy boot cup.
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