Fried Chicken Skin and Fried Cake Balls?!? Thanks, Eat Crispies.

Meet fried chicken skin, brought to your State Fair of Texas by Eat Crispies. It's just chicken skin, battered and fried for your face. Eat Crispies co-owner Phuong Le (who owns the stand with her sister-in-law, uncle and cousin) says, "The fried chicken skin was what caught the attention of the State...

By Alice Laussade

September 7, 2011

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Meet fried chicken skin, brought to your State Fair of Texas by Eat Crispies. It's just chicken skin, battered and fried for your face. Eat Crispies co-owner Phuong Le (who owns the stand with her sister-in-law, uncle and cousin) says, "The fried chicken skin was what caught the attention of the State Fair folks, but we've gotten mixed reviews on it. People either think it's the greatest idea ever [it is the best part of fried chicken] or they are completely taken aback by the idea of eating skin...by itself." (FYI, those "taken aback" people are also known as "State Fair of Texas pussies.")

In addition to the fried chicken skin, Eat Crispies will also be serving fried Oreos, fried loaded mashed potatoes (Yay! More dreams coming true! It's happening!!) and fried cake balls. Fried. Cake. Balls.

While it's probably a good idea to get a year's worth of learning how to control a crazy-ass "losing a giant stuffed animal just crushed my soul" fair crowd under your belt before you have to deal with all those hungry Tilt-a-Whirlers being pissed about a two-hour wait, it still sucks that new vendors aren't allowed to compete during their first year.

The biggest bummer about it is, every entry into the Big Tex Choice Awards has to be a completely new item to the fair. So, since Eat Crispies will be serving their fried chicken skin, fried cake balls and fried loaded mashed potatoes this year, they can't be entered in the contest next year. Or ever, technically.

Hopefully, Eat Crispies can out-fry themselves with some newer, crazier fried ideas next year. How do you top frying skin, though? Fried cat hair? Mmm. Sounds pretty Most Creative ... Can't wait.

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Alice Laussade writes about food, kids, music, and anything else she finds to be completely ridiculous. She created and hosts the Dallas event, Meat Fight, which is a barbecue competition and fundraiser that benefits the National MS Society. Last year, the event raised $100,000 for people living with MS, and 750 people could be seen shoving sausage links into their faces. And one time, she won a James Beard Award for Humor in Writing. That was pretty cool.

Contact: Alice Laussade