State Fair Time

Fried Froot Loops on State Fair's Big Tex Choice Awards semifinalist list

Big Tex's "fried food awards" are here again.

Courtesy photo

A summer ritual returns with the release by the State Fair of Texas of the list of concessionaire semifinalists for their Annual Big Tex Choice Awards.

This year, the stakes were raised with a third category joining the award lineup: Three winners will be crowned in the 2017 Big Tex Choice Awards ceremony, receiving awards for Best Taste – Sweet, Best Taste – Savory, and Most Creative.

The creativity runs high with these semifinalists, whether it's a concoction called Oreo Beer or the sure-to-win Deep Fried Froot Loops.

The full list of 2017 Big Tex Choice Awards semifinalists include:

Beer Battered Beef Jerky
Fried Redneck Wedding Cake Balls
Cajun Fried Deviled Eggs
Fried Sloppy Joe Flautas with 'Not Cho' Fries
Crawfish Lollipop
Fried Texas Dirt
Deep Fried Bacon Wrapped Mozzarella with Jalapeno Ranch
Fried Texas Sheet Cake
Deep Fried Breakfast Cupcake
Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger
Deep Fried Chicken Noodle Soup on a Stick
Gulf Coast Fish Bowl
Deep Fried Froot Loops
Oreo Beer
Deep Fried Reuben
Pinot Noir Popcorn
Deep Fried Root Beer Float with Dragon's Breath
Ramen Grasshopper Cookie
Dreamy Drunken Sopapilla Cheesecake Bar
Southern Fried Chicken Monte Cristo
Fat Smooth
Surfin-Turfin-Tator Boat
Fried Arroz Con Pollo
Texas Fajita Fries
Fried Cheesecake Stuffed Apple Sundae
Texas Fried Cowboy Fritters
Fried El Paso
The Tamale Donut
Fried Mango Loco
Tipsy Topsy Catfish on a Stick

The contest kicked off in mid-July with a 47 total entries. All competitors must have at least one year of experience as a concessionaire at the Fair to enter the competition.

The selection process used in the annual competition involves a panel of judges and requires blind judging from start to finish, IE the panel does not know which concessionaire is behind each recipe.

The first round of preliminary judging relies on food name and description only. Contestants put their concessionaire creativity to the test by coming up with an enticing name and description for their concoctions. 30 snacks reigned superior over the rest to continue to the next round.

Over the next several weeks, the second round of preliminary judging will begin and these edible creations will have to prove to the panel of judges that they are just as delicious as they sound. The tasting round consists of judging each semi-finalist on, at minimum, four main ingredients of a finalist-worthy concoction: uniqueness, presentation, creativity and taste. The judges also have to factor in how likely a fairgoer is to actually buy the item.

This year, the contest has increased the number of finalists from 8 entries to 10, who will compete in the final round. If competitors don't win, they can still introduce their food at their stand as a new food during this year’s State Fair.

The 13th Annual Big Tex® Choice Awards, presented by Visit Dallas take place on Sunday, August 27 at 2 pm in the historic Tower Building at Fair Park. Tickets will be available online at BigTex.com for $100, with a limited amount of seats available. The 10 finalists will go up against a panel of celebrity judges in hopes of snagging one of most coveted titles in Fair food.

The 2017 fair runs September 29-October 22 in Fair Park.

state-fair

Asian Food News

Taste of Malaysia restaurant brings rare Asian cuisine to Dallas area

Taste of Malaysia

A new restaurant has debuted in Coppell with a cuisine that's relatively rare in Dallas. Called Taste of Malaysia, it's now open at 3001 Olympus Blvd #130, at the Sound at Cypress Waters, between an Ari's Italian market and a Kilwin's ice cream shop, where it's serving authentic Malaysian dishes and flavors — adding another option to Dallas' burgeoning Asian restaurant scene.

A neighbor to Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, Malaysia has been described as having some of the best street food in Southeast Asia, boasting a mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous flavors. Signature dishes include satays — skewered meats — plus vividly spiced soups and rice dishes.

The country's national dish is nasi lemak, a beloved comfort food originally devised as a breakfast staple, featuring fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, sometimes enhanced with boiled egg and sliced cucumber and ikan bilis, i.e. anchovies.

Coming in at a close second is laksa, a spicy noodle soup made with rice noodles or egg noodles in a broth flavored with aromatic spices, shrimp paste, and coconut milk or tamarind.

These are the dishes that natives of Malaysia and fans of Malaysian food crave, says Shiva Nair, part of the team, along with his wife, Vsruti "Vish" Nair, that opened Taste of Malaysia.

Shiva has more than 20 years in the hospitality business including managing hotels and running other restaurants.

"There are a lot of Malaysians here in Dallas-Fort Worth but not many Malaysian restaurants," Shiva says. "That's what gave us the idea to open this."

Their menu features seven varieties of nasi lemak — including vegetable curry, chicken curry, slow cooked beef, slow-cooked chicken, fried chicken, fish, and spicy shrimp — all made with coconut rice, peanuts, boiled egg, and cucumber.

They also have fried rice, noodle dishes, satay chicken skewers, spring rolls, a samosa-style pastry with potatoes and vegetables called karipap, and a chicken "kutlet" — a breaded patty with minced chicken enclosed in a crunchy crust.

All of their meat is halal, meaning that the animals are raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic guidelines — a growing trend in Dallas-Fort Worth.

There's a full bar and the ultimate lure for timid diners: a lunchtime buffet, $18 on weekdays and $20 on weekends, with 15 to 20 dishes, with chicken, shrimp, fish, and vegetarian and vegan options, which are plentiful in Malaysian cuisine.

"We serve the buffet only at lunch, so that those who are unfamiliar with the cuisine can sample every dish," Shiva says.

"We saw an opportunity to bring Malaysian flavors to North Texas, a region hungry for authentic, halal-certified Asian food with real spicing and real heritage," he says.

openings coppell asian cuisine