So I thought I might pick a couple of green big beef tomatoes for fried green tomatoes this evening. Recipes online seem to be all over the place on the coating, flour, bread crumbs, corn meal, various combinations, then is it buttermilk and or milk and or egg washes or no wash at all.

What say you, fried green tomatoes aficionados with some experience making this old classic, what is the best way to achieve a crust that has some crispy texture, isn’t perhaps the dominant feature and also adheres to the tomatoes throughout the cook? Seems like the last time we made fried green tomatoes, the batter mostly fell away from the tomatoes.

I will order fried green tomatoes from a restaurant menu and and have thoroughly enjoyed them, but I have never thought too much on just how the restaurant pulled off the process.

One recipe I saw was to season the sliced tomatoes then dip the sliced and seasoned tomatoes in flour and let them sit a bit, then dip again and shake off the excess. No egg or milk wash, but dip, rest, dip again, shake then fry. This recipe sounds intriguing as it should not have a ginormous thick hunk of batter encasing the tomato slices, but maybe a ginormous thick armor encasing the tomato slices is just the thing I should be striving for.

I think the plan is to have the fried green tomatoes with some pork chops, maybe those will be smothered.
I can see maybe a hot mayonnaise would be just the thing to put on the tomatoes once out of the fryer. Mayonnaise with a bit of hot sauce and a squeeze of lime or something.

Slice thick about 3/8ths or so.
Flour egg wash panko bread crumbs fry.
Pretty much the same thing with eggplant.
Works great with tomatillo too.

We don’t like a thick coating but crisp. I mix flour, some corn meal for crispness, seasonings of choice and fry. If tomatoes are especially hard being unripe I may zap them in the microwave for a few minutes, then put in flour mix. This shortens the frying time but then they are done without burning.
Eggplant I leave out the cornmeal. Or sometimes even leave out the flour and use just a seasoned egg wash. Especially good for eggplant parmigiana and less carbs with no flour. Lots of options!

I dip my slices in an egg/milk solution and then coat in regular bread crumbs, not Panko because the crumbs are bigger and tend to fall off. I let them dry at least 15 minutes before frying in shallow oil. The drying step seems to help the coating adhere better.

When I fry okra I use the same dip but the coating is flour/cornmeal.

Experiment until you find what you like.

I start with the meatiest beefsteak (or heart) varieties, sliced about 3/8 inch thick. Coat in flour, dip in egg wash, then a second coat of corn meal. Slices can be seasoned, coatings can be seasoned, or one can do both. Some use buttermilk, others use mayo, in place of the egg wash. And, some people bake instead of fry, for a healthier version.

I think I saw someone fry a red ripe store bought tomato.
I might try it with one of those rock hard ones.

My stepmother used to make them all the time. She wasn't much of a cook and they were horrible. Have never eaten another one! What are they supposed to taste like?

Spike wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 4:40 pm My stepmother used to make them all the time. She wasn't much of a cook and they were horrible. Have never eaten another one! What are they supposed to taste like?

In my opinion horrible.
That's why I like the fried green tomatillo.
But I'm not against cooking the nasty things for someone else which I have several times and they loved them.

worth1 wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 4:50 pm In my opinion horrible.
That's why I like the fried green tomatillo.
But I'm not against cooking the nasty things for someone else which I have several times and they loved them.

You are the man Worth!! There have been many things you have posted I would love to have you cook for me but fried green grossness is not on the list <3

And we are off! Seasoned the slices with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to add flavor and sweat the moisture out some. Will dab these in a little while, 5 minutes before the chicken wings my wife is frying are done. Then flour, egg wash, flour/cornmeal mix.

karstopography wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 6:59 pm 67518496-EB66-45BB-803C-4AF3C4671341.jpeg

And we are off! Seasoned the slices with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to add flavor and sweat the moisture out some. Will dab these in a little while, 5 minutes before the chicken wings my wife is frying are done. Then flour, egg wash, flour/cornmeal mix.

Oh those look wonderful in the breaker stage.
I would like those.
The really green ones are a little off to me.

karstopography wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 6:59 pm 67518496-EB66-45BB-803C-4AF3C4671341.jpeg

And we are off! Seasoned the slices with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to add flavor and sweat the moisture out some. Will dab these in a little while, 5 minutes before the chicken wings my wife is frying are done. Then flour, egg wash, flour/cornmeal mix.

Oh those look wonderful.

Health food.

How does everyone like it?

Wife loves them. She loves the Crispy exterior, creamy interior. She says the taste is a little fried okra like.
Me, I also liked the crispy exterior and creamy insides. A little nice tanginess in there too. I made a sriracha mayo for a dipping sauce and then added some of the homemade thai pepper sauce on top of that, some capsaicin heat helps cut through the richness. A squeeze of lime also helped.

Son got delayed at work so he’s not had any yet.

I wouldn’t change anything about the recipe that I can think of. It’s one of these once in a while treats or something, not everyday type of fare.

As long as the wife loves them that's all that matters.

I slice them about 3/16 inch thick with a Mandolin to get uniform slices. Use a mixture of flour and corn meal or Masa or all Masa. I season the flour/meal/Masa with Tony Chachere seasoning. Usual egg/milk wash. Dredge, dip, dredge, let dry awhile and fry, usually in an electric frying pan. I like the tomatoes to be at the breaking stage or close to it. Real green and they are not nearly as good.

I haven't made FGT in ages (and not very well) so feel free to disregard the following. I have an idea I will try next time I bread and fry something. I encountered in some Korean recipes for other fried things where one substitutes some or even all of the dredging flour with cornstarch or potato starch. I found the coating stayed nice and crunchy even after a little time in a sticky sauce on my crispy tofu.

Fried Green tomatoes aren’t maybe the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. Seems like one of those things people do with tomatoes. I thought our effort last night was very good. The crust stayed on, that is the first hurdle. I cut the tomatoes well ahead of time and seasoned them. Tons of moisture came out after a little while and I dabbed that moisture off. Then we floured the slices and allowed that to sit a few minutes. Then the milk/egg wash was the next step and then a corn meal/ wheat flour mix was the last step. The tomatoes got fried at 350° in an electric skillet that had chicken wings fried in peanut oil minutes before. Same oil, we didn’t change it out, it wasn’t burned. Maybe 4 minutes per side until golden brown.

Creamy interior with the crisp crust was a nice mix, not sure we could improve upon the recipe texturally. Fried green tomatoes, I used Big Beef, don’t have a what I would call a bold flavor. Just a little tangy quality and maybe a touch of sweetness. To my tastes, they beg for some capsicum spice and more acidity. I think next time, I’d work on finding the ideal sauce to compliment the tomatoes.

More options are.
Fried pork skin panko.
Coconut.
Possibly cooked inside shredded potato.
Ya gotta think outside the box.