Finger steak

You must not have eaten a finger steak if you believed that Idaho was known for its potatoes. According to the Idaho Beef Council, the state's emblematic food is Idaho's take on chicken fried steak, a dish popular in the South, and it originated from the same place as the tater tot. According to the Idaho Beef Council, former U.S. Forest Service meat cutter turned chef Mylo Bybee was determined to use every last piece of beef. In the 1950s, he created the meal by deep-frying and battering beef scraps that had been sliced into strips. The crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, the meaty meal was even named the state's iconic dish by the Flavored Nation food festival.

Idahoans cook finger steak using full slices of beef, unlike chicken fried steak or other varieties of steak fingers. To maintain softness in the finger steaks, Idaho Beef Council is told by chef Josh Aaron of Boise's Westside Drive-In that the meat is chopped into strips against the grain. The fast food restaurant chain won the Idaho Statesman's award for best finger steak, so they must be doing something right.