South Dakota Chislic

Posted On July 1, 2020

We are in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This is a great place to escape the heat of summer, and explore all that nature and history offers in this area. Of course, a trip to this area would not be complete without visiting Mt. Rushmore!

There are alot of places to visit in the Black Hills area. Some of our favorites have been Custer State Park and the Needles Highway. As far as food goes, there are a few items that fit the bill of, “local cuisine”. One of those is Chislic. I’ll spare you the origin story, that quite frankly, has alot of holes in it, but it’s safe to say that its a rustic food that is pretty versatile and easy to prepare, in most cases.

Chislic is basically cubed meat cooked on an open fire. That’s it. We’re you expecting something more? Well, I was too, but in my research, it really “boils down” to that. Although that’s the basic concept of Chislic, the rules seem to be pretty broad and just about anything goes.

We’ve explored some of the local eateries in the area, and Chislic has been something of a miss. I did find one bar in the area that had it on the menu, so I jumped at the opportunity to try some. When my plate came out, I was a little disappointed, because my Chislic did not really fit the description that you will find.

That my friend, is what we in the South would call, chicken fried steak nuggets. It’s not grilled, and it’s hardly cubes of meat, but alas, my Chislic meal was served. Again, it was “ok” bar food and really left me confused about what Chislic is. Like I said, there really doesn’t seem to be any rules on the stuff. Maybe that’s why I’ve never heard of it before.

After my research, and local tasting, I went home, fired up the ole kettle and tried my hand at a more “traditional” Chislic. Traditionally, Chislic was lamb or maybe even beef sometimes, so I sourced a couple of beef ribeyes at the local market to give this local food a try.

• 

• 

Again, there are no rules, so I just cubed the ribeyes, and seasoned them with a little cavenders. After that, I fired up some coals and skewered the meat to set over the coals. Full disclosure, and if I’m just being honest, we’re literally making kabobs, but for South Dakota and General Custer’s sake, we’ll call it Chislic

When cooking the “Chislic”, I like to just brown each side for a few minutes, right over the coals. I do shut the lid to keep flare-ups down. You want to watch them, and move/turn them frequently, to keep from burning the meat, or as some folks like to say, “cooking them well done”.

I cooked these to about medium to medium-well, for the whole family. In total, it took about 20 minutes.

Well, there it is folks, steak kabobs, er, I mean, Chislic! They turned out very tasty, and I will definitely be cooking Chislic again. The ribeyes had plenty of fat content to keep the meat tender and juicy through the cook, and a little dash of cavenders was all this Chislic needed to make it a hit with the family.

We are loving South Dakota in summer, and look forward to bringing you another SD classic next week, so stay tuned!