I was always a fan of the chicken planks at Long John Silvers. I don’t remember much about my father, but I remember we used to get them sometimes when me and my sister would visit him in Florida. When I grew up, there was no Long John Silvers in NYC so I went without. When I moved to Atlanta, there were a few LJS locations and so I would get them from time to time. I would have been there more often but the locations were pretty far away from home and work. Then a new location opened in the mall near work and I found myself there a lot – in fact the cashier knew what I wanted before I even opened my mouth.
When I came to Austin for SXSW the first time, I found a LJS very close to the hotel I stayed at. I was excited and nearly every day during my trip I got the chicken planks. They once again became one of my favorite fast food items. And when I decided to move to Austin, I knew I could have my fix anytime I wanted it. The location was far away from my home but I could easily make my daily route go in a certain direction so I could pick up the food whenever.
The last few days I have been looking at the fast foods I used to eat to see just how bad they really were for my body. When I read the ingredients and nutrition lists, all I can say is that I am sorry to my body.
Here are the ingredients:
First the chicken strips (we used to call them planks):
Lightly dusted chicken portioned breast strips containing up to 9.0% (based on raw weight of chicken) of a solution of water, salt and sodium tri-polyphosphate. Predusted with: Bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid
Here is the batter they put on the chicken strips:
Wheat Flour (May be Bleached and Enriched with Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices (Including Paprika), Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Garlic Powder, Natural Flavoring, Guar Gum, Spice Extract.
Who knew that MSG was in the chicken strips?!?! Growing up in NYC, I remember everyone saying “no msg” when we went to the chinese food restaurant but who knew that they put MSG in so many other fast food items! If you do some searches, it is pretty amazing just how much MSG is placed in fast foods. And now I know that MSG makes you want more of an item as you eat it!
And now the ingredients for the french fries:
Potatoes, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (Soybean Oil and/or Cottonseed Oils), and/or Vegetable Oil (Canola, Soybean, and/or Sunflower Oils), Modified Food Starch, Rice Flour, Dextrin, Cornstarch, Wheat Starch, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Whey, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Caramel color, FD&C Yellow 5 and 6), Turmeric, Dextrose and Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (to retain natural color).
And now the nutritionals on the chicken and fries:
- 880 calories
- 44 grams of fat
- 13.5 grams of trans fat
- 2140 mgs of sodium
- 60 mgs of cholesterol
It’s been almost 6 months with no chicken strips, crunchies or fries from Long John Silvers and I can tell you I don’t miss it a bit. I made my own baked chicken strips with nothing but fresh chicken, breadcrumbs from fresh bread and some olive oil and they tasted totally yummy.
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