Goujons are a dish of French origin, and normally refer to small strips of delicate white fish like sole, that are breaded and deep-fried. In an effort to reduce fat content of meals, you’ll find that many modern recipes for these are now baked instead. Further, it’s quite common to see chicken goujons, which we might better know as chicken fingers, chicken nuggets or chicken tenders. In fact, if you or your kids order chicken strips at restaurants frequently, you’ve probably been eating goujons without realizing it, since they’re seldom called by this name in the US.

One exception to this is that goujons tend to be made of whole pieces of meat, not parts of meat to which soy or other fillers are added. Some fast food restaurants make “nuggets” of sorts, but if they are not made of whole pieces of chicken, then they differ from traditional goujons. In France, deep-fried fish is frequently eaten with aioli or Dijon mustard, usually not available in fast food restaurants of the US, though you might find these dips in more upscale restaurants in America.

The standard practice for making a goujon is to dip fish or meat in beaten egg before rolling it in bread crumbs that may contain various spices. They may be double-dipped if you prefer more crunch. Goujons are then deep-fried for a few minutes; it usually doesn’t take long. They are served hot especially when deep-fried, since they will taste greasier when cooled.

Some people might assume the goujon is the same as the fried fish served with the British classic fish and chips. This is not the case. In the British form, fish are dipped in batter prior to being deep-fried, and are essentially fritters.

There are a tremendous amount of recipes on the Internet for making goujons. Many of them now rely on using extra breadcrumbs to bake fish or poultry instead of deep-frying it. If you or your family are fans of chicken tenders but don’t want that extra “fat’ imparted by frying, oven baking is a great way to still get wonderfully crispy “tenders” while significantly reducing fat content. Using skinless chicken breasts can further reduce fat. Alternately, if you do plan to deep fry, consider using monounsaturated oil for this process, which is high in “good” cholesterol.

You may even be able to find chicken goujons in the freezer section of the grocery store. These can be pretty high in sodium and you might want to look for them instead in a good natural foods store. Get creative with dipping sauces, too, to change up the way these can be served. Numerous dips can complement the goujon well. Again if you’re trying to reduce fats, try dips made with low or nonfat yogurt instead of mayonnaise.