Question:
Dear Advice Guy,
We got a bad review that our chicken tenders still have the tendon included. Is this a thing? Should we be removing it or seeing if I can source it with them removed?
– General manager
Answer:
Yes. While many chicken tender-type items are really just cut and flattened boneless, skinless chicken breasts or a formed product made from breast meat, true chicken tenderloins are a separate smaller muscle just under the chicken breast and have a firm rubber-band type tendon at the top. This tendon does not disappear in cooking so, while many guests just eat and ignore it (it is perfectly safe and edible when cooked), observant diners will note it as a shortcut.
The good news is that the tendon is easily removed with a knife, specialized hand-tool, or pulled out by hand (a paper towel helps for grip). There are industrial machines that can rapidly remove tendons. If your meat supplier has one, you can also be sure to source chicken tenderloins without the tendon, typically without seeing a big difference in price.
When I was in culinary school, a mantra was “attention to detail,” and removing the tendons from chicken tenderloins is indeed one of those details that can distinguish good from great.
More on menuing chicken tenders here.