If you have never heard of City Chicken then read on!
What is City Chicken? What is the origin of City Chicken?
City Chicken is a Depression-era meal that is not found in cookbooks. Believe it or not, there was a time in history (pre-1940's) when chicken was actually more expensive than pork, veal, or beef. Poultry farms weren't yet industrialized and available everywhere like they are today, so chicken wasn't as accessibleas you might think.
Yup, it's true! Since folks couldn't afford the expensive chicken, they would use pieces of pork, veal, and/or steak, and skewer them onto a bamboo skewer, bread with seasoned breading, and then fry and/or bake. What exactly is City Chicken? It's not chicken at all, but is made from other meats and shaped to look like a drumstick!
So gather your supplies, whip up a batch of mashed potatoes and gravy, sautesome asparagus or fresh green beans, and make your first batch of City Chicken!
Best City Chicken Recipe
For this recipe you will need:
Bamboo skewers (about 8 inch long)
Shake & Bake Pork flavor
*For the meat, I use about 1 lb of pork and 1 lb of steak, for about 4 people, so you can adjust accordingly:
Lean pork cubes (I use cup up boneless pork chops)
Lean steak cubes
2 large eggs
splash of milk (about 1/4 cup)
Olive Oil & Crisco solid shortening
Gather all ingredients.
1. Soak the bamboo skewers in warm water for a while before you start, at least 30 minutes is good, a few hours is better. While they are soaking, find a casserole dish that will accommodate the length of the skewers for when you bake them in the oven (I usually use a big lasagna pan).
2. Cut pork and steak into bite-sized pieces for skewering.
3. Skewer the pork and steak cubes onto the bamboo skewers, alternating pork and steak. Do not fill the entire skewers end-to-end, instead leave some space at each end. One inch or so is good. This will make them easier to handle.
4. Put Shake & Bake coating into the bag provided (you can also use regular bread crumbs if you prefer. I find the Shake & Bake makes them nice and crispy).
5. In a pie plate or dish large enough to fit the skewers, beat the two eggs with the milk.
6. Doing one skewer at a time, dip the meat-filled skewer into the egg and milk mixture and coat the meat on the skewer completely.
7. Allow excess egg to drip off of the skewer and then place the skewer in the bag with the breadcrumbs/Shake & Bake and coat the meat completely with the coating, using your hand outside the bag to squeeze the coating onto the meat. Squeezing it on will make the breading stick very well. Remove skewer from bag and set aside on a plate. Repeat steps above until all skewers are filled with meat, dipped in egg mixture, and breaded.
8. In a large frying pan melt about 1/3 cup of Crisco solid shortening on medium-low heat until melted and hot - you can use half Crisco and half olive oil instead, or whatever frying of that you prefer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Once shortening/oil is hot, place a few of the breaded meat skewers into the oil and lightly fry to brown the outsides for just a minute or two each. Watch carefully so they don't burn. Use tongs to turn them and once they are brown, remove them and place them on a plate covered with paper towels to drain off the excess oil.
10. Once all skewers are fried and drained, turn off the oil and remove from heat. Transfer each of the skewers from the paper towels to a lasagna dish or other casserole dish. Cover with foil.
11. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for one hour.
12. Optional: bake for an additional 5 minutes with foil removed to dry out a bit if they look too wet.
Soak the skewers ahead of time so they won't singe when you fry and bake them
Prepare your egg and breading mixes and set aside
Cube your pork and beef into bite-sized pieces
Skewer the pork and beef, alternating them if you like
These are ready to be dipped in the egg mixture and then breaded
Breaded and ready to be fried up
Fry for a just a minute or two to brown the outsides
Drain the fried skewers on paper towels to blot off extra fat and then place them in a baking dish, cover, and bake for one hour
From oven to table! Golden baked City Chicken. Best city chicken recipe ever!
Serve with a veggie of your choice and mashed potatoes and gravy: perfect comfort food!
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Have you ever eaten City Chicken?
Article & images copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018
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FAQs
Traditionally, city chicken consists of cubes of pork, veal, or both, which are threaded onto skewers, battered with flour and breadcrumbs, and baked or deep-fried to tender perfection. Cooks often shape the skewered meat to mimic chicken drumsticks, and the dish indeed tastes like chicken.
What is the story behind the city chicken? ›
It was a working-class food item. During the Depression, cooks used pork or in many cases veal because it was then cheaper than chicken in many cities, especially meat packing centers such as Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, and Pittsburgh where such cuts were more readily available than chicken.
What is the history of city chicken in Detroit? ›
Polish and Ukrainian immigrant communities helped establish City Chicken in cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit. Its popularity spread when Southerners working in the Midwest—primarily in the auto and railroad industries—brought home the hearty meal they'd learned to love.
How do you reheat city chicken? ›
Reheating fried chicken can be done in the oven, in an air fryer, on the stove, or in the microwave. The oven, air fryer, and stove top will keep the chicken crispy. The microwave is the fastest method, but you won't get a crispy crust.
What cut of pork is city chicken made from? ›
ingredients
- 1 lb veal tenderloin, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes.
- 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes.
- 1 egg, beaten.
- 1⁄4 cup milk.
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt.
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper.
- 1 cup saltine, medium crushed.
- 3 tablespoons oil.
City dwellers longed for chicken, that fancy delicious bird that only farmers got to eat, the lucky devils. But the elusive fowl were raised in the country, and were hard to obtain in the city and expensive when found. So city mice fashioned a pork-veal dish as a sort of mock chicken.
Where is the city named chicken? ›
Chicken is a tiny unincorporated village in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska. It is a community founded on gold mining, and is one of the few surviving gold rush towns in Alaska.
Why is the chicken called the chicken? ›
Note: Some people incorrectly believe that 'chicken' is the plural form of chick, as oxen is to ox. This is not the case - The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon word cicen, for which the plural is cicen-u. "Chick" is simply a contraction of chicken.
What city is named after a chicken? ›
Chicken is located in a remote corner of Alaska along the rugged and beautiful Taylor Highway. This gold mining town was established around 1898 and today, it is one of the few surviving gold rush towns in the state. How did it come to be named Chicken?
What is the oldest town in Detroit? ›
Corktown is the oldest existing neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, though it is only half as old as the city itself. In the 1820s and 30s, with the opening of the Erie Canal and the decreased cost of steamboat travel on the Great Lakes, immigrants began arriving in Detroit in significant numbers and settling downtown.
Chicken 65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish originating from Hotel Buhari, Chennai, India, as an entrée, or quick snack.
What happens if you don't reheat chicken? ›
Though overcooking chicken can dry it out, it's much safer than undercooking it. Undercooked chicken or chicken that hasn't been safely reheated can still host bacteria that can cause illnesses, including salmonella. Most people with salmonella infection have many symptoms, and they are as follows: Diarrhoea.
Can you eat cold fried chicken? ›
In fact, eating leftover fried chicken cold or even room temperature is safe as long as it hasn't spent more than two hours in the "danger zone," which is the USDA's term for temperatures between 40°F and 140°F, when bacteria grow fastest.
How long does fried chicken last in the fridge? ›
USDA recommends using cooked chicken within three to four days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within three to four days.
What is mock chicken made out of? ›
Mechanically separated meats (turkey and/or pork), Pork and/or beef, Water, Modified corn starch, Modified milk ingredients, Soy protein isolate, Salt, Potassium lactate, Monosodium glutamate, Sodium phosphate, Onion powder, Sodium erythorbate, Sodium diacetate, Spices, Sodium nitrite, Wheat flour, Mustard.
What is the name of the fake chicken? ›
Seitan, which is made from wheat protein, has long been used as a replacement for chicken and other meats, particularly in home cooking. But there are a number of ingredients that commercial brands use to make excellent vegan chicken these days.
What is mock chicken legs made of? ›
What is "mock chicken leg?" The basics: Mock chicken leg is pork – or in some cases veal, or other meats – ground up, molded to resemble a drumstick, breaded and fried. It looks similar to the original McNugget, only bigger.
Is mock chicken real chicken? ›
Mock chicken is a vegetarian or vegan alternative to real chicken made from plant-based ingredients, while chicken is a type of poultry meat that comes from a bird of the same name.
