City Chicken isn’t actually chicken; it’s also been known as mock chicken. It’s sometimes thought of as a Polish recipe, although it’s not actually from Poland. What’s up with this dish?
Dating back to the turn of the previous century, City Chicken, a Polish-American recipe, has roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio and spread to Great Lakes cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Buffalo, New York. Nostalgic comfort food from the Rust Belt.
Made of small bits of meat, usually pork and veal because during the Great Depression, they were less expensive than chicken. The meat used was often scraps, placed on a wooden skewer and formed to resemble a chicken leg. It was breaded and fried and/or baked.
I made City Chicken over the weekend, it was the first time I’d sampled the mock chicken, and I have to say the experience is very similar to eating fried chicken. My husband, Ed, grew up near Pittsburgh, and is a more experienced connoisseur of City Chicken than I. When I said I was going to make it, he knew what I meant. 🙂
He told he that the last time he’d had City Chicken was probably in a restaurant in the Strip District, at the foot of Polish Hill (home to the Immaculate Heart of Mary church), on a visit to Pittsburgh. If you’re ever in the area, it’s worth a stop in the Strip District. Wonderful food markets and restaurants. There’s a Polish Deli, Wholey’s (an amazing fish monger). This is where I first visited a Penzey’s Spice store (long before they had a location in Tucson), first sampled the Pittsburgh classic of steak strips and french fries garnishing a green salad, but that’s another story.
Ed remembered seeing City Chicken the grocery stores when he was growing up, packs of stew-like meat with skewers included, but his family usually ate chicken. I think by that time, the price pendulum had swung the other way because even though money was tight, his mother fried a huge platter of chicken every Sunday as they hosted extended family.
Like most recipes, there are many variations. You have many cooking options: deep fry, pan fry, fry and then bake to finish, or just bake. Some like to serve City Chicken with some kind of gravy, we had it with my mushroom sauce. If you’d like to make this a low carb recipe, try any of these substitutions for the bread crumbs; all are tasty and satisfying ways to get the desire texture in the coating:
- ground almonds
- ground almonds & Parmesan Cheese
- ground pork rinds
City chicken is a tasty nostalgic dish that I think you’ll enjoy. Can you think of other recipes with such misleading names? I’m sure this isn’t the only one.
Smacznego!
Lois
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A nostalgic comfort food
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound pork, cut into 1 – 1 1/2 inch cubes
- Seasoning salt (another indicator that this Polish-American rather than Polish)
- flour, for dredging
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Season pork with seasoning salt, and thread onto 4 inch skewers
- Set up three bowls or plates with rims in a row (fill one with flour, one with the eggs, and the last with breadcrumbs)
- Roll the pork skewers in flour, dip in the eggs coating all side, roll in the bread crumbs
- Heat oil to 350, even brown the pork skewers in the hot oil
- Place the skewers in a baking dish and cover with foil, bake for about 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake uncovered for 5 minutes to crisp breading
Keywords: City Chicken
we make this alternating pork and veal cubes. use plain breadcrumbs. no seasoning salt! do not dredge in flour. dip in egg wash, roll in breadcrumbs. repeat at least once, more if you like breading. fry in oil til brown, turn over, brown the other side, layer in roasting pan. mix leftover breadcrumbs in egg wash, shape into a patty, and fry that too. add this patty to the meat that’s been browned.(there’s always someone at table who like breading!) add a lil water to bottom of pan, cover tightly, bake at 350 degrees F. until tender. tip- it’s easier to skewer meat cubes if they’re frozen! but these need to bake longer because they don’t thaw all the way through when browned. the ones on bottom of pan will be softer, bertter for older people. the top layers will be crispier. but all are great! serve with mashed potatoes, a veggie, and a salad.
I grew up in Chicago. My Polish-American mother called it “mock” chicken legs.
My Polish grandmother lived in Racine. wI and made this all the time while my mom was growing up. Recently my mom compiled a list of all our family heritage recipes for me and low and behold, City Chicken was in there! Thanks for sharing the history!
★★★★★
My pleasure, Erin! How wonderful that your mom put together the family recipes. I hear from people weekly who are trying to find an old family recipes because no one ever wrote them down.
We call it City. Chicken too! I use pork and veal cubed and alternate pieces on a skewer. I then dip the stKewers in egg wash then roll in bread crumbs and place them ina fry pan with a little oil to brown the.m. Remove and place in 9×12 square pan and pour 2 cans of cream of chicken soup over skewers and add one can of water and one can of chicken broth overskewers. Bake for 1. 1/2 hours longer if not cooked….delicious!
Sounds really good, Fran!
I remember when my MOM these and we loved them in Toledo Ohio. Yep a Polish neighborhood.
We called them “Mock City Chicken Legs”. I had looked for the How Too’s many times.
Thank you for giving me the recipe.
PS We also ate a lot of chicken then. So these stood out for me.
Enjoy, Kathryn!
I grew up in the Pittsburgh area. You can still buy it at local grocery stores. Thanks for the memory.
I’m glad to hear it’ still around! Thanks, Michelle! 🙂
Really interesting how this came to be. Thanks for a cool food history lesson!
My pleasure, David!
Love City Chicken. Realized it was not truly an ethnic Polish recipe when I asked a recent Polish immigrant to share her recipe and she did not know what I was talking about. Never heard of it.
That’s funny Joan, the same could be said of Polkas. So popular with Polish-American, but not so much in Poland. 🙂
What type of work do you recommend? Tenderloin? Loin? Thanks!
I used a pork roast. It wasn’t a tenderloin.
Thanks!
My Mom made this with cubed pork and beef.
I grew up in the Pittsburgh area and now live in Tucson also. My mom always made City Chicken, thank you for sharing your recipe!
I would make these all the time , my mother made them when we were kids. My father was from Austria/Hungry when it was one country. He remembers his mother making them when they were kids. My family just loved it .