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City Chicken has tender chunks of pork coated in a flavorful breadcrumb mixture and skewered, then fried and baked until cooked through. Read below to see where this delicious recipe got its name.
What is City Chicken?
It’s a “mock chicken” recipe believed to have originated in Polish American communities around the Rust Belt/Great Lakes region of the United States in the 1920s.
With a heavy concentration of immigrants in the cities of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Buffalo – this dish became known as “city chicken.”
It was made with pork (and sometimes veal or beef, or a combination of all three) because those meats were much cheaper in cost in the cities than buying chicken. So breading and skewering chunks of other kinds of meat was an attempt to recreate the taste of fried chicken drumsticks.
Even today, you’ll find City Chicken on the menu in certain regions of the United States with a large Polish American population.
City Chicken is sometimes served with gravy. (Click here for a great gravy recipe made without drippings.)
Why you’ll love City Chicken
- It really does resemble the taste of fried chicken!
- This is an easy recipe to make and one that the entire family will enjoy.
- You can make it with any good cut of pork, veal, or beef (even boneless chicken!) – so you can shop the meat sales at the supermarket.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pork – We bought pork sirloin mini roasts and cut them into large chunks. You can also choose other cuts of pork and make the skewers smaller.
- Veal – Optional – Buy veal stew meat. (Or feel free to use all pork instead.)
- Tenderizer – Baking soda and water.
- Eggs
- Water
- All-Purpose Flour seasoned with Kosher Salt and ground White Pepper.
- Breadcrumbs – We combined seasoned Italian breadcrumbs and Panko breadcrumbs for the coating.
- Stock – Half cup of any stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable).
- Oil – Vegetable or canola oil for frying.
Special Tools Needed
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Bowl – To tenderize the meat.
- Colander – To rinse and drain the meat after tenderizing.
- 8-Inch Wooden Skewers
- Three Deep-Dish Pie Plates (or shallow bowls) – For breading
- Heavy Pot or Wok – For frying the skewered meat before baking.
- 9×13-inch Casserole Dish
- Various Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Instant-Read Probe Thermometer – The best way to tell when the pork is cooked through.
How do I make City Chicken?
- Cut the pork and veal into 1 ½ to 2-inch sized pieces.
- Tenderize for 15 minutes in a baking soda and water solution. Rinse and pat dry.
- Place the pieces onto 8-inch-long skewers.
- Bread in flour, egg wash, and breadcrumbs.
- Fry a few at a time to brown.
- Place in 9×13-inch casserole dish with a half cup of stock poured into the bottom of the dish.
- Bake covered for 40 minutes, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.
- Serve by sliding the pork chunks off the skewers (we did in the photo above). Or – if you’ve made smaller skewers – serve individual skewers for each portion.
Tips & Tricks
A baking soda and water solution really does a great job tenderizing pork. If using veal, it is a tender meat to start, but the solution will make it even more tender. Just make sure to rinse the solution off after 15 minutes – don’t over tenderize!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make City Chicken ahead of time? You can cut the pork into chunks ahead of time, but only tenderize and cook just before serving.
- How do I store leftovers? Store refrigerated in a covered container for up to three days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? Gently reheat individual portions in the microwave, being careful not to overheat and overcook.
- Can I freeze? Yes, but the breading will get soggy once thawed.
You might like these other Polish Recipes:
Click here for more delicious Pork Recipes!
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City Chicken
City Chicken has tender chunks of pork coated in a flavorful breadcrumb mixture and skewered, then fried and baked until cooked through.
Ingredients
2 pounds pork cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch cubes (any good cut of pork, we used pork sirloin mini roast)
1 pound of veal cubes (veal stew meat), or just use all pork if you can’t find veal
1/4 cup baking soda
Enough water to cover the cubed meat
5 wooden skewers cut to 8” in length
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
3 large eggs beaten with two tablespoons water
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
Enough vegetable or canola oil to half fill your frying vessel
1/2 cup of any stock or broth
Instructions
- Depending on what cut of pork you buy, trim as needed, and cut into pieces about 1 ½ inch to 2 inches.
- If you bought a veal roast, trim and cube as you did for the pork.
- Place the cubed meat into a medium bowl and cover with cold water.
- Add the baking soda and mix it into the meat and water. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then drain, rinse, and drain again. Pat the pieces dry.
- Slide the cubes of meat onto five 8” long skewers (cut or break off ends if longer than 8”). Slide two pork pieces, one veal, two pork pieces, another veal and two more pork pieces per skewer.
- Mix flour, salt, and pepper into one pie plate, eggs and water beaten in another pie plate and the two breadcrumbs into a third pie plate.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat oil in a heavy pan or wok to 350 degrees F.
- Pour a half cup of stock into a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Bread each meat skewer in seasoned flour, then egg wash then breadcrumbs.
- Fry two skewers at a time for 1-2 minutes just to brown then place into the prepared casserole dish.
- Once all five have been browned, and are in the casserole dish, cover with parchment and foil and bake for 40 minutes or until the internal temperature when poked with a probe thermometer is between 145- and 150-degrees F.
- Remove the cooked meat from the skewers and serve. This recipe makes enough for eight portions of about six ounces each.
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I grew up eating city chicken in Michigan. So good!!
We cannot get veal in California so I will make these with my pork tenderloins. I can’t wait!! Thank you!
Hope you enjoy the recipe Pat!
First, 4 stars for the recipe because it looks great and I intend to make it in the next week or two. I’m a founding member of the “boomer generation” and half Polish. My grandfather was an immigrant who was a butcher and owned a butcher shop/grocery store in southeastern Massachusetts for over fifty years — he made and smoked his own ( much in demand ) Kielbasa recipe. The background info is the lead-up to my saying I’ve never heard of “City Chicken” until your always welcome email landed today.
I do have a question — what are “pork sirloin mini roasts” and where do you buy them? Are they in most mainstream grocery stores, Whole Foods or do you have a favorite butcher shop that cuts them for you? Is a center-cut, boneless pork loin roast or pork tenderloin an appropriate substitution? I’m assuming that a boneless pork shoulder is too tough a cut to use.
Martha — I’ve used a number of your family’s Polish recipes because they so closely resemble the dishes my mom and, especially, my babchie made ( …but, no written recipes ). They have all been delicious, thank you. I make a lot of recipes from your blog and always get great results.
I look forward to making this one and am sure it will easily earn its 5th star.
Hello YellowTulips – So glad to hear that you are enjoying the recipes. I don’t recall eating City Chicken growing up either, but have a suspicion that we might have had it without realizing it was pork and not really chicken. (My parents were always looking for ways to save money with six kids to feed!) To answer your question about the pork sirloin mini roasts – it was available at our local supermarket (Market Basket) and labeled as such. It’s basically the smaller roast end from the pork loin of the animal – so a less expensive cut than the tenderloin. (A center cut boneless pork loin roast would be fine to use.) I hope that helps clarify! I hope you enjoy the recipe and thanks for your question – I’m sure it will help other readers with the same. P.S. Your grandfather’s kielbasa sounds amazing!!
Thank you, Martha. The information is just what I needed and I’ll be making City Chicken for the first time this week.