Today I’m sharing a recipe for one of my favorite dishes City Chicken! If you don’t know what city chicken is I can start by telling you it has nothing to do with chicken at all. City Chicken is actually a pork dish.
Any time I mention I’m making city chicken I get the same response. What’s city chicken? because I am always in need of a good chicken recipe. Then I proceed to explain the recipe and the second response is usually really!
Yep its a mock chicken dish made with pork instead of chicken. Mock meaning (a food that is named for an ingredient that isn’t in the recipe) or making one meat to resemble another meat. This recipe is a old fashioned recipe that’s been around for quite some time. I did a little digging around and found out that this chicken dish goes back as far as the early 1900’s.
You see back then chicken was rather expensive and pork was much cheaper. So it wasn’t un common to take cuts of meats and transform them into something different by using a more accessible and economical meat.
In this case pork was transformed to resemble a traditional chicken leg by skewering cubed pork, breading and then frying or baking it. I have been making this dish for over 10 years now and we love it.
I did change the preparation up a bit by placing the cubed pork in a skillet by itself and browning it instead of placing the cubed pork on skewers. I found it much easier to cook the pork cubes all the way through using this method.
After the pork cubes are browned they are placed in a delicious yummy gravy and simmered until tender. Serve city chicken with mashed potatoes, rice or pasta, so you can enjoy that yummy gravy.
Our favorite is served with mashed potatoes, purple hull peas & hot water cornbread. I hope you will give this oldie but goodie a try. Do you have a favorite old fashioned dish or recipe that you like to make? If so tell me about it.
Cut pork into bite size cubed pieces. Combine flour, pepper and garlic powder on a plate or bowl. Roll pork in flour mixture until coated. Shake off excess flour. In a large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat and add the cubed pork.
Brown pork, turning frequently; drain. Sprinkle with soup mix. Add broth, water and bay leaf. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer meat for 30-40 min or until meat is tender. Remover bay leaf and serve.
If the gravy isn’t thick enough for your taste. Bring the mixture back to a slow boil then add a mixture of flour and water to make a thin paste. (see not below for measurements) Add to the gravy while using a whisk to combine. Keep adding until you have the gravy to a consistency that you want.
City Chicken {Mock Chicken Dish} Ingredients: 2 lbs – boneless pork, cut into cubes, I used boneless pork sirloin chops ½ – cup flour ¼ – tsp pepper dash of garlic powder ¼ – cup butter or margarine 3 – tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil 1 – envelope dry onion soup mix 1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 – cup water 1 – bay leaf Directions: Cut pork into bite size cubed pieces. Combine flour, pepper and garlic powder on a plate or bowl. Roll pork in flour mixture until coated. Shake off excess flour. In a large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Brown pork, turning frequently; drain. Sprinkle with soup mix. Add broth, water and bay leaf. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer meat for 30-40 min or until meat is tender. Remover bay leaf and serve. If the gravy isn’t thick enough for your taste. Return the mixture to a slow boil then add a mixture of flour and water to make a thin paste. Add to the gravy mixture while using a whisk to combine. Keep add the flour paste until the gravy is the consistency that you want. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. Cooks Note: To thicken the gravy 1-2 tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to equal amounts of water can be used to thicken the gravy before serving.
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