City Chicken
This recipe comes from Andy’s family. They grew up eating City Chicken, which isn’t really chicken at all. It goes back to a time when chicken was expensive so pork was cooked on a skewer and breaded to resemble fried chicken. Andy’s mom, Diane, taught me to make it and her mom taught her. I love family recipes!
If you like pork, you will love this. They are “fall off the stick” tender, and if you take the time to make the gravy – it will be worth every second. Let me warn you, you will need to dedicate your day/evening to this dish. It is time consuming. It will take about 45 minutes to cut the pork roast into cubes, another 10-15 to put them on the skewers.
Then you dip them in egg, then seasoned bread crumbs, and brown them on 4 sides in butter. After that, the hard part is over. You add water, and let simmer, turning every 15 mins for an hour. From start to finish, you need at least 2 hours, maybe 2 1/2.
Two things are essential for good City Chicken. 1. Pork shoulder butt roast. This is going to give you the most tender meat. 2. 4.5″ Wood Skewers These are not your standard skewers, they are much shorter. I buy mine on Amazon – you can find them through the link. (See disclosure).
The gravy is a bonus – if you take the time to make it, it only takes a few minutes, it will be worth it. It is definitely a have-company-over kind of dish! An 8 lb roast will make about 30 City Chicken skewers.
City Chicken
Tender, fall off the "stick" breaded pork.
Ingredients
- 7-8 lb pork shoulder butt roast cut into cubes
- 1 stick butter
- 4 eggs beaten
- 3 cups season bread crumbs
- salt
- pepper
Gravy
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
-
Cut pork into 1 inch cubes. Place cubes onto 4.5 inch wood skewers.
-
You will need at least 2 12 inch frying pans or larger - maybe 3 depending on how many skewers you were able to make with your roast. Melt 2 Tbls of butter in each frying pan on medium heat. Begin with one frying pan at a time so the butter does not burn.
-
Place eggs and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip the skewers in the eggs, turning to coat. Next, coat the skewers with bread crumbs, closing your hand around it to press the bread crumbs in the egg and pork and shaping the meat into a log.
-
Place in the frying pan and melted butter. Brown the pork on each side. Add small cubes of butter along the way so the pork does not burn.
-
Once browned on all sides, add water to the pan, about a 1/4-1/2 of an inch, until the water reaches the skewers.
-
Cover the pan and turn heat down to a simmer. Turn the pork every 15 minutes for 1 hour. Add water as needed. Remove from pan after 1 hour.
Gravy
-
In a shaker, mix flour and water.
-
After removing the pork, bring liquid in pan to a boil, add the water and flour mixture. Whisk until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.
