Original City Chicken Recipe

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It’s time to make authentic City Chicken Recipe. It’s simple to make and yields a super tender meat that you can cut with a fork. But, despite its name this is not actually a chicken dish. It’s a local dish that is made of pork sirloin chunks or a combo of veal and pork curves that are passed through skewers, browned and then braised slowly.

I have fond memories of eating city chicken as a kid and  I never questioned why it was named that way as it doesn’t contain any chicken.

Where Can You Find Pork For City Chicken Recipe?

If you live in the Midwest state zone, you may likely find pork sirloin that is already cubed specially packaged kebals for city chicken in your local food stores.

How To Prepare City Chicken in the oven

• To make this delicious city chicken recipe, begin by passing the pork cubes through the wooden skewers, making sure they are tight and dense for best cooking results. Next, coat them in breading in 3 steps.
• Here you’ll have to toss the pork in the seasoned flour, then the beaten eggs/wash and finally the Italian breadcrumbs.
• You may also add a hint of paprika or salt and pepper to the breadcrumb mixture to boost its flavor.
• The next step is to brown the meat in the oil over medium to high heat, making sure not to overload the skillet. The pork doesn’t have to cook all the way at this point, just browned on the sides.  This is a quite fast step
• Note: the meat cubes will turn brown on the outside but raw inside.
• The city chicken is then roasted in the oven at 325F for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until you can rip it apart with a fork (check after 1 ½ hours to see doneness).

Ingredients

• 1 lbs pork sirloin, cubed (with skewers)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour, with salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup egg beats or two eggs beaten with one tablespoon water
• 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
• ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 can or pack of gravy (mushroom or pork), heated
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

• Preheat your oven at 325F and coat a pyrex dish (around 9X13”) with cooking spray. If you are only cooking 4 kebabs you can use a smaller dish.
• Prepare your breading area with the seasoned flour, the egg wash and the breadcrumbs separately. Add the smoked paprika optionally to the breadcrumb mix. Pass 4 meat cubes onto each skewer and dust with the flour, shaking off any excess. Coat each skewer in the egg wash, then toss in the breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium to high heat. Brown the pork on each side (it doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through).
• Once you brown the pork, place in a prepared baking dish, leaving a bit of distance between each skewer. Add the chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and close tightly with the foil. Bake at 325F for 1 ½-2 hours or until you can pull the pork with a fork. Serve with gravy on the side.

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