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City Chicken

From

December/January 2013

City Chicken

Due to the high price of chicken during the depression, home cooks would transform less expensive pork into “mock” chicken drumsticks by skewering and frying cubes of meat. Most recipes call for breading, frying, and braising all in the same pan, but this resulted in tough, bland pork with a soggy coating. Pork shoulder is the traditional choice for this dish, as it benefits from a long cooking time. We rub the meat with thyme, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper to maximize flavor before breading and frying the skewers. Finally, we bake our city chicken instead of braising it to ensure a crispy coating. A simple herb-flecked sour cream sauce makes the perfect foil for the fried meat.

Serves 6 to 8

You will need eight (6-inch) bamboo skewers. If you can’t find them, trim longer ones or the skewered meat won’t fit in the pot for frying. Pork butt roast may be labeled Boston butt. You can make the sauce and trim, season, and skewer the meat a day in advance.

Ingredients

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