City Chicken Detroit Style. When I was about ten-years-old, my dad took my grandmother,(Busia in Polish) and me to Chicago to visit her sister. It was a long trip then, driving along Michigan Avenue from Detroit to Chicago. Back in the day when chicken was expensive and veal and pork were cheap, 'city chicken' was a skewer of pork or pork and veal cubes, coated, deep fried and then baked to resemble fried chicken.

Nostalgic comfort food from the Rust Belt. City Chicken is an old family favorite we both grew up with in Detroit. City chicken, mashed potatoes and corn were a regular Sunday dinner growing up in Detroit. You can have City Chicken Detroit Style using 12 ingredients and 9 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of City Chicken Detroit Style

It's 1 pound of pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
Prepare 1 pound of veal stew meat, cut into 3/4 inch cubes.
Prepare 1 of medium onion, cut into 3/4 inch pieces.
It's 2 of celery tops, very coarsely chopped.
It's 1 cup of flour.
It's 2 cups of panko, made finer using a rolling pin.
It's 1 teaspoon of salt.
You need 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
It's 1/2 cup of whole milk.
Prepare 2 of eggs.
It's 20 of 4" wooden or bamboo skewers that have been sprayed with olive oil spray.
It's 3 cups of vegetable oil.

Nowadays, city chicken is something of a special treat, especially as the older generation is dying and small, family-owned restaurants are losing out to the fast-food chains. I enjoy a mushroom soup gravy with my city chicken. Detroit Almond Chicken actually doesn't taste much like Chinese food at all. It is American all they way.

City Chicken Detroit Style step by step

Preheat oven to 350 degrees..
Place onion in a small microwaveable bowl and microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds. Onion should be soft, but not mushy. Allow to cool to room temperature..
Thread alternating pieces of pork and veal (about 5-6 pieces) on each skewer, threading a piece of onion between each cube of meat..
Mix the flour with the salt and pepper. Dredge the meat skewers in flour, shaking off excess flour..
Beat the eggs, add milk, and whisk together. Dip meat skewers into egg and milk mixture..
Coat with breadcrumbs..
Heat oil in large frying pan. Fry meat skewers in medium hot oil until lightly brown on all sides..
Transfer city chicken skewers to greased baking pan. Top with celery. Cover lightly with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees..
Serve with cucumbers in sour cream and a side of fried potatoes..

Instead of chicken pieces, it is served as a sliced chicken breast, battered and fried like southern style fried chicken. It is considered good luck to remove one of the center slices prior to serving. The mushroom gravy tastes like brown. City Chicken is a traditional dish of Polish-American heritage and it has a very interesting story of origin. Apparently, during the time of the Great Depression, the chicken was scarce and way more expensive than other cuts of meat, like pork or veal.