FOOD NEWS
Chicago's Pork Chop Sandwich Is A Distinctive Street Food Staple
BY JOHN TOLLEY
Chicago's pork chop sandwich is a relatively obscure dish outside of the city. This sandwich, which still has a bone in it when served, is a Windy City street food staple.
If you want a real pork chop sandwich, head to Chicago's Near South Side to Jim's Original. There are imitators, but Jim's is where the sandwich began over 50 years ago.
Pork chops make for a filling, affordable sandwich. The sandwich's inventors might have left the bone in for flavor, or they chose to save time by not de-boning the chops.
The sliced, bone-in pork chop is brined before being seared on the griddle, a space it shares with caramelized onions that will also go into the sandwich.
Once the meat is nicely seared, it goes into a steamed bun along with those sweet brown onions, a lashing of yellow mustard, and a few pickled sport peppers.
The yielding bun contains a mix of savory, sweet, tangy, and spicy flavors, and the bone is off to one side, so toss it or chew the remaining meat off of it when you're done.