This old fashioned Mock Chicken recipe is a firm family favourite.
All of my aunts and cousins will think of just one person when this recipe is mentioned: our Nan MacDonald, Nana Ling's daughter.
Nan Mac, as we all called her, would turn up at our family gatherings with both arms weighed down by her cooking.
You could be sure that amongst the goodies, you'd find these two things: a dish of Mock Chicken and a perfectly baked and decorated sponge cake.
The Mock Chicken disappeared fast. Most of us didn't know what went into, we just knew it tasted great piled on top of a Jatz cracker.
It seems I may have found the source of this much-loved recipe in Nana Ling's recipe book. A recipe for "Mock Fowl".
What is Mock Chicken?
Mock chicken doesn't contain any chicken, but the recipe does include an egg!
It can be used the same way as chicken, and enjoyed with some veges, as a sandwich filling or atop a cracker.
It was popular at a time when chicken and other meats may have been a luxury.
Nana Ling’s recipe is dated December 1941, a time when Australia had just declared war on Japan and learnt that 645 crewmen had been lost with the sinking of the HMAS Sydney following a battle with a German raider off the Western Australian coast.
It’s not surprising that I’ve stumbled across quite a few “mock” recipes in her notebook. Rationing of food and clothes happened in Australia from 1942.
Are we falling in love with this depression-era dish again?
Although it may have been a meat substitute during poorer times, it definitely isn't a poor substitute, taste-wise.
Of course, these days mock meat is popular for entirely different reasons, too.
Many people switch to vegetarianism for weight loss, health-related and environmental reasons.
Perhaps Mock Chicken is ripe for a comeback? I can almost see Nana Ling and Nan Mac smiling at that thought!
Ingredients for Mock Chicken
To make Mock Chicken, you'll need:
- small onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 dessert spoon butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs.
My Aunty Judy also now adds a tablespoon of grated cheese to the mix.
This recipe calls for a peeled tomato.
Peeling tomatoes is a little different compared with peeling your standard fruit and vegetables.
While it may seem a little fiddly, it’s an interesting process and delivers a lovely, clean result. Much nicer than the mushy mess you’d be left with if you attempted this process with a peeler.
Making Mock Chicken
Peeling the tomato
First, prepare a saucepan of boiling water and a bowl of cold water.
Wash tomatoes and remove the stem.
Cut a shallow X in the bottom of the tomato using a small, sharp knife.
Place the tomato into the boiling water and after about 20 seconds the skin around the X should start to split further.
Immediately remove from boiling water and place into the bowl of cold water.
You should be able to remove the thin outer skin of the tomato quickly and easily with your hands.
Once cooled, chop the tomato and set aside.
Cooking it all up
Add the finely chopped onion to a frying pan and cook until clear.
Add butter and tomato to pan and cook well.
Beat egg and add to mixture along with herbs and cheese (if you're adding cheese).
Cook and stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Blend a little with a stick blender or chopper if desired to achieve a finer texture or serve as is.
Serve cool.
Nana Ling's original handwritten Mock Chicken recipe
Keep scrolling to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the tested and tweaked version.
Mock Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 small onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 dessert spoon butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- 1 tablespoon grated cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Peel tomato and chop. Set aside.
- Add finely chopped onion to a frying pan and cook until clear.
- Add butter and tomato to pan and cook well.
- Beat egg and add to mixture along with herbs. Cook and stir in salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend a little with a stick blender or chopper if desired to achieve a finer texture or serve as is.
- Serve cool.
Video
Notes
- Let the mixture cool slightly for about 5 mins, then use a stick blender for a few seconds to create a smoother-textured Mock Chicken
- You can also add a tablespoon of grated cheese to the ingredients (Nan Mac did this – maybe their generation had times a little better to add the cheese to recipe).
Jo Holland
have been cooking mock chicken all my life! i make triple the recipe, buy a cob loaf, cut the top off and hollow it out and fill with mock chicken. i cut partly through the cob top into squares and place it back over the chicken then pop it in some foil with top open and heat and brown in the oven. I take it to parties where it is quickly devoured by tearing off bits of crust and dipping it in the filling.....men especially love this!! I decorate it with sides of carrot and celery sticks for those who are watching their weight. the bread you scooped out can be crumbled and made into balls by adding some beaten egg and cheese , drizzle with olive oil and bake in oven til brown and crisp. such a versatile dish for all occasions....Im currently making it for dainty little sandwiches for a 90 year olds birthday which has a theme of serving all the foods she loved as a twenty year old who played in a family band at country dances and parties .....mock chicken sammies were a favourite.
Libby Hakim
Amazing idea! Keep on dishing out the mock chicken 🙂 Thanks, Jo
Julie
I am lucky enough to have my mum's recipe. she always added 2 tab white breadcrumbs as well.
Libby Hakim
Lovely! It's such a beautiful recipe 🙂
Jennifer Curry
Can mock chicken be frozen
Libby Hakim
Hi Jennifer. I haven't frozen it myself, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't freeze it. Happy cooking!
Belinda
Thank you so much for sharing this. I was a teenager in the 80’s and discovered this in one of my grandmother’s recipe books. It was a C.W.A. (Country Women’s Association)) recipe book probably published in the late seventies or early eighties in Tamworth, N.S.W, Australia). It may have mentioned, or maybe I assumed, it was an old recipe used during the war or the great depression.
I had already noticed that there were things both sides of my family did that were hangovers from these times; My mother’s family would take a roast lamb (shoulder or leg) out of the oven half an hour before it was cooked and sprinkle it with flour then salt and pepper and then sugar before putting it back into the oven. It would make a crispy sweet crust over the top. My father’s family thought that spreading cream on a slice of bread was a real treat.
I thought I would never see this recipe again. Thanks so much.
Libby Hakim
Hi Belinda - you're welcome! This was my Nan's specialty and one very close to my heart. Sometimes the CWA ladies cater for events around Maitland, like Steamfest, and Mock chicken sandwiches are still on the menu today!
Barb Membrey
Belinda, My dad also loved bread and farm fresh cream, but added vegemite in between the bread and cream.
Merlene
A childhood favourite with cheese and herbs. My mum would bake it in little individual tarts. Always delicious!
Libby Hakim
Lovely - will have to try it in tarts. Perfect for parties! Thanks, Merlene.
Rosemary Sharpe
I’m probably a bit late to comment, but I grew up with this recipe, it was my Auntie Luls specialty, used for picnics, and any leftover sandies were dipped in egg and fried for breakfast the next morning…..very fancy French toast!!! When I make it ,I add tasty cheese and cooked bacon. It’s great spread on baguette slices, put in oven till bread crispy….yum!
Libby Hakim
Hi Rosemary - absolutely love your ideas! The toast sounds amazing and the toasted baguette slices would be a perfect base. Thanks for sharing Libby x (PS Nana Ling's mother was a Sharpe)
Karen-lea Hughes
Thanks for the reminder of this yummy dip. My Mum is wed to make it when I was young. I think the trick was pouring boiling water over the whole tomato (as my Mum did). Then skin the tomato.
Tomato goes all mushy. And much easier to cook.
I will be making this soon.
Family favourite that I had forgotten about.
Libby
You're welcome! Yes, peeling the tomato is a must for this recipe. Enjoy the memories and the yummy flavours 🙂
Rhonda
I remember my mum making mock chicken when I was very young, don’t know how many years before that she made it as I’m the youngest of 8 children and in my 60’s.
Mum only used it as a sandwich spread and always with cheese as I do as well, except I also use it warmed as a side dish for bbq chops or chicken. I’ve given this recipe to many people.
Libby
Hi Rhonda. Thanks for sharing your lovely memories. It would be nice served warm as a side dish - I must try this! Libby x
Martine
Looks like the perfect recipe - just like my mums!
Love people’s little variations too.🙂
Libby
Wonderful! I love reading through the comments here, too - so many lovely variations and memories. Thanks, Martine x
Leanne Jay
This is the recipe Nana & Grandma used, love it.
Libby
It's a winner! We have always loved it too. Thanks Leanne x
Pamela Bertrand
I am so happy to have found your site....I love the old recipes, I had a wonderful cook book with old recipes many years ago and loaned it out and sadly it did not come home xoxo.So it wonderful that I can find these lovely recipes, espesially the mock chicken.
Libby
Hi Pamela - I'm so happy you've found the site too 🙂 I'm adding new "old" recipes to the site all the time. If there's something you remember from your cookbook and can't find it on the site send me a message and let me know as I probably have it tucked away somewhere. Happy cooking x
Tracy Boulter
In not made this in years and thrown my old recipe away. I had no mixed herbs so just added italian herbs, tastes great. I have it instead of an omelet at night with a slice of toast.
Libby
Hi Tracy. Glad you found the recipe here! Lucky my family are hoarders and had kept our recipe for 80 years ? Enjoy your night-time treat. I'll have to try it with toast, too. Libby 🙂
m. edlinger
So glad I found this! My mum made a great mock chicken sandwich and I just had a recent desire to have one. She is no longer able to make them & I've been searching for a recipe! This sounds like just the ticket 😉
Libby
Hi Martine. So glad I could help and I hope you enjoy your mock chicken sandwich! ?
Julie
While I made this as Mock Chicken years ago in my family we call it tomato & egg and I have just made a batch for my daughter's visit! Great for breakfast on toast!!
Libby
ooh, never had it for breakfast but that idea sounds great! I hope you enjoyed your daughter's visit 🙂