CHINESE ALMOND CHICKEN RECIPE - DETROIT ALMOND CHICKEN

Chinese Almond Chicken Recipe - Detroit Almond Chicken image

Chinese Almond Chicken, aka Detroit Almond Chicken, ABC or Almond Boneless Chicken, is a dish with fried chicken and mushroom gravy served over iceberg lettuce.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

2-4 chicken breasts (depends on size)
Salt and pepper
1 cup cooking sherry
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
3 cups chicken broth
8 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 tablespoons all purpose flour (divided)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
Vegetable oil (enough to fill 1 inch of a Dutch oven )
1 head iceberg lettuce (shredded)
1/3 cup sliced almonds
4 scallions (sliced diagonally for garnish)
Chinese Rice Noodles

Steps:

Place chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat tenderizer, pound breasts to approximately 1/2 inch uniform thickness. Pieces may be very large, in this case, cut in half.
Place in a baking dish large enough for them to fit in a single layer. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cover with cooking sherry. Set aside until ready to cook, a minimum of 30 minutes.
In bowl, whisk together 4 tablespoons cornstarch with 4 tablespoons water until smooth.
In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat chicken broth, shiitake mushrooms, dark soy sauce, unsalted butter and cornstarch mixture over low heat. Whisk until smooth. Sauce should start to thicken and mushrooms will cook down. Do not bring to a boil, whisk every 2-3 minutes while making the chicken. When it reaches a gravy consistency, remove from heat or place on a "warm" setting.
In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk 6 tablespoons flour, baking powder and eggs. This mixture will be very thick. If it is so think you won't be able to dredge chicken through it, add a small amount of milk or water, but make sure it isn't too watery, you want it to stick to the chicken.
In a shallow dish or bowl place the remaining 6 tablespoons all purpose flour and lightly season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat.
Lightly coat each chicken breast in flour and then dredge in egg batter. Carefully lower into hot oil. Depending on size, chicken will take from 5-7 minutes per side. Remove to a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Continue with remaining chicken breasts. The cooking time can vary considerably depending on the heat of the oil and size of the chicken. Chicken needs to be an internal temperture of 165 degrees. If the outside is cooking faster than the inside, remove and place into the oven to continue cooking.
For plating, create a bed of iceberg lettuce, top with a piece of chicken, mushroom gravy, scallions and Chinese rice noodles.
If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!