Chinese Almond Chicken is a local dish served at every Chinese food restaurant in Detroit, Michigan. It comes as several names including Detroit Almond Chicken, ABC Chicken (which is redundant because the C stands for “chicken” and Almond Boneless Chicken.
Whatever you call it, it is certianly a Chinese-American dish.
What is Almond Chicken?
Chinese Almond Chicken, aka Detroit Almond Chicken, ABC and Almond Boneless Chicken, is a dish with fried chicken and mushroom gravy served over iceberg lettuce.
The request for Detroit Almond Chicken was from my dear friend Nathalie. Born and raised in a suburb of Detroit, she raves about Detroit Style Almond Chicken. Although served year round, this dish is also a Christmas Eve tradition in the region.
Nathalie has been trying to get our two friends, who also hail from the Detroit area and happen to own a Chinese food restaurant, to fess up the coveted recipe for Detroit Style Almond Chicken.
ABC Chicken and apparently there is a secret recipe for Egg Rolls that includes peanut butter, but that is another story for another time.
But It Isn’t Really Chinese At All…
As the story goes there is a man from the “old country” (China) who gave the secret recipe to the owners of the local Chinese Restaurants. He completes weekly rounds collecting a fee for this mystery recipe.
If ever leaked, they could face a penalty… or death. Sounds like a Detroit Almond Chicken mafia to me and I am not sure I believe it!
Unfortunately, she has not won the battle for the recipe to be leaked, nor would she like to see our good friends, Willis and Jimbo, be penalized, so one Friday night we decided it was “game on” for Chinese Almond Chicken.
Nathalie and I did our homework and relied on her eyes and tastes buds to recreate the famous Detroit Almond Chicken dish and then test it against our Chinese restaurant owning friends.
The Chicken & The Gravy
For all of those not from Detroit, you are probably expecting something like I was; similar to cashew chicken, but with almonds, served over fried rice. Detroit Almond Chicken actually doesn’t taste much like Chinese food at all. It is American all they way.Â
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 gravy. And the big kicker? No fried rice! Although I made some as a side dish, Detroit Style Almond Chicken is served over iceberg lettuce!
I now see why Nathalie was so excited to recreate this dish. It was amazingly good. The chicken is crispy on the outside, but moist on the inside. Pure comfort food.
Seasoned perfectly with a little sherry, salt and pepper, it allows for the mushroom gravy to take center stage. Crisp, cold, fresh lettuce is the base and complements the other hot flavors.
Iceberg Lettuce Instead of Rice
I’m told it started as a way to soak up extra oil from the fried chicken when plated, but since customers have started to devour it along with the chicken, it has become a staple. Topped with crunchy goodies, the textures are well balanced and palate pleasing.
If you don’t cook with alcohol, just omit the sherry and season well with salt and pepper. I used a dark mushroom soy sauce, which is actually my “go-to” for all things soy, but you can also use a low sodium light soy sauce.
I used shiitake mushrooms, but any type will do, you can even use dehydrated if you want, just compensate by adding additional broth or water.
You might like these other easy Chinese recipes:
- Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
- Easy Fried Rice- Restaurant Style
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- Authentic Dumplings
- Wasabi Chicken Potstickers
- Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
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Chinese Almond Chicken
Equipment
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
Instructions
- 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!
I’m from Seattle where Almond Fried Chicken or ABC Chicken (yes redundant) is huge. I am once again on the East Coast where it is non-existent. I actually had a restaurant try, and fail, to deliver. Thanks for the recipe. It’s time I do it myself!!!
man o man. i didn’t know this was a detroit thing. I grew up in MI, been there my whole life, now i’m stuck in the God forsaken land of Iowa, and i was jonesing for some almond chicken just to find this blog. now my life is ruined.
Let us know how it stacks up!
I am sorry but, I had forgotten the new name of the restaurant it’s now Lums Chop Suey. I was told that they were the original people that owned the restaurant when I lived in Michigan. I am afraid that Jon Lum has probably retired because, he was already pretty old prior to my moving to Florida. I definitely am going to try the recipe that you posted as I have eaten Detroit Almond Chicken before and I like it too.
You need to try Almond Chicken from alums on Van Born Rd in Dearborn Heights Michigan. They have a total different sauce. Their Almond Chicken is the best that I have had anywhere. I have lived in Florida for the past 36 years. Whenever I go back to Michigan I always get a few orders for my family and I. I wish that I would have tried to get the recipe years ago when I knew the owner very well. My children and I lived a block away from the restaurant for about 15 years. I did try to call the restaurant after reading your recipe for their secret recipe. There was no way that the young lady on the phone was going to share that recipe with me lol. The restaurant used to be Jon Lums carry out. Now it’s Lums something else that I don’t remember lol. If you happen to figure out their almond chicken recipe please share it with me.
Hi Sheila! I’ll ask my contacts there!
have got to try this Love ABC
Let us know when you do!
Absolutely delicious! My parents are from Detroit and always rave about the almond chicken. I prepared this recipe for them, and they were shocked about how similar it tasted!
This is making me really hungry! Your Chinese Almond Chicken recipe is perfect for our weekend meal.
I am glad that I don’t have to travel all the way to Detroit to get this tasty dish!
This is perfect for lunch Yum!!
Love this restaurant-style Almond chicken – so easy!
Thank you!
Amazing recipe Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am a Chef and originally from the Detroit area. I have been craving Detroit style Almond Chicken- War Su Gai and was eager to try your recipe. I am so glad I did, it was wonderful!! I wish I could post the picture I took of my finished dish, I did post it on Facebook. I loved this recipe, it tasted just like Liechee Gardens in Wyandotte did years ago. The only change I made was I didn’t have sherry so I used a tiny bit of brandy mixed with buttermilk to marinate the chicken breasts. Very quick and easy recipe and so delicious. Thanks, Chef Deborah Whitman
Nice! Thank you so much for the feedback, Deborah! We love this recipe too and I am super excited it hit the spot. Thanks for taking the time to come let us know. I’ll look into a feature to allow images to be uploaded.
I live in Traverse City, however, I come from Detroit area and then Royal Oak. We have a Chinese restaurant here in TC but their gravy is light colored and has chestnuts in it. I did make up your gravy last nite. Hope it’s as good as it should be.
Hi Donna! Hope you liked it. It’s my understanding that all of the restaurants have a slightly different recipe. This one is from a friend who owned a restaurant in MI.
I don’t know what the cooking sherry did but I did use it. Because of covid-19, couldn’t find green onions, did find the shiitake mushrooms. The chicken was tender, the gravy every bite you could taste the mushrooms. I’m trying to find a recipe for what we call in New Orleans “mandarin chicken”. No mandarin involved. Very similar to this, they also serve on a bed of lettuce and top with almonds. Thanks! I’ll be cooking this again!
Hi Barbara! Glad you liked it! The cooking sherry adds a subtle flavor. I haven’t heard of mandarin chicken, but I would bet you it means mandarin, like the dialectic of Chinese culture versus the oranges and is special to your geographic area. Much like this Almond Chicken is to Detroit. You won’t find the dish any place outside of Detroit, not even other areas around Michigan! I’ll keep an eye out!
If you love boneless almond chicken, you’ll love this recipe. However, it is time consuming & alot of steps but well worth it!
Thanks for the feedback! It is not a quick recipes by any means, but it is authentic and delicious 🙂
Hi, I grew up in Detroit and while I’ve never heard of this being a Christmas eve thing? I do know that it’s very popular all year round. Also, it generally comes with steamed white rice. Very impressive since you mentioned that you’ve never had it. Your ABC looks delicious. 🙂
Thanks so much! I can only go on their word- so X-mas eve it was (??) Did you test it out? What did you think?
It’s a Christmas Eve and Christmas day thing because all the chinese restaurants are open and the Jews all dine out. It is tradition on Christmas to get chinese and see a movie.
I live in Kentucky now, but make a few trips to Detroit every year. When we come home we always brings back a few almond chicken dinners. Now, could you replicate their egg rolls. They use all bean sprouts, no cabbage and are super yummy!
Sorry for the late response- for some reason my comments weren’t being e-mailed to me for over 6 months! I can sure try! My friend who challenged me to make this recipe has family members that own a Chinese food restaurant in MI. I’ll see what I do!
Maybe you should talk to Nathalie, Willis and Jimbo. Sounds like you got jipped!
Why did no one tell me about this when I was living in Detroit? I am going to share this with all my Detroit friends, all 3 of them 🙂
I might even try to cook this one day. Maybe. Go Michigan!