As we approach Christmas, I thought no better post to really highlight the holiday season than my first attempt at the famous Almond Boneless Chicken. What I did not know, is that the Detroit-area Chinese establishments is where this dish shines. Not really all that famous anywhere else. I did just a little bit of research, and it turns out this is a Cantonese-style dish, but as I ate it growing up, and as I make it now.. it’s the most American Asian cuisine I’ve ever seen. Never heard of it? Don’t know what it is? It’s breaded chicken topped with a gravy.
Like I said – American.
The Prep Table
We have a fantastic Asian market about 20 minutes away, and I can find damn near anything. I was introduced to gochujang from here, I pick up my bizarre matcha KitKat candies from here.. and this is also where I picked up some Shaoxing wine. Let’s get the easy stuff out the way first.
Generally, I’m all about the simple white rice with an Asian meal where I expect the meat dish to shine. I don’t need a chicken-, beef-, shrimp-fried rice.. and it doesn’t really make too much of a difference for me. Because this was going to be a throwback to what I grew up eating, we always got white rice, so I was going to make white rice.
The gravy makes the dish too. Harkening back to childhood again, we always did got this on the side. And I think everyone else did too – because it always cost extra to get it on the side. As I matured (pronounced muh-churred, not ma-toured – don’t play games) – I gotta throw that gravy on there. With a caveat.. if you’re getting takeaway, it’s gotta be on the side so it doesn’t soggify (intransitive verb? “to make soggy”) the breading. Anyway, gravy is on low, let’s get to the chicken.
The Process
These particular chicken breasts were huge – so we have to trim these out a bit. The Almond Boneless Chicken is characterized by the obvious tenderized – beaten to hell – chicken. I’m NOT going to do that, so I’ll butterfly it so it’s the same thickness I’m used to. What’s characteristic about it is the breading. It’s light, crispy, and fries nicely. We’re going to egg wash and corn starch dust and achieve that goal.
If you’re thinking “I don’t remember too much frying on this site” – it’s because there really hasn’t been. I try to stay away from a lot of that for a number of reasons. Primary being I don’t want make a mess that I’ll hear about from MrsForensicBBQ. Health reasons is a far second to the first reason. But I told you this Summer/Fall is going to be devoted to cast iron pan usage – that’s what we’re doing today. Let’s get these chickens ready to fry.
Washed, coated and shake away the heavy. This is supposed to be a very light coating. I was actually kind of impressed how these look. I was thinking this might actually turn out like I remembered it.
The Result
Oh bloody hell, I think it’s happening. This had the crisp. It had the color, the texture.. it was exactly what I was hoping for. I know I have to do the diagonal cut. I was hoping the gravy was on point.
I did that happy dance that MrsForensicBBQ grimaces when she sees it. Not only was this exactly what I remember – it was better. The meat was a higher quality (shocker) – so it had a better flavor. The breading was nice, the gravy was adequate without overpowering. Lil 13-year-old ForensicBBQ came out when eating this. If you’re in the Midwest, get yourself some of this. While it may be Cantonese-traditional – allegedly.. it’s native to where I grew up and oh so delicious today (and the days of leftovers I consumed it).
Merry Christmas to everyone!