Almond chicken is an American Chinese dish. The most common variations involve either stir-frying or deep-frying chicken and topping it with almonds.

Preparation

Some variations of almond chicken are prepared in a similar manner to

cashew chicken Cashew chicken () is a Chinese-American dish that combines chicken (usually stir-fried but occasionally deep-fried, depending on the variation), with cashews and either a light brown garlic sauce or a thick sauce made from chicken stock, soy sa ...

, by stir-frying chicken with almonds and vegetables. This variation is found in the 1917 ''Chinese Cook Book'' by Shiu Wong Chan, which calls for stir-frying chicken with onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts and celery before coating with "Chinese gravy" and topping with almonds. This is one of the oldest recipes for the dish. Other versions of the dish are prepared by battering chicken and coating it with almonds before frying.

Almond boneless chicken

Almond boneless chicken or war sui gai, a variation popular in Michigan, features sliced chicken which is deep-fried twice. It is then topped with mushroom gravy and sliced almonds and served on a bed of iceberg lettuce. The dish is strongly associated with Detroit, but is also commonly served in Ohio and parts of Eastern Canada. The origins of almond boneless chicken are unknown, although it was likely developed by Chinese immigrants from

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. It may have originated in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and was historically associated with

chop suey Chop suey () is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery a ...

houses.

References

{{Reflist American Chinese chicken dishes Deep fried foods Almond dishes Asian-American culture in Michigan