Almond Boneless Chicken (“ABC”)

Name: Almond Boneless Chicken (“ABC”)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, thin sliced; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup cooking sherry; 4 tbsp cornstarch; 3 tbsp cold water; 3 cups chicken broth or stock; 1.5 cups chopped mushrooms; 3 tbsp butter; 2 tsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp chicken bouillon granules; 6 tbsp cornstarch; 6 tbsp plain flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 egg, beaten; 3 tbsp cold water; oil for deep frying; 4 cups shredded Iceberg lettuce; 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds; 1/2 cup chopped green onion

miketriesanewrecipe January 2, 2021

Mike tried this recipe on August 23, 2020 / Updated June 23, 2024

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This recipe has a story behind it…

A dear friend and former coworker named Heidi had posted a photo on Facebook after she prepared this dish, explaining it was a favorite of hers while growing up in Detroit. But, she said, it didn’t turn out the way she remembered. I asked her to share the recipe she used, and I started doing some research. I learned that this dish (which is often referred to simply by its initials “ABC”) is a local favorite at older family-owned Chinese restaurants in the Detroit area, and it’s almost never offered anywhere else. It’s not purely a Chinese dish, but a Chinese-American one; the chicken is battered and fried like a tempura, but served with a gravy over a bed of lettuce.

After comparing the recipe Heidi sent me with several others I found online, I may have figured out why hers tasted different from what she remembered. So, at the risk of making her upset, I prepared this using a slightly different recipe. I think it turned out pretty well, but I didn’t have anything else to compare it with unless I make her version and try them side by side… and I didn’t have space to store that many leftovers.

I was a bit hesitant to post it, thinking she might get upset for trying to improve on what she had done. But after I did, she left me the following note:

Mike, it looks delicious, and I hope you enjoyed it. I am glad you didn’t do side by side because I don’t think the subtle differences in the recipes would account for the difference in my memory. The next time I am in Detroit I am going to go to the original source of this dish. My father reports that the place is still there, so I will check it out. I suspect that your creation will closely resemble what I find there and that either the dish has changed since my childhood (centuries ago) or my memory is not correct. Anyways, thank you for the great compliment of researching and making this dish.

(Update – June 23, 2024) I learned that my dear friend Heidi passed away on June 15th, 2024 from cancer. She had kept her diagnosis private, and I learned the devastating news from a posting on Heidi’s Facebook page by her daughter. She lived her life as she saw fit, and enjoyed her final years traveling with her husband and doting on her grandson. She was fortunate to see her newborn granddaughter, who arrived just two weeks earlier. My life was all the better from knowing her, and I will miss her terribly.

Adapted from Detroit Free Press

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