Chicken with almond ding a classic Chinese dish and a favourite of my family. The combination of chicken and almond is comforting with a hint of sweetness. Chicken With Almond Ding is wonderfully simple to prepare and with the added almond, it is a very versatile dish that is always popular, especially among kids.
CHICKEN ALMOND DING
This recipe for chicken almond ding is a stir fry full of chicken, veggies and crunchy almonds, all tossed in a savory sauce. The perfect healthy dinner that’s ready in a flash!
I make stir fry at least once a week, some of my favorites include teriyaki shrimp stir fry, honey garlic chicken stir fry and this fresh and delicious almond chicken.
I mentioned before that I’ve been on a health kick this summer. It’s pretty easy to eat healthy when there is so much amazing produce in season! Lately my favorite way to get my veggies in is a big stir fry, like this chicken almond ding. You’re probably wondering about the name of this dish – chicken almond ding isn’t a term you see every day! In fact, chicken almond ding is a type of Asian stir fry full of chicken, plenty of vegetables and toasted almonds, all in a light and savory sauce.
HOW DO YOU MAKE CHICKEN ALMOND DING?
I use chicken breast in this recipe, although chicken thighs would also work. The great thing about this dish is that it’s so easy to mix and match the vegetables – I used broccoli, snow peas, bell peppers and mushrooms here, but you can use whatever veggies your family likes best. Water chestnuts and Blue Diamond Whole Natural Almonds add a lot of texture and crunch.
I like to toast my Blue Diamond Almonds before I add them to my stir fry. You can toast your almonds in the toaster oven, regular oven, or simply in a dry skillet until they’re browned and fragrant. Watch carefully, as nuts can burn quickly!
The sauce for this chicken almond ding is a simple combination of ingredients that you probably already have on hand. I like to serve this dish over steamed rice – even my kids love it! It’s a healthy and fast meal that I feel good about feeding my family.
Chicken Almond Ding
- Prep25 Min
- Total25 Min
- Ingredients15
- Servings4
A hearty dinner ready in just 25 minutes! Enjoy this filling recipe featuring chicken, fish, veggies and almonds that’s served over rice.
Ingredients
- 4cups cooked rice (cooked as directed on package)
- 1cup chicken broth
- 2tablespoons cornstarch
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 1tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1teaspoon sugar
- 1/4teaspoon salt, if desired
- 1tablespoon oil
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2cup slivered almonds
- 4boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1medium red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 1cup fresh pea pods, trimmed, cut diagonally in half
- 1(8-oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
- 2cups chopped Chinese (napa) cabbage
Steps
- 1In small bowl, combine broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt; mix well. Set aside.
- 2Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add garlic, almonds and chicken; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and almonds are golden brown.
- 3Add bell pepper; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. Add pea pods and water chestnuts; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add cabbage and cornstarch mixture; cook and stir until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Serve over rice.
Tips from the Pillsbury Kitchens
- Tip 1Water chestnuts-edible tubers that grow underwater-add mild crunch to cold salads and hot entrees. They’re available canned, either whole or silced. Fresh water chestnuts, available in Chinese markets, are another thing all together, endowed with a much crisper texture … More +
- Tip 2When cooking in a wok, add the ingredients a small amount at a time in the center of the wok. As they begin to cook, move them up the sides of the wok and stir the next batch of ingredients into the middle.
What Is Chicken Almond Ding?
Chicken almond ding is an Asian stir-fry dish that consists of pieces of marinated chicken and a good amount of vegetables that are cooked in butter with almond slivers that have been toasted in butter. The use of the butter and toasted almonds provides the dish with a unique, nutty flavor that is carried through the different vegetables. The selection of vegetables, including water chestnuts, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, provides a textured, flavorful complement to the chicken and almonds. The completed dish can be served over a bed of steamed white rice or plated by itself for a hearty, balanced meal.
A ding sauce is usually made from only a few ingredients. These include sliced almonds, butter and sugar. The almonds are toasted in the butter to enhance their nutty flavor. The sauce is commonly used to coat chicken but also can be used on shrimp, tofu or stir-fried vegetables.
The first step in the preparation of chicken almond ding is to marinade the chicken. The chicken can be bone-in parts such as thighs, or it can be cubes of boneless breast meat. The marinade is made from soy sauce, an egg white, cornstarch and sometimes garlic, ginger and sesame oil. The amount of time the chicken marinates can be anywhere from one hour to overnight.
In some recipes, ding sauce is prepared in the pan by melting butter and then adding the almonds and toasting them over high heat. Alternately, the almonds and butter can be added at the end of cooking. A third method of creating a ding sauce is to place the almonds, butter and some sugar into a bowl and cook it in a microwave until the almonds have toasted.
The vegetables in chicken almond ding are all chopped and prepared for cooking at the same time. The most common vegetables are onions, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peas, mushrooms, green onions, carrots and celery. The technique for cooking the vegetables is very typical for stir-fry dishes and involves cooking each type of vegetable individually and removing it from the pan once done before adding the next batch; this is to ensure that each type of vegetable is cooked properly. A less intensive method involves placing chicken stock in the pan and simmering the vegetables all at once, removing them as they finish cooking.
Once the vegetables are done, the chicken is added to the pan along with the marinade and cooked until almost completed. The vegetables and the ding sauce are added, sometimes with additional soy sauce or oyster sauce, and the chicken almond ding is allowed to cook until a thick sauce has developed and coated all the ingredients. When completed, the dish should be served hot and can be accompanied by white rice