Almond pressed duck facts for kids

Almond pressed duck at the Su Hong Eatery in Palo Alto, California

Almond pressed duck at Trader Vic's Restaurant in Emeryville, California

Almond pressed duck, also called Mandarin pressed duck, was a very popular Chinese dish. It was often found in Chinese and Polynesian-themed restaurants in the United States. This was especially true in the middle of the 1900s. It's a crispy, boneless duck dish. It is deep-fried until golden. Chefs usually serve it in medium-sized pieces. Sometimes, they serve a whole duck. A sauce is often poured over it. This can be a brown sauce or a sweet and sour sauce. Before you eat it, crushed or powdered almonds are sprinkled on top. This is how it got its name!

Making this dish takes a lot of time. It can involve many steps over several days. This makes a simple-looking dish quite hard to prepare. This might be why it's hard to find today. Only a few restaurants still have it on their menus.

Homemade almond pressed duck with sweet and sour sauce

What is Almond Pressed Duck?

Almond pressed duck is a type of Cantonese dish. Cantonese food comes from the Guangdong province in southern China. One story says this dish actually started in northern China. It then moved south in the 1600s. Many people moved south to escape new rulers. They brought their recipes with them.

How It's Made

There are a few ways to make almond pressed duck. But the taste and main steps are quite similar.

First Steps

• First, a whole duck is seasoned with spices.
• Then, it is either steamed or simmered. This makes the duck very tender.

Shaping the Duck

After the duck is tender, its meat is flavored. It gets a coating of batter or flour. Sometimes, it's steamed again. Before the final cooking, chefs might prepare the duck in different ways:

• Some recipes shred the duck meat. They remove the skin. Then, they shape the shredded meat into a patty.
• Other recipes press the boned duck pieces together. They keep the skin and wrap it around the meat.
• A third way is to carefully remove all the bones. But they keep the duck looking like a whole duck.

Final Cooking

Finally, just before serving, the duck is deep-fried. It becomes very crispy and delicious. If the whole duck was kept in shape, it is deep-fried whole. Then, it is brought to the table.