My Cashew Chicken Recipe is a family recipe that I have created and made for so many years now. Cashew Chicken has this allure of the Far East: colorful spices and exotic ingredients sautéed in an ancient sauce. What could be more quintessentially Asian? The truth is far more inspiring. This dish was invented in 1963 at Leong’s Asian Diner in Springfield, Missouri, by the late Leong Yin Wing, an immigrant from Guangdong China. The cashew nuts were from South America. It is the quintessential immigrant dish that has gone global, even before ‘going global’ became fashionable.
What I love about the dish are its opposing flavors, it is both salty and sweet, crunchy yet creamy, both filling and light, with just a hint of spiciness. Instant palate pleaser! It has been a big hit in my family, that it quickly became my standard against which I measured every new restaurant. I have tried Cashew Chicken in other parts of the world. They are all the same dish but were always interpreted differently, which is one the things I love about this dish. Some restaurants blanche their chicken, others stir fry, while yet more deep fry their chicken.
I vividly remember enjoying a spicy blanched version of Cashew Chicken near Xi’an that was prepared with Sichuan peppers, chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. The point is that these variations speak to the universality of this dish. My Cashew Chicken Recipe is based on what I had in Singapore.
Chinese cuisine stresses the freshness of ingredients. I do not want to mask the taste and flavor of these fresh ingredients. So my sauce tends to be on the lighter side without the use of dark soy to mask the flavor. My Chinese dishes use fresh vegetables that I buy from our local Farmer’s Markets. Living in the Bay Area, I use fresh sugar snap peas, garden-fresh peppers, and onions, while I have seen restaurants add chestnuts.
The South-East Asian component of my dish incorporates dried chilis for that added kick and slivers of ginger. Cashew Chicken Recipe is ideal when you are in a hurry because it is not time-consuming to prepare or cook. This recipe has been part of our annual menu because we love the taste of the roasted whole cashews with juicy chicken pieces stir-fried with crunchy vegetables. It has always been a hit with my family and at parties, where the compliments keep coming!
How to make the Cashew Chicken:
1.Roast the whole cashews on a skillet or in the oven until golden.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate the chicken breast cut against the grain into bite-size pieces.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and keep aside.
4. Stir fry the chicken pieces with a little oil on a nonstick pan. You could pre-cook for 6 minutes on both sides until golden brown.
5. In a pan with a little oil, sauté the garlic and ginger slivers for a minute.
6. Add the dried chilis and onion petals and sauté for a minute.
7. On high heat, add the sugar snap peas, peppers, and stir fry for a minute and then add the chicken.
8. Top with cashews and add the sauce mixture and sauté for a minute. Garnish with spring onions. Serve hot on a bed of steamed rice.
Serve this dish with my Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken!
Tips:
- Marinating the chicken helps seal moisture, resulting in a soft, smooth velvety texture. This process of letting the chicken marinate in either soy sauce or rice vinegar, corn starch, and the residual water from washing the chicken, makes it more flavorful and moist. It is a process known as velveting. I also like to add a few drops of peanut oil and crushed white pepper to coat the chicken marinade.
- If you choose to pre-cook the chicken, then after stir frying the vegetables, just add the cooked chicken and the sauces. Do not overcook at this stage or the chicken will become tough. What you want is soft, moist and smooth golden pieces of juicy chicken.
- Another method of pre-cooking the chicken is to blanch the chicken pieces in hot water.
1. Should the chicken be marinated prior to cooking?
Preferably yes because the chicken will be more flavorful and moist.
2. Can the chicken be deep fried?
This is a family recipe which is a healthy alternative to deep fried chicken.
Cashew Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Stovetop (wok)
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade:
- ½ lb chicken breasts
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp white pepper powder
- ¼ tsp five spice powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- few drops peanut oil
For the sauce:
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp chili sesame oil
- 1 tbsp corn starch or flour
For the veggies in the Cashew Chicken:
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 4 cloves garlic slivers
- 1 tbsp ginger slivers, without the skin
- 6 dried red chilis
- 1 onion quartered, petals
- 1 bell pepper cubed
- 1½ cup sugar snap peas tips cut off
- 1 cup whole cashews roasted
- 3 spring onions cut for garnish
Instructions
How to make the marinade:
- Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate the chicken breast cut against the grain into bite-size pieces.
How to make the sauce:
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and keep aside.
How to stir fry the chicken:
- Stir fry the chicken pieces with a little oil on a nonstick pan.
- You could pre-cook for 6 minutes on both sides until golden brown.
How to make the Cashew Chicken:
- Roast the cashews until golden on a skillet or pan and keep aside.
- In a pan with a little oil, sauté the garlic and ginger slivers for a minute.
- Add the dried chilis and onion petals and sauté for a minute.
- On high heat, add the sugar snap peas, peppers, and stir fry for a minute and then add the chicken.
- Top with cashews and add the sauce mixture and sauté for a minute. Garnish with spring onions. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Notes
- You could use rice wine instead of rice vinegar.
Nutrition
This is by far my favorite recipe. Thank you, it is so good!
Thanks, Shen!
Turned out wonderful!
Thanks,
Ram
Wonderful, thanks!