Description
There are so many ways to make an awesome cashew chicken stir fry. This is one of them. A little sweet, a touch of spice and a lot of yum!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted cashews, toasted in a pan
- 1 1/4 cups of celery, finely chopped (about 4 stalks)
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger (2-3 inches, see note#1)
- 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
- 8 boneless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
The sauce
- 1/2 cup Indonesian sweet soy sauce (see note#2)
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce (more if you want it spicier)
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
For the rice
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
NOTE: Don’t forget to watch my video with all the step-by-step instructions.
Instructions
- If you are making rice with this you should start that process first. By the time you finish everything the rice will be done. I prefer basmati rice, but any white rice works.
- Put cashews in a pan and toast on low heat, turning frequently until toasted. Should only take about five minutes. I usually do other things while these are toasting – but don’t forget about them or they will burn.
- Slice each celery stalk into three thin strips, then dice into small pieces.
- Slice around the core of your pepper into four sections. Cut into thicker strips from there and dice into a square-type shape. I do usually remove that white strip from inside the pepper.
- Cut the onion in half. Make two more cuts lengthwise, then cut across that to dice into a square-type shape.
- Finely dice the garlic. I usually slice it thin first, then dice it down from there.
- Peel the ginger with a potato peeler then grate it on a microplane. If you don’t have a microplane just slice the ginger thin (like with the garlic) and dice it down from there.
- Chop the scallion including the green part. This is for garnish.
- The sauce: add the Indonesian sweet soy sauce, chili sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce. Mix together and give it a taste. If you want it spicier add more chili sauce. If you want more umami flavor, add more soy sauce. Sweet: more sweet soy sauce. You get it.
- The chicken: Take a few moments to trim the fat off the chicken. Take each thigh and cut it into three or four chunks, depending on the size of the piece. Then cut into bite-sized pieces from there. All that really matters is that all the chicken pieces are uniform in size. Spread them out on your cutting board and season with salt and pepper on one side.
- Get two pans ready on your stove top and add 1 tablespoon of oil to each pan. Let it get hot on medium heat. Add the chicken pieces to one pan and spread them out. Then don’t touch them for about 2-3 minutes. We want to get a little sear on them.
- In the other pan (medium heat) add the celery and give it a stir. Let that cook on its own for a couple of minutes then add the onion and red pepper and mix well. Cook another couple of minutes.
- Give the chicken a toss and turn. Use kitchen tongs if you need to turn individual pieces over. Let cook another minute or two, then add the garlic and ginger plus a splash of oil to the center of the pan. Let that cook for a minute to get fragrant then mix together with the chicken.
- Give your veggies a final mix, then add them to the chicken pan and mix all together. Then add the toasted cashews and mix well.
- Pour the sauce into the pan and mix to coat all the ingredients. Garnish with scallions and serve with rice.
Notes
- If you want a less gingery flavor, only use half the amount of ginger.
- You can find Indonesian Soy Sauce at most Asian markets. It’s sweet and has a syrupy consistency. It is so delicious!
- The dark soy sauce. You can also find this at most Asian markets. To me it has a richer flavor than regular soy and I love the darker/reddish coloring it adds to stir fry dishes.
- For the garlic chili sauce – this you can find at any supermarket. If you have Sambal or Sriracha that works too!
- Oyster sauce is available in supermarkets as well. Usually the international aisle.