Cashew Chicken Recipe

This recipe came from the BrownEyed Baker (www.browneyedbaker.com). She usually bakes, but she threw this one in last week. It sounded great, so tonite we had it for supper. Of course, I have a couple of suggestions, but it was a hit as is. Chicken tenders were on sale at our local grocery store last week and enough to make this dish was only $2.50! What a deal!!



Cashew Chicken
Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry (or cooking wine, or omit)
2 teaspoons minced, peeled fresh ginger
3½ teaspoons cornstarch, divided
Coarse salt
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup unsalted cashews
2 green onions, white and green parts divided and thinly sliced
Hot cooked rice

1. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the sherry, ginger, and 1½ teaspoons cornstarch; season with coarse salt. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Set aside.

3. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and cook the remaining chicken (reduce the heat if the chicken is over-browning). Transfer to the covered plate.

4. In the same skillet, add the remaining teaspoon of vegetable oil. Add the cashews, garlic, and green onion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic begins to soften, about 30 seconds. Whisk the sauce again to combine and add to the skillet along with the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Serve over rice or noodles and top with the green onion greens.


Helen's Notes: Start far enough in advance to let the chicken sit in the marinade in the refrigerator. Keep fresh ginger in the freezer; it grates well on a microplane while frozen, so I grated instead of mincing. I keep a bottle of sherry in the pantry. It has less salt than cooking sherry and goes farther (cheaper in the long run). I did not have green onions, so used a medium onion, thinly sliced. I would have liked more sauce, so next time, I will 1 1/2 times the sauce ingredients. Also, I substituted white wine vinegar for the rice vinegar and added an extra teaspoon of sugar. AND I added a package of fresh snow peas with the sauce and chicken. They were bright green and tender-crisp... perfect!