Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts – hot, quick and really tasty and perfect for a midweek meal. I first had this dish in a restaurant in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand that a Thai friend introduced us to. The menu was in Thai, the servers spoke very little English and they had never heard of a Gin and Tonic – I knew already I was in for some authentic Thai food. The restaurant was full of young Thai people and I loved watching how different their culture was to ours. Dishes would come to the table and everyone would dig in to share, but instead of eating and leaving, the food would be eaten slowly through the night, with more dishes brought to the table throughout the night, as the drinks flowed. Along with the dish of Thai Chicken and Cashew Nuts we also had a Hot and Sour soup, a huge pot of spicy seafood broth kept warm on top of a burner. The chicken was definitely my favourite dish though. The dish is quite a dry stir fry and not coated in sauce as you might get in some British restaurants. Serve with steamed sticky Thai rice or egg fried rice.

If you liked my Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts then you should try my Sweet and Sour Chicken

Recipe

Serves 2

Difficulty Level: Home Cook

Ingredients:

For the stir fry:

2 large chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
Corn flour
Around 10-12 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water for around 5 minutes.
5 spring onions, chopped into 2 inch strips
Red pepper, cut into large chunks
Yellow pepper, cut into large chunks
One onion, cut into large chunks
Sunflower oil
50g cashew nuts
Salt and white pepper

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce (buy from Asian supermarkets – Indonesian Kecap Manis would also work)
2 tablespoons light soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce
Heaped 2 tablespoons palm sugar or Demerara sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
100ml chicken stock
White pepper

Method

Coat the chicken in a couple heaped tablespoons of corn flour and season generously with salt and white pepper

2. Pour sunflower oil into a heavy based saucepan to reach around 1/3 up the side. Heat to 200C

3. Fry the chicken in batches for around 5 minutes until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

4. Stir together the sauce ingredients in a jug, seasoning with around a teaspoon of white pepper.

5. Prepare the rest of the stir fry ingredients. Heat a wok over a high heat when the chicken is all cooked.

5. Heat a wok over a high heat. Add a drizzle of oil. Add the onion, spring onion, peppers, drained chillies and cashew nuts. Stir fry for around 2 minutes. You want the vegetables to retain their crunch. Add the chicken to the pan and heat through for one minute before pouring in the sauce. Allow to bubble for one minute, take off the heat and serve straight away with Thai Sticky Rice, Egg Fried Rice or Noodles.