Cashew Chicken - 腰果雞丁

Cashew Chicken in Taiwan looked and tasted very different than the ones in the United States. My kids like the American version since they are not too excited about cucumber or celery. This recipe is loosely base on the cashew chicken dish from the Mandarin Restaurant in Bountiful, Utah (from Good Things Utah on Channel 4). I heard people rave about this restaurant but have never ate there. We did ordered take-out once while we were at some kind of family gathering in Bountiful, but I was not particularly impressed. I should give the restaurant another try sometime; but it is just hard to drive more than 30 minutes to get dinner when I "think" I can produce pretty good Chinese food in my own kitchen.

Chicken

2 chicken breast halves cut into 1" pieces
1 teaspoon cornstarch
pinch of white pepper
2 teaspoon of brown sauce (see the blog about Stir-fry Seasoning or use equal parts of soy sauce and water)
Marinate chicken pieces with corn starch, white petter & brown sauce for 15 - 20 minutes in a bowl.
Sauce - mix all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside

1/4 cup of chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon of brown sauce
1 teaspoon of mushroom soy sauce

Spices & others ingredient
a pinch of chili pepper flakes (optional)

1 clove of garlic, crushed, and chopped

1 teaspoon of ginger, grated

1/2 cup of cashew, roasted, unsalted or lightly salted

2 teaspoons of cornstarch + 2 teaspoon of water mixed in a small bowl

Vegetables
1 small or medium onion, cut into 1" cubes
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" cubes
1 small carrots, thinly sliced
a handful of water chestnuts, cut into large slices
a handful of sugar snap peas or snow peas
3 - 4 asparagus, cut into 2" pieces on the diagonal (optional)
I usually stir fry the vegetables separately. Kimberly always complain that this make the dish more oily. Alternate way is to blanch the vegetables briefly, strain, and then stir fry them. Be careful not to blanch them too long since each vegetable requires different length of time to reach the desired tenderness/crunchiness.

Heat wok to med-high, add 2 teaspoon of safflower oil and coat the wok evenly with oil. Sauté the chicken until almost cooked. Remove the chicken to it's original bowl. Lower the heat to medium, wipe the wok clean, and add 2 teaspoon of oil to coat the wok evenly. Sauté chili pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger for 10 seconds and add the onions. When the onions start to soften a bit, add the red bell peppers and stir fry for 1 minute, and then add the rest of the vegetables. When the vegetable are almost done, add the chicken and the sauce and stir gently to mix well. Add the water/cornstarch mixture and stir until sauce thickens. Add the cashew to the wok and stir just until cashew is mix in. Transfer to a bowl or serving plate and serve.

You can adjust the vegetables depending on your preference or what is available. The two vegetables I always use are onions and red bell pepper; the others I add them if I happen to have them.