Thai Chicken & Cashews

I don't claim to be an expert in Asian cuisine but I do love it. The vegetables are in such wonderful abundance at the moment and I sure could do with a fair bit of healthy eating. We used to eat stir fries all the time before the kids were born. It was always quick and easy after a busy working day and being late home.

Sometimes I'll do a quick version of protein (beef/pork/chicken/fish), vegies (whatever is in the fridge) and carbs (rice/noodles) with soy, ginger, garlic and that's it but tonight I wanted to do something a little different. I browsed the net for recipes using "chicken cashews" as my search criteria and I was shown a Chicken and Cashew Stir Fry with Thai Basil dish on http://www.taste.com.au/. I had most of the ingredients but thought I'd substitute the fresh herbs with pantry items I had. It was really delicious but I should've made heaps more. No leftovers for the husband's lunch. Oh well!

Thai Chicken & Cashews
(Recipe based on Chicken & Cashew Stir Fry with Thai Basil)

60ml (1/4 cup) bottled lime juice
60ml (1/4 cup) fish sauce
2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mint sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled, halved, thinly sliced lengthways
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
5 shallots, ends trimmed, cut into 6cm lengths
80g (1/2 cup) raw cashews
600g chicken tenderloins, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

1. Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, sweet chilli, soy sauce, mint sauce and sugar in a bowl.
2. Heat half the oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the onion, garlic, and shallot. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the onion softens. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl.
3. Heat remaining oil in the wok over high heat. Add the cashews. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until golden. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to the bowl.
4. Add one-third of the chicken to the wok. Stir-fry for 4 minutes or until just starting to brown. Transfer to the bowl. Repeat, in 2 more batches, with the remaining chicken, reheating the wok between batches.
5. Return the chicken and onion mixture to the wok. Add the fish sauce mixture and pepper. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat.   Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with the fried shallots to serve (optional). Serve with rice or noodles.

Serves 2.

Pin It