Chinese Cashew Chicken made tender and delicious using the same technique as your favourite Chinese restaurant. You will be surprised at how easy it is!
Chinese Cashew Chicken
This Cashew Chicken is just like takeout only made at home! I made it using both my wok and Thermomix and you really couldn’t tell the difference. I have included both recipes depending on what you have at home. Just a warning though, this turned out amazingly moorish, I had to freeze my leftovers to stop myself picking at them.
The secret to making this taste just like your favourite Chinese restaurant, is a technique called ‘velveting’, 
it is simply just coating your chicken in baking soda/bicarb soda for 10 minutes, rinsing it off and giving it a light pat dry. (not baking powder)
This process tenderises the meat as the baking soda breaks down the chicken slightly and gives it an amazing velvet like texture. This step is definitely worth doing, it will make all the difference to your dish. The combination of silky, smooth chicken and crunchy cashews is so good!
I used carrot, celery and bamboo shoots in mine. You could however, also use red or green capsicum, spring onion, broccoli or water chestnuts. Just choose a few bright and colourful veggies your kids are likely to eat.
Chinese Cashew Chicken
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
- 500g chicken breast or thigh, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
SAUCE:
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon corn flour
- 6 tablespoons water
STIR FRY:
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, sliced into bite sized pieces
- 1 x 225g tin bamboo shoots
- 5 slices ginger, peeled
- 1/2 cup cashew nuts
- rice to serve
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
THERMOMIX METHOD
Combine chicken and baking soda in a large bowl, toss to coat evenly then set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse chicken thoroughly in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.
Place the garlic, onion and ginger into the TM mixing bowl and chop 3 sec / speed 7. Scrape down sides.
Add chicken and combine 5 sec / REVERSE / speed 1, then place chicken onto Varoma tray.
Rinse rice in basket until water runs clear. Add 900g water to mixing bowl, place rice basket and Varoma tray into position. Cook for 13-15 minutes / Varoma / speed 3 until rice is cooked.
Remove rice basket, set aside and keep warm.
Add carrot and bamboo shoots to Varoma dish, place on top of chicken and cook 10 minutes / Varoma / speed 3. Set chicken and vegetables aside and keep warm.
Remove cooking liquid from bowl and set aside.
Place sauce ingredients, using 6 tablespoons of cooking liquid in place of the water and cook 4 minutes / 100°C / speed 3.
Place chicken, vegetables and cashews into a serving dish, pour over sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with cooked rice.
WOK METHOD
Combine chicken and baking soda in a large bowl, toss to coat evenly then set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse chicken thoroughly in a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.
For the sauce, combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, corn flour and water in a bowl and whisk together well. Or if you have an empty jar, place these ingredients into that and shake to combine.
Cook rice as per packet instructions.
Heat the peanut oil over medium high heat in a wok, add the garlic, fry for 15 seconds, then add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, carrot, bamboo, ginger and cook for 2 minutes, until the chicken turns white but is not cooked right through.
Pour in the sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
Stir through cashews, serve over rice sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Notes
You can replace the carrot, celery and bamboo with other vegetables such as broccoli, capsicum, spring onion and water chestnuts.
Plate & Small Bowl from Kim Wallace Ceramics
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This recipe was originally published May, 2018.