Spicy Cashew Chicken

Fact: My chicken looked nothing like this. 
Fact: I left out three ingredients. 
Fact: I added pineapple thinking it would give it a sweet flavor; it did not. 
Fact: None of that mattered, this was delicious. 

This cashew chicken was kind of iffy for my family because 1. I wasn't sure if my husband even liked cashews 2. when it comes to asian dishes, he usually doesn't like half of the things he orders and 3. I left out three ingredients. In the end, it was really good! The texture of the cashews gives that "fried chicken crunch" but without the excess calories. 

The forgotten ingredients remained as follows: cooking sherry (the original recipe said it made no difference in taste), green onions, and sesame seeds. I left out the green onions because I knew for a fact that my husband would pick around them and as for the sesame seeds, I honestly couldn't find them in the grocery store and really wanted to go home so they got nixed as well. I'm sure the onions would have added extra flavor and the seeds even more texture to the dish. 

As I mentioned earlier, I thought adding pineapple to the dish would add flavor, but I was wrong. It was a battle of the strongest acid. The pineapple only soaked in the vinegar making it taste sour. I'm sure it would have tasted better on the side. 

Anyway, this dish was really good and surprisingly easy. I tweaked the directions just a bit to make it easier to follow. I'd recommend serving it with rice. For me, it was pineapple and sugar snap peas. Enjoy!

Spicy Cashew Chicken: 
Ingredients (for the chicken)
2 chicken breasts, cubed
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it)
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup cashews, unsalted
toasted sesame seeds

Ingredients (for the sauce)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar

1. Marinade cubes of chicken in soy sauce for about 30 minutes (if you don't have 30 mins, marinade it while you prepare the rest of the ingredients).

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, corn starch, sugar and vinegar). Set aside. 

3. Heat oil in a wok (or cooking pan) over high heat. Add red pepper flakes. Drain chicken from marinade and add to the wok all at once. Cook until golden brown then flip. 

4. Add garlic to the chicken while chicken cooks all the way through until golden brown. Drain oil if there is a lot remaining. Add cashews and remove from heat. 

5. Add the sauce mixture to the chicken and fold all the way through until the chicken is completely covered. The sauce should thicken as it mixes. If you'd like it thicker, put back over a medium heat. 

6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions and enjoy :)

Click for the Original Recipe