Name: Twice the Spice Chicken Cashew
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2 chicken breast fillets; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 bell pepper; 2 tablespoons Sriracha ((Thai chili sauce)); 2 tablespoons gochujang ((Korean chili paste)); 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon rice wine (sake, mirin or Shaoxing); 1 tablespoon grated ginger; 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil; cooking oil (for deep frying); ¼ to ⅓ cup tapioca starch (or corn or potato); ¼ cup roughly chopped roasted cashew nuts

Twice the Spice Chicken Cashew

Connie Veneracion

Chunks of chicken meat are floured and fried until crisp, tossed in a sticky spicy sauce and garnished with bell peppers and crushed roasted cashew nuts.

Right. This isn’t cashew chicken from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant. This is spicy crispy cashew chicken nuggets.

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian Fusion

Servings people

Ingredients

2 chicken breast fillets
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bell pepper
2 tablespoons Sriracha (Thai chili sauce)
2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chili paste)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice wine sake, mirin or Shaoxing
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
cooking oil for deep frying
¼ to ⅓ cup tapioca starch or corn or potato
¼ cup roughly chopped roasted cashew nuts

Instructions

Wipe the chicken breast fillets with paper towels. Cut into one-and-a-half-inch cubes. Toss with the salt and pepper. Set aside.
Dice the bell pepper after discarding the seeds.
In a bowl, mix together the Sriracha, gochujang, soy sauce, honey, rice wine, ginger and sesame seed oil.
Start heating enough cooking oil in a wok or frying pan to reach a depth of two inches.
Place the chicken cubes in a resealable bag. Add the starch. Shake well.
When the oil is hot, fry the chicken cubes (in batches if your frying pan is rather small) over high heat until lightly browned and crisp. Scoop out and drain.
Pour off the cooking oil leaving only about a tablespoonful.
Stir fry the diced bell pepper with a little salt and pepper for about a minute. Scoop out and set aside.
Pour the prepared sauce into the pan. Cook over medium heat for about a minute. Turn off the heat.
Add the cooked chicken to the sauce. Toss to coat every pice. Add the diced bell pepper and half of the cashew nuts. Toss a few more times.
Transfer the chicken and peppers to a serving plate or bowl. Sprinkle the remaining cashew nuts over the chicken.
Serve the twice the spice chicken cashew at once.

Notes

Why use starch for flouring the chicken? Starch makes a crispier crust than wheat flour. And the crispiness is retained even after the fried chicken nuggets are tossed in the sticky spicy sauce.

Fried chicken fillet cubes tossed with chili sauce

Updated from a recipe originally published in 5/26/2016

Keyword Chicken Fillet, Fried Chicken, Spicy

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