David Rubel's

What's For Dinner?

4/27/05

Chicken with Cashew Nuts

(serves two parents and two children)

No doubt because of the high price of cashew nuts, our local Chinese restaurant drowns this dish in celery. The only way I could find to avoid this problem was to learn how to make the dish myself.

The Chicken

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 lb)
1 egg white
1 Tbs cornstarch
large pinch of salt

The Sauce

3 Tbs hoisin sauce
3 Tbs rice wine (or dry sherry)

The Rest

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 scallions, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
1 red bell pepper, julienned
6 oz cashews
2 Tbs peanut oil
2 tsp sesame oil

1. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Place in a bowl and add the egg white, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well with your fingers. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce, and mix well. Set aside.

3. Prep the garlic, scallions, and red pepper.

4. Heat the wok over a medium flame. Dry-fry the cashews until toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir often to avoid scorching. Remove and set aside.

5. Raise the flame to high. Add the peanut oil and heat it until it just begins to smoke. Then add the garlic, and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

6. Add the red bell pepper and chicken. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.

7. Add the sauce, and continue to stir-fry for another minute.

8. Add the sesame oil, cashews, and scallions. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through, about another minute. Serve over rice.

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Tips

* If you like your food a little spicy, this dish benefits from the addition of a few dried red chile peppers. Use them to flavor the oil before you add the garlic. Stir-fry until they blacken, about 1 minute.

Listener Feedback
Michael Chesloff, who writes that he has been "cooking and researching Chinese food for over thirty years," explains the proper way to "build" the sauce:

"The inclusion of hoisin as the primary component in a sauce is usually done by a method called gong bao. This means the hoisin is 'exploded' in hot oil rather than stirred into the other ingredients." Michael recommends removing the chicken and red pepper from the wok after the two minutes of stir-frying. Then add a little pool of oil (about a tablespoon) to the wok, let the oil eat up, and finally drop the sauce into it. The sauce really does "explode." After it has thickened a little (about 30 seconds), return the chicken and red pepper to the wok, and continue with the recipe. the gong bao method really is an improvement. Michael also points out that a proper Chinese chef would cut the red pepper into chunks about the same size and shape as the chicken pieces (rather than into strips, as I do). "A basic principle of Chinese cooking," he writes, "especially in stir-frying, is that the ingredients be cut to a similar size and shape." Michael also advises that the Chinese would deep-fry the cashews rather than dry-frying them.

Ann Lapinski s kids don t like red peppers, so she has taken to using bok choy and broccoli instead.

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If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future.

David Rubel is president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York. He spends his days writing American history, then heads home after work to cook for his wife and two young children. His most recent book is The Story of America (DK, 2002).