How can I ever forget the first time I sampled Thai Cashew Chicken. It was on our honeymoon, lazing in a picturesque veranda restaurant on a moonlit Koh Sumai beach. Gadget Guy has always been crazy about nuts … all kinds of nuts …including myself :) … so Pad Med Mamuang Himaphan was a must have.
Interesting, each restaurant had a varying version of the sauce, some that we loved and some we simply couldn't enjoy because of the overwhelming use of the pungent shrimp paste! Since then not only has yours truly learned to make it but has perfected the sauce that my Gadget Guy loves most- a more gourmet version as oppose to the street vendor version.
This is a wonderful recipe to try out specially if you have kids or don’t care much for spicy Thai food. The chicken is tossed in a flavorful sweet sauce, colorful vegetables with crisp cashew nuts on top of fluffy white jasmine rice. This is my obvious choice when planning a Thai menu for friends; it provides the perfect contrast to the mellow heat of red and green curry and my favorite fish in tamarind sauce; not to mention that Gadget Guy just expects it to be there! :)
Slice the tomatoes lengthwise into halves and scoop out the fleshy part along with the seeds. Likewise remove the seeds from the bell pepper. Dice large pieces of the green bell peppers, red onions and tomatoes till you have ½ cup of each.
Rinse and soak the Shiitake mushrooms in ½ a cup of tepid water. They will absorb the water and become soft and squidgy.
The mushrooms need to be sliced thinly and I prefer my kitchen scissors over the knife and the cutting board any time of the day- try it yourself and I promise you will never use a knife again on rehydrated mushrooms!!!
Let the sliced shiitake mushrooms soak a bit more in the same water till ready to use. Retain the soaking water for the sauce as it’s packed with the yummy earthen flavor.
Toss the chicken pieces in the fish sauce and coat with the flour. This helps to seal in the moisture and give the chicken pieces a delicious glaze.
Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok and add the chicken pieces. Toss at intervals till light brown; they should not be cooked through as they will cook further in the sauce. Take out the chicken and spread evenly in a plate so that heat doesn’t get trapped and cooks them further. Trust me, I know what I’m saying and this isn’t a physics experiment.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a skillet and then the bell peppers. Add the onions and the fish sauce and toss for around 30 seconds till the vegetables are glazed with the oil and fish sauce. Add the tomatoes and immediately take out on a plate. We do not want the tomatoes to cook and lose shape and texture in the skillet. The heat from the onions and peppers will be enough to soften them just slightly.
The onions and the peppers should be crisp and not soggy.
Heat some more oil and add the chopped garlic, sliced galangal, dried red chilies, kefir leaf and a bashed and bruised lemongrass stalk. And no, I do not have anger management issues, but trust me that stalk needs some bashing to release those flavors.
Fry till the garlic is a lovely golden brown and aromatic.
In a small bowl combine the Plum Chili Sauce, the Sriracha Sauce and the oyster sauce and add to the wok.
When they are all simmering, add the fish sauce. If you are wondering where my measuring spoon is, it isn’t there J I just eye ball while adding ingredients and taste along the way- I’ve always cooked like that unless I’m baking or cooking rice.
Fish out the shiitake slices and add them to the sauce. DONOT throw away the soaking water! Add the sugar and let cook on simmer for everything to release their flavors and make you kitchen smell like your favorite Thai restaurant.
Add the cornstarch to the shiitake water that you remembered not to throw away and stir to dissolve.
Add it to the wok slowly to thicken the sauce.
Add the half done chicken back to the wok along with the plum sauce and let the chicken cook thoroughly. You can add a couple of tablespoons of water if you feel the sauce is drying up too fast.
Add the sautéed vegetables and give everything in the wok a good couple of tosses and you are ready to serve!
Dish out in a flat platter. This isn’t supposed to be soupy or swimming in the sauce but just coated really well. Scatter some (or lots of) roasted or fried cashew nuts on top and enjoy with jasmine rice.
If entertaining, pair it with Thai green curry prawns (Gaeng kiew wan goong) for a delightful Thai meal.
Ingredients
For The Chicken
1/2 lb Chicken Breast – Cut Into Cubes
3 tablespoon Flour
1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
3 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
For The Vegetables
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
½ Cup Red Onion – Diced Large
½ Cup Roma Tomato – Diced Large
½ Green Pepper/Capsicum – Diced Large
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
For The Sauce
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2-3 Whole Dried Chiles
3 Slices Galangal- 1” Pieces
2 Tablespoons Garlic – Finely chopped
1 Stalk Lemongrass - Bashed
1 Kefir Lime Leaf
2 Teaspoons Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
3 Tablespoons Plum Chili Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
4 Tablespoons Thai Plum Sauce
1 ½ Tablespoons Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar
½ Teaspoon Salt
4-5 Shiitake Mushrooms
½ Cup Water for Soaking Mushrooms
2 Teaspoons Corn flour
1/2 cup Dry Roasted/Fried Cashew Nuts
Method
Deseed the tomatoes and green peppers.
Cut the tomatoes, onions and green peppers into 1”pieces.
Rinse and soak the Shiitake mushrooms in ½ a cup of tepid water till soft.
Using kitchen scissors cut the shiitake mushrooms into thin slices and then re-soaks in same water.
Mix 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce with the cubed chicken pieces and then coat well with flour.
Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok and add the chicken pieces.
Stir fry on high heat till brown but not cooked thoroughly.
Add 2 Tbsp oil to the wok and add green peppers and onions with 2 tbsp fish sauce.
Toss well and while the wok vegetables are crisp, add the tomatoes and immediately remove to a plate.
Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil and add the chopped garlic, sliced Galangal, dried red chilies, Kefir leaf and the lemongrass stalk.
Stir-fry till garlic is brown and the other ingredients fragrant.
Add the Thai Ketchup, Sriracha Sauce, fish sauce and the oyster sauce.
Add the sliced shiitake and the sugar.
Let simmer.
Add the cornstarch to the water the mushrooms were soaked in and stir till dissolved.
Add this cornstarch slurry to the sauces and thicken slightly.
Re add the chicken to a wok and cook for another minute.
If the sauce drys up to fast, just add a splash of water.
Add the sauteed vegetables back into the wok and toss.
Serve immediately with cashew-nuts on top.
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