Asian Cashew Chicken [Better Than Takeout] is a sweet and sour Chicken and Cashew stir-fry recipe. Chicken and Cashew are tossed in a sweet and sour sauce made with Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sugar, Garlic, Rice Wine Vinegar, and Sriracha. This is tossed with crispy fried Chicken, Veggies, and Cashews, garnish with Sesame Seeds and Served with Plain white rice.
Bring a Pot of water to boil with the Chicken. Cover cook it at low flame for 5 minutes. Once the chicken is partially cooked, get it off the heat and strain. Sauce some of the Chicken stock and discard the rest. Cooldown the Chicken to room temperature and cut it into 2-inch cubes.
Season the Chicken with Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper. Add the Cornflour to it and mix well coating every piece of the Chicken evenly. Heat some Sesame Oil in a Skillet. Once the Oil is slightly hot, add the Chicken pieces and fry them over high heat for 5 minutes, until they turn golden brown. Keep stirring occasionally, so that the Chicken turn golden brown evenly, on both sides.
In the same Pan, add the Garlic, Veggies, and the sauce. Add the Cashew and mix well. Saute over high heat for just 1-2 minutes and serve.
Garnish with sesame Seeds, Scallions, and serve hot with white rice.
Video
Notes
Tips to make the Best Cashew Chicken
You can use Rice Flour in place of Cornflour for a crispy Chicken.
You can toast the Cashew in the oven and then use it.
Your Cashew Chicken should essentially be sweet. If it's too salty, it's because you have used too much of Soy sauce.
Use Dark Soy Sauce as its less in sodium and high in flavors.
Make the following changes for the Keto Cashew Chicken recipe:Replace Sesame Oil with Coconut OilReplace Soy Sauce with Coconut Aminos or Tamari SauceReplace Sugar with Keto SweetenerReplace Sriracha with Chili Garlic SauceReplace Cornflour with Rice Flour or ArrowRoot FlourSadly, you cannot replace anything with Hoisin Sauce. However, since you'd be using Keto sweetener and Coconut Aminos, it'll bring this Keto Cashew Chicken much closer to the authentic recipe.
How to replace Hoisin Sauce - The perfect substitute for Hoisin Sauce
Ideally, there isn't any replacement. However, you can combine 2 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce, 1 teaspoon of Barbeque Sauce, 1 teaspoon of Chili Garlic Sauce, and 2 tablespoon of Brown Sugar to make a sauce which tastes closer to an actual Hoisin Sauce. This quantity will yield you 1/4 cup of Hoisin sauce. (For this Cashew Chicken recipe, you would need about 1/4 cup hoisin sauce for 1 lbs Chicken).
Other possible variations to this recipe
You can make a couple of variations to this recipe
Vegetables - Veggies add a bit of crunch to this Cashew Chicken. I know, it's not typically used in Authentic style Chinese Cashew Chicken, but for your homemade version, a couple of veggies like Snow Peas, Broccoli, Bokchoy, or Bell Peppers won't hurt, right!
Shaoxing Wine - This is the most commonly used Chinese wine for cooking. It's very cheap to buy and you will find it in the International Aisle. If you cannot find this, you can use dry white wine as a replacement.
Toast the Cashew - I have used Raw Cashew. However, you can toast it. Toast it in the oven at 350F for 2-3 minutes.
Garnish - Garnish with Scallions and Sesame Seeds
Serving Options for Cashew Chicken
You can serve this with Rice Ideally this tastes the best with white rice. The sweet and spicy taste of this tastes best with plain white rice.However, you can also serve with Brown Rice or Rice Noodles or Ramen or Pasta as well.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Asian Cashew Chicken [Better Than Takeout]
Amount Per Serving
Calories 257
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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