Chicken with Cashews and Thai Chiles

by Katie Chin, Tastemaker in Residence - Hi Cooped Up Cooking with Katie Fans! Here’s a recipe from our show.

Ingredients

10 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast or chicken thigh, sliced crosswise thinly into ½-inch wide strips

½ tsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

pinch of white pepper

2 Tbsp high-heat cooking oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small yellow onion, cut into cubes

4 dried Thai chilies or Chiles de Arbol

1 ½ tsp  roasted red chili paste (nam prik pao), optional

½ cup chicken broth

2 tsp fish sauce (nam pla)

2 tsp soy sauce

1 ½ tsp sugar

1/2 cup dry-roasted cashews

scallions for garnish

Instructions

1. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, salt, and white pepper in small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

2. Heat ½ of the oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until chicken turns white.  Remove the chicken from pan and set aside.  Wash and thoroughly dry wok or skillet.

3. Heat the remaining oil in the wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chilies and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Remove the chilies with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add the garlic and onion to the wok or skillet and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the roasted red chili paste and stir-fry, stirring to break it up, about 1 minute.

4. Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar.

5. Stir well and simmer for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium.  Add the reserved chicken, cashews and chilies and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened about 4 minutes. Dish out and serve immediately with jasmine rice.