Dragon Chili Cashew Chicken (Print)
Crunchy chicken, tasty cashews, and stir-fried veggies covered in bold chili sauce. It’s perfect for anyone who loves a spicy kick.
# Ingredients:
→ Quick Marinade
01 -
450 grams boneless chicken thighs, sliced about 1.25 cm thick
02 -
2.5 millilitres paprika
03 -
2.5 millilitres garlic powder
04 -
1 egg
05 -
2.5 millilitres onion powder
06 -
2.5 millilitres cayenne pepper
07 -
15 millilitres reduced sodium soy sauce
08 -
2.5 millilitres ground ginger
→ Chicken Breading
09 -
7 grams chili powder
10 -
Canola or vegetable oil, as much as you need for frying up the chicken
11 -
60 grams plain flour
12 -
30 grams cornstarch
→ Sauce
13 -
30 millilitres oyster sauce
14 -
15 millilitres Chinkiang (Chinese black) vinegar (swap with half balsamic and half rice vinegar if you want)
15 -
60 millilitres reduced sodium soy sauce
16 -
7.5 millilitres cornstarch
17 -
22–30 millilitres Asian chili sauce (try Sambal Oelek or what you like), use more or less for your taste
18 -
60 millilitres ketchup
19 -
15 millilitres toasted sesame oil
20 -
45 millilitres honey
→ Stir Fry
21 -
15 millilitres fresh ginger, grated
22 -
1 red bell pepper, thinly cut
23 -
6 garlic cloves, minced
24 -
130 grams unsalted cashews
25 -
1/2 white onion, sliced thin
26 -
15 millilitres vegetable oil or peanut oil
→ Garnish
27 -
Green onions, sliced thin
28 -
Plenty of toasted sesame seeds
# Steps:
01 -
Dump the fried chicken and toasted cashews back in with the veggies and sauce. Give everything a good toss to let that sauce cling to every bite. Take the pan off the heat. Finish off with sesame seeds and plenty of green onions on top. Eat it right away if you want that crunchy texture.
02 -
Quickly whisk your sauce again to mix it up, then pour it in with the veggies. Stir it and let it get bubbly. Keep stirring until it thickens and hugs everything—about a minute.
03 -
Drizzle a little oil into the same skillet, set to medium-high. Add the bell pepper and onion, toss around for a couple minutes until they turn a bit soft. Next, throw in the ginger and garlic, and stir for half a minute until your kitchen smells awesome.
04 -
Drop the cashews into a big, dry cast iron pan on medium. Let them sit and stir here and there till you see some toasty brown spots. Take them out and keep aside.
05 -
Heat up about 60 ml of oil in a large nonstick frying pan on medium-high. Work in small batches: shake off the extra coating and fry the chicken pieces in one layer. After roughly 2 minutes, flip them. Cook another 2 minutes until they’re golden and cooked all the way through. Place chicken on a plate with paper towels. Do the same with the rest, using a little more oil if you run out.
06 -
Pour the flour, cornstarch, and chili powder into a big zip-top bag. Grab the chicken out of the marinade and pat it down with a paper towel, just to dry it a bit. Toss that chicken into the bag, zip it, and shake the heck out of it so all the pieces are covered.
07 -
Mix up the soy sauce, ketchup, honey, oyster sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a bowl. Stir until any lumps are gone. Let this sit while you get going on everything else.
08 -
Crack the egg into a large mixing bowl and pour in the soy sauce. Add ginger powder, garlic and onion powder, paprika, and cayenne. Whisk it all together. Drop in your chicken strips, mix till they’re coated. You can cover and let them soak while you prep the other stuff—or stash in the fridge up to a day. Let the chicken sit at room temp before moving on.
# Notes:
01 -
Throw the chicken in its marinade and knock out the sauce ahead of time if you want to speed things up later.
02 -
Keep that chicken out of the sauce until the very end if you want it extra crispy.
03 -
Play with how much chili sauce you add, depending on how hot you like your food.
04 -
If you’ve got leftovers, stick them in the fridge and reheat in a skillet to help crisp them up again.