Cashew Chicken

This is a really good, flavorful chicken dish that will be worth purchasing 2 items that you may not have in your pantry.
But if you like making Asian dishes, these two things are a few of the items that should be in you cupboards at all times.
Dark Soy Sauce and Chinese Black Vinegar

​​Dark Soy Sauce it what will give this dish its beautiful color and It's richer, slightly thicker, and less salty than other types of soy sauce.
The Chinese Black Vinegar will add an umami sweet and sour taste that's really delicious.
​
If you don't have these ingredients and you still want to make cashew chicken, HERE is another version of this recipe with ingredients you likely have at home already.

Ingredients

2 cups cashews
1 pound of boneless chicken thighs cut into 3/4" bite size pieces.  (chicken breasts will be too dry for this recipe)
1 whole bunch of green onion cut into 1" segments
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 inch of ginger, grated
1- 8 oz can of water chestnuts, quartered
2 celery stalks, diced
​vegetable oil for cooking
Cooked white rice for serving
garlic chili sauce, optional

For the sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce 
1 tbsp regular soy sauce (not the lite soy sauce)
1 tbsp Chinese Black Vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp corn starch
pinch of white pepper
​1/3 cup chicken stalk

Directions

Start by toasting your cashews in a pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes until they become toasty browned. Set aside.

Dice your chicken thighs and put into a bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt. Set aside.

Make your sauce.
Whisk all 8 ingredients of the sauce together in a bowl. 

In a Wok or cast iron skillet, heat 3 Tbsp of oil over very high heat. Once oil is hot, add your chicken and let sear for 6-8 minutes until evenly browned and cooked through. Once its cooked, remove chicken from the wok onto a plate and set aside. 

Again, add oil to your wok and get it hot.  Add in your green onion and stir fry for 30 seconds. Then add your garlic and ginger and fry for another 30 seconds. Add your celery and bell pepper and fry for another 2 minutes.

Now add back in your chicken, water chestnuts and all of your stir fry sauce (make sure to whisk the sauce prior to pouring into wok because the corn starch will have settled at the bottom of the bowl) and stir well. Allow it to come to a boil which should happen almost instantly if it's hot enough. Toss in the toasted cashews and fry for another 30 seconds until it becomes glossy and thickened. 

Serve over white rice and top with thinly sliced green onion and if you like it spicy, garlic chili oil or sriacha sauce.