Hello, foodie friends! Decades ago, my husband Al and I spent some time in Del Rio, Texas, near Laughlin Air Force base. Back then, Del Rio was a one-main-street small Texas town populated mostly by a handful of locals and various government employees.
One of the Air Force families had just returned from Asia with a handful of recipes, which they adapted for the US. (Del Rio had only one small grocery store then, which carried nothing as "exotic" as fresh ginger.) Probably to make friends as much as anything, the family decided to hold Asian cooking classes.
Of the students, I was the only person who could use chopsticks, and I was determined that Al would learn the skill, as well. I purchased a can of cashews and jokingly told Al he could eat as many as he wanted as long as he picked them up with the chopsticks. Talk about motivation! He finished the can, and he and I have enjoyed using chopsticks ever since—they really do make Asian food taste even better.
Here's one of my go-to Asian recipes from that class.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken & marinade
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (individually wrapped breasts in a bag tend to be smaller and more tender than grocery-packaged breasts in a tray)
- 1 t salt (omit if cashews are salted)
- 1 T sake or dry vermouth
- ¼ t ground ginger or ½ t fresh ginger
- 1 T cornstarch
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
Vegetables
- 3 T oil
- 1 ½ c cashews (don't burn)
- 2 peppers (green or a mixture of green and another color), cut in ½ inch cubes
- 3 - 4 green onions
- Can add other vegetables: peapods, bean sprouts, etc.
Sauce
- ¼ t MSG/accent (optional)
- ¼ T cornstarch
- ½ c water (more flavor to substitute ¼ c vermouth and ¼ c chicken broth; if other vegetables are added, consider adding more cornstarch and liquid)
- Optional: season sauce with a drop or 2 of Tabasco, 1 - 1 ½ t each sugar and white wine vinegar, 2 t dry sherry, and/or 1 T soy sauce, to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Mix marinade ingredients.
- Cut chicken into ½ inch cubes and mix with marinade. Soak at least 15 minutes.
- Cut green peppers, green onions, and whatever vegetables you wish to add into ½ inch slices or cubes.
- Heat oil and deep fry cashews to golden brown; remove from pan.
- Add chicken and fry for a few minutes until color changes (all white, inside and outside). Remove to plate.
- If pan is dry, heat sufficient oil to stir fry green onions and hard vegetables. If softer vegetables are desired (e.g., peapods or bean sprouts), add a few minutes after the hard vegetables.
- Add chicken and cashews. Create a well in the middle of the pan and add the sauce ingredients. Bring the sauce to a boil and mix with the other ingredients. If needed, add more liquid.
- Serve rice with chicken mixture on top.
- If desired, serve with green onions and soy sauce.
Enjoy!