Thai Chicken Cashew (Gai Pad Med Mamuang)
My mother loved peanuts. She kept them on the counter. She put them in things. And then she made cashew chicken for a toddler who was just beginning to understand what food was. It was bright to me, the colors in the wok, the gloss of the sauce, the gold of the nuts. She made it in our family kitchen. It became a regular dinner. It stayed. This is that dish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly
- 1 cup roasted cashew nuts
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 1 onion sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp chili flakes adjust to taste
- Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the Sauce: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and chili flakes, stirring until well blended. Set aside
- Stir-fry Chicken: Heat vegetable oil in a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant. Add sliced chicken and stir fry until cooked through and lightly browned.
- Add Vegetables: Add sliced bell peppers and onion to the pan. Continue to stir-fry until vegetables are tender yet crisp.
- Combine Cashews and Sauce: Add roasted cashew nuts to the pan. Pour the prepared sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Stir well to combine, ensuring everything is coated evenly with the sauce.
- Finish and Serve: After removing the dish from the heat, generously garnish it with fresh cilantro leaves. Serve piping hot over a bed of steamed jasmine rice or alongside noodles to enjoy the vibrant flavors at their best.
Video
Notes
The cashews are toasted first and added last. These are the two rules of Thai cashew chicken, and they are the same rule: keep the cashew crisp. A soft cashew is not a cashew in this dish. Toast them until golden, set them aside, and do not return them to the wok until the heat is off and the dish is finished. Thirty seconds in residual sauce heat is all they need to pick up the flavor. Any longer and they begin to soften.
The sauce should be mixed before the wok is hot. Oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar, measured and combined in a small bowl, ready to pour. Stir-frying moves fast, and a pre-mixed sauce is the difference between a glossy, even coating and a dish where one piece of chicken got all the oyster sauce. Mix it first. Pour it all at once.
The dried chilies or chili flakes are in the dish as flavor, not as something to eat. They provide a slow, building heat. The amount is yours to adjust. Start with less. You can always add more next time.
The bell pepper is not a vegetable that can be swapped for whatever is in the refrigerator. The sweetness and color of the bell pepper are structural to this dish. Red or yellow, either works. Green bell pepper has a different, more bitter quality that pulls the dish in the wrong direction. Use red or yellow. That brightness was the first thing I noticed about this dish as a child, and the bell pepper is what made it so.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 28gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 850mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5g
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