new recipe: chicken and cashew stir-fry

from Wok & Stir Fry: Fabulous Fast Food with Asian Flavors ed. Linda Doeser

Ingredients:

- ½ cup cashews
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- 4 garlic gloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 5-6 scallions, green part only, cut into 1 inch lengths

serves 4

1. Heat wok until hot, add the cashews and dry-fry over low to medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Cut the red bell pepper in half and remove the seeds. Slice into thin strips. Skin the chicken fillet and cut into thin finger-length strips.
3. Heat the wok again until hot, add the [peanut] oil and swirl it around. Add the garlic and let it sizzle in the oil for a few seconds. Add the bell pepper and chicken and stir-fry for two minutes.
4. Add the rice wine or sherry and hoisin sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is tender and all the ingredients are evenly glazed.
5. Stir in the sesame oil, toasted cashews and scallions. Serve immediately.

Also: Use blanched almonds instead of cashews, if you prefer. For a slightly less sweet taste, you could substitute light soy sauce for the hoisin sauce.

My thoughts:

This is a zippy quick recipe, so have everything cut in advance. Even with K's help, I ended up over cooking the chicken, making it slightly dry. I added broccoli (even though K hates it; I just had to pick it out afterwards and put it into my bowl), which I think was a good choice. Otherwise, this was a good recipe, and we'd have it again. The glaze was mellow and smooth. Maybe next time we'll remember the rice.