Thai Cashew Chicken Recipe

Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipe: Thai Cashew Chicken

My first tryst with Thailand’s version of Cashew Chicken was in Phuket back in 2016. It was quite late in the evening, M and I had just walked for a mile up Bangla Road, and we went into this restaurant that was sort of crowded, and though it looked touristy, we were too hungry to care. I ordered something with pork and she wanted the Thai Cashew Chicken, and to my embarrassment and wonder, the latter turned out to be so good, we had to place a second order of it.

The chicken was tossed with peppers, onion, in a sweet and sour sauce, its batter still quite crunchy, and you can always amp up the heat by biting into one of the dry red chillies strewn rather generously. Hands down, after a couple of hours’ walk in the rainy weather, this comforted us like nothing else could, and we ran back to our hotel (The Gig, and I have always stayed there because its an amazing hotel) and slept off early.

Cut to 2019 and I was back in Phuket with a bunch of friends from school, and R was too allergic and sensitive to most things she was eating, because she has a lot of allergies in general, so this Thai Cashew Chicken featured prominently in half our meals, because she would be too scared to eat most of the things. We had an epic meal in Doo Dee Restaurant, Patong (and I had been there with S back in 2018), and guess what? Cashew chicken made a very marked appearance in the meal there, too.

So, over the years, I have always relied on Thai Cashew Chicken as one of the easiest recipes that can be quite comfortably replicated with a few ingredients. The first time I tried this recipe was back in 2016 itself, and over the years, have modified and changed to suit the available ingredients in my kitchen and in the market. I would have to say, the recipe calls for some interesting ingredients, but you can make some quick substitutions if you play smart.

The most important part of Thai Cashew Chicken recipe is the sauce, though, because though it originally seems a bit daunting, if you can substitute it right, its a breeze. Now, I will give you two versions of the sauce: One that I use, and one that you can create in your home with the most commonly available Indian Chinese ingredients in the house. Both will give you the glossy texture that clings to the chicken and vegetables, and that’s what you need – glossy sauce, still-crunchy chicken, and crunchy vegetables that’s not raw, but also not soft and mushy, and of course, the cashews that would be golden and delicious. My recipe is mostly from observing the ladies cooking in the tiny, crowded restaurants, which I have always felt has been a rather important influence on the way I cook, and I did look up the measurements and also the technique from Marion’s Kitchen. If you like this Thai Cashew Chicken recipe, you might also be interested in this Thai-style Stir fried Chicken Recipe that’s also a great meal for busy weeknights.

Thai Cashew Chicken Recipe

Step One: Make the Stir-fry Sauce

Version One: 2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 tablespoon plain vinegar, 2 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon oyster sauce (optional), a pinch of pepper, a pinch of monosodium glutamate (optional) and 1 teaspoon cornflour. Stir to ensure there are no lumps.

Version Two: 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoon plain vinegar, 2 tablespoon honey (to mimic the gloss and texture and add a touch of bitterness that will reduce the sourness), 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon cornflour, 1 pinch monosodium glutamate (optional) and a pinch of pepper. Stir to ensure there are no lumps.

Step Two: Prepping the Protein

Take about 250-300 gm. boneless chicken breast and cut in 1-inch pieces. It would be a good idea to cut small pieces that is against the grain of the meat so that the chicken cooks quickly while frying. Apply a generous pinch of salt and about 2-3 tablespoons of cornflour (what is called cornstarch in the USA), and toss to coat. The chicken should not sit in the cornflour and get soggy, so while you’re tossing and coating, it would be a good idea to heat the oil for frying. By the way, substituting the chicken with Tofu or Paneer works very well for a vegetarian version of this dish. You can also use thin slices of pork or even small/medium prawns to make a porky or seafood version

Step Three: Frying the Chicken

I heated enough oil to coat the bottom of my kadhai (about 100 ml.) and fried the chicken in two-three batches over medium heat till the meat was golden. Once golden, remove to a plate lined with paper towels to blot the excess oil, or to a wire rack set over a plate to drain the oil.

Step Four: Bringing Everything together

Heat about 1 tablespoon oil and add 1 clove of garlic, minced. When the garlic is fragrant, about 10-15 seconds, add 1/2 of an onion (about 50 gm.) sliced in thick wedges and the petals separated. Once the onion goes in, stir fry over high heat for 20-30 seconds and add 3-4 dry red chillies. If you like heat, cut them in pieces, and if you don’t, keep them whole. Then add 1 handful of raw, unsalted cashews. Stir fry till the cashew is very lightly golden.

At this point, add 1/2 cup diced bell pepper. Ideally, you should use a quarter of red and yellow bell pepper, but frankly speaking, any kind of bell peppers work here. Then, stir over high heat till the bell peppers are slightly soft, about a minute. Do not stop stirring because if you don’t, the cashew might burn, and that’s not good eats. You can also add a couple of fresh chillies, cut in pieces, for a bit of extra heat.

At this point, add the fried chicken and toss it for 15-20 seconds. Now, give the stir-fry sauce a quick mix and dump it into the pan, stirring vigorously to ensure every bit of the meat and veggies get coated with that sauce. Thanks to the cornflour, it WILL stick and coagulate pretty quickly, so, your plan should be to stir this till everything is sticky, about 30-40 seconds over high heat.

Step Five: Final Touch and Serving Ideas

Now, add a handful of chopped spring onions, give it a final stir to incorporate everything, taste to check if the salt and sugar quotient are optimum (and correct if it isn’t), and you are DONE!

Here’s the thing – ideally, your Thai Cashew Chicken will go very well with some plain rice, preferably Jasmine rice, but, it goes equally well with some stir-fried noodles as well as with rotis and bread, which is tried and tested. It is also an excellent standalone dish, and you can always dry it up and serve it as a starter, the sugar caramelized and sticking to the meat. Whatever you do, serve and eat immediately to avoid losing that delicate crunch of the chicken that will get soggy if you wait for too long.