Recipe: Cashew Chicken (Yao Go Ji-ding)

CASHEW CHICKEN (YAO GO JI-DING)

"Highly westernized and possibly the most popular of all Chinese chicken stir-fries, the variations on the chicken with cashews theme are dizzying. One of the best known is the Szechwanese version, Gong-bao Ji-ding, which legend attributes to an ambitious politico who first served it to celebrate an imperial appointment. Western adaptations of Gong-bao Ji-ding often are not very authentic; the original is made with charred hot peppers - and lots of them. Most of us are more familiar with less volatile versions."

1 pound boneless chicken (about 2 whole breasts or 4 boned thighs), skinned
4 teaspoons cornstarch, divided use
2 tablespoons light (not lite) soy sauce, divided use
2 tablespoons rice wine or extra-dry sherry, divided use
1 large egg white
Salt
1 small dried hot pepper
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms
2 scallions or other green onions, trimmed
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, divided use
2 quarter-sized fresh ginger slices, minced
2 large garlic clovers, minced
1/2 cup tasted cashews, preferable unsalted
2 cups hot cooked long-grain rice (for serving)

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Thinly slice across the grain no more than 1/4 inch thick. Cut the slices into flat pieces about 1-inch wide and set aside.

Combine 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon each of the soy sauce and wine in a medium-sized non-reactive glass or stainless steel bowl. Beat until the cornstarch is dissolved, then beat in the egg white and a small pinch of salt. Add the chicken, toss until coated, and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes, refrigerated.

Meanwhile, stem and seed the dried pepper and slice it as thinly as possible. Wipe the mushrooms clean, trim off and discard the stems if they are tough, and thinly slice. Cut the scallions into 1-inch lengths.

Combine the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon wine with the sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl.

WHEN READY TO COOK:
Place the wok over medium-high heat. When it is very hot, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil and put in the hot pepper. When the pepper is beginning to blacken, lift the chicken out of its marinade and quickly add it to the wok, a few pieces at a time, with the minced ginger and garlic. Stir-fry, scraping away any solids that stick to the wok, until the chicken is white and opaque, about 2 minutes, then remove the wok from the heat and put the chicken in a warm plate or bowl. Cover and set aside.

Wipe out the wok and return it to medium-high heat. Drizzle in the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil and add the mushrooms. Stir-fry until they are wilted, about 1 minute.

Add the scallions and toss until they are hot. Return the chicken to the wok and toss until it is hot again, about 1 minute.

Stir the liquid seasoning mixture and drizzle it around the edges of the wok. Continue stir-frying until the sauce is thick and coats the chicken, about 1 minute more. Stir in the cashews and turn off the heat.

Taste and adjust the salt and serve hot with the rice passed separately.

Note: You may substitute dried shiitake for fresh ones; you'll need 1 ounce. Put them in a heat proof bowl. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and pour it over the mushrooms. Soak until they are reconstituted, about 30 minutes. Squeeze out the excess moisture. Strain the soaking liquid through a coffee filter, cover, and set aside to flavor a soup or sauce.

If you like things hot, you can add more peppers to suit your taste. In Szechwan, the mushrooms are omitted and the dish may have as many as a dozen peppers. The peppers are left whole and blackened in very hot oil. The blackening blunts a lot of the impact of the volatile oils and sweetness their flavor, but they're still hot. Don't try it unless you have a really good ventilation system over your cooktop, and keep your face averted from the wok; the smoke from this process is full of the volatile oils that produce the stinging heat and reacts on your throat, eyes, and sinuses like tear gas.

Cooking Tip: Soy Sauce: If you are not familiar with Asian cooking, you probably think soy sauce is soy sauce is soy sauce. If that's the case, the first time you step into an Asian market, you will be dizzied by the variety of soys available. There are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean soys; dark soy, with a smoky, molasses-like undertone, light (not to be confused with lite) soy, lighter in flavor and color, thick and thin soys, mushroom soys - the list goes on. I have given the specific soy sauce required for each of the stir-fried and Asian deep-fried chicken recipes in this book, with acceptable substitutions where applicable.

Serves 2 to 4
Source: Fried Chicken by Damon Lee Fowler