broccoli cashew chicken |
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Until very, very recently, I was an epic fail at stir-frying. Unlike soup, which you can ignore for stretches of time while cleaning, minding kids, blogging (or a combination of these), stir-frying is 10 minutes of chopping and then another 10-20 minutes of focused cooking.
The original recipes I found did not include any vegetables and ended up being quite salty. Enter broccoli to sweeten everything up and make it look pretty. I thought about adding red peppers or even carrots, but the sweetness and sturdiness of the broccoli balances everything best. |
1-2 package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs,
cut into big-bite sized pieces Sesame oil 2T sherry |
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This is where 'the process' is very important. Marinate the chicken in 2-3T of shoyu and all the ginger and sherry for about 15 minutes. In a small bowl, mix 2T water, the rest of the shoyu, cornstarch and Worcestershire sauce.
Drizzle a wok or stir-fry pan with a bit of sesame oil and then a bit of canola oil. Make sure the wok is hot--the oil should swish and coat very smoothly. Add chicken with a bit of the marinade and stir-fry the chicken until just cooked. This will take approximately 3-5 minutes.
Take the chicken out and put it in your serving bowl. Add a bit more sesame oil and then dump in the broccoli and stir-fry this until it has turned a very vibrant green. 2-3 minutes. If you need to, add a tablespoon of water to quick-steam it a bit. Make sure the water is completely evaporated and toss the chicken back in. Add green onions, shoyu/Worcestershire/cornstarch sauce and red pepper flakes, and keep tossing the food. The cornstarch and heat will make the sauce thicken very quickly. Throw cashews in at the last minute and give it a few final stirs.
Very good over Jasmine rice.