Marc's Cashew Chicken
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I recently finagled an invitation to dinner from Marc and Lisa Canter. Marc has been serenading me with stories of his famous cashew chicken, his trademark dish, tested and perfected over decades of crashing at the homes of old and new friends in exchange for his cooking. I showed up with camera in hand, and a borrowed notepad and pen to observe Marc's cooking. Fortunately for both me and Marc, we had 4-year old Mimi to help as well. Mimi scored a perfect 10 in the "pouring water into the pan for rice" event. Note that the amounts are all approximate. Marc doesn't really measure; like most natural cooks I know, he "eyeballs" it. But with these ingredients, in approximately the right proportions, it's hard to go wrong.
Marc's Cashew Chicken Recipe
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Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, cut into 1-inch cubes
- Peanut Oil
- Chili Powder (about 3 Tbsp)
- Tamari (about 1/2 cup) (use Wheat-free tamari if you need to cook gluten-free, and if you don't have access to tamari you can substitute soy sauce)
- Honey (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 3 cups roughly chopped onions
- 3 cups roughly chopped mushrooms
Method
This bowl demonstrates just one
breast marinating
1 Marinate the chicken. Put the chicken cubes in a dish. Cover the chicken with peanut oil. Add tamari until the marinade turns brown (about 2 Tbsp per breast). Sprinkle the chili powder all over the top of the chicken. Stir, and sprinkle again. Stir and sprinkle again, stir. You should be able to see each piece of chicken with lots of sprinkles of chili powder. Add some honey, about 2 Tbsp for each breast. Marinate anywhere from a half an hour to several hours, the longer the better.
2 Put cashews into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until they are soft, (a couple of minutes - the water will get foamy.) Remove from heat. Strain and set aside.
It helps to have helpers!
3 In a large skillet, sauté chicken pieces on medium high heat until just cooked. Reserve any extra marinade. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
4 In the same skillet, sauté onions on medium high to high heat with reserved marinade for several of minutes. (Elise's note: for food safety reasons you may want to simmer the marinade first, for several minutes before adding the onions. The marinade had been in contact with raw chicken and needs to thoroughly cook to kill any bacteria. Add a little water if the marinade reduces too much.) Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked, several minutes more. Add additional marinade ingredients if necessary - peanut oil, tamari, chili powder, honey.
5 Combine chicken, mushrooms, onions, with the cashews. Serve over brown rice.
Serves four.
Lisa, Marc, and Mimi after a great meal
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just a few things you may want to remember:
Be sure to bring the marinade to a boil before serving!
- it is contaminated with raw chicken and should simmer and reduce for at least 10 minutes or so to kill all bacteria
-consider using chili-garlic sauce or some asian spicy condiment instead of the southwestern flavored chili powder (cumin doesnt fit well into cashew chicken)
-add more aromatics such as ginger and garlic, tastier and healthier
-dont forget to salt the cashew water