A Winelover's Wanderings

Candi got her turn this week to pick a recipe for our weekly cooking challenge. Her blog is Candi's Corner:Wanderlust and Passions.

Candi chose stir-fry as her category and she says:

I chose the stir-fry category because it is my go-to cooking style when I am in a hurry or need to get rid of stuff in the fridge. During our trip to Thailand, and the cooking class we took in Chiang Mai, I got some great ideas for things to add to my stir-fries. I was introduced to oyster sauce, and let me tell you, it's been my go-to sauce for the stir-fries. One dish that we found at every menu in the restaurants we visited in Thailand was Cashew Chicken,and of course it was a dish we prepared in the class. I have since adapted the recipe so it has more veggies. What's great about this dish is that you can add or take out as much stuff as you like to adjust the recipe to your preferences. I even made it vegetarian without the chicken one time and it was great.

Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry

Cooking oil
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size cubes or strips
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
3 Tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zucchini, diced
8 oz. jelly, oyster or shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. corn starch(optional)
1/2 cup unsalted cashews

Heat 2 to 3 Tbsp. of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and onions and stir-fry until browned. Sear chicken on both sides for about three minutes(I use the sides of the skillet).(The chicken should be almost fully cooked at this point, if need to, cook for longer). Add fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar and mix for another minute. Add vegetables and stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the chicken broth, cover and simmer for three to four minutes until vegetables are tender and chicken is fully cooked.

If you wish to thicken the sauce, use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken and vegetables to a plate, and add cornstarch to the sauce whisking for a minute or two until sauce is thickened. Transfer the chicken and vegetables back to the skillet to keep warm.

Serve the stir-fry over your favorite rice (I make white rice) and top with cashews.

This was an easy recipe to make. Chopping the ingredients took the most time, but then it was quick to put together.

We really liked the stir fry. I can see it is very versatile, and I want to try some other veggies next time. Thank you, Candi, for selecting this recipe!

Here are all of my chopped ingredients:

All dished up: