Sweet and spicy cashew chicken

I haven't been doing a lot of food and recipe posts lately. Circumstances, I guess. I still cook nearly every day, and I make mostly French but also American and Asian-style foods, depending on our tastes and moods.

Yesterday's lunch was a version of Kung Pao Chicken made with dry-roasted, unsalted cashew nuts instead of peanuts. The sauce is sweet and as spicy as you want to make it, using dried hot chili peppers — whole or crushed and de-seeded or not.

You can add vegetables like sliced carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots to the mix. I put in one red and one green bell pepper, sliced into strips, along with a can of "baby corn" for texture and flavor.

Sweet and Spicy Cashew Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 Tbsp. peanut oil

3 slices fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 small onion or 1 large shallot, peeled and sliced

 2 bell peppers, de-seeded and sliced

1 small can "baby" ears of sweet corn

¾ cup dry-roasted cashews
6 dried red chilies

For the marinade
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice wine, hon mirin, or dry white wine

1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce or sweet, dark soy sauce
1 tsp. peanut oil
 

For the cooking sauce
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. sweet, dark soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. cornstarch (Maïzéna)

Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized cubes and marinate for at least 30 minutes with the ingredients listed above. Separately, mix the cooking sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat up a wok with one tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the marinated chicken cubes until they are nearly done. Take them out of the wok and keep them warm. Add the remaining oil  to the wok. Stir-fry the onion, ginger, and garlic for a minute or two. Cut the dried chilies in half and, optionally, remove the seeds. (You can use a tablespoon of hot red pepper flakes instead of whole peppers.)

Add the bell pepper strips and continue stir-frying until everything is aromatic and the peppers are slightly tender. Then put the chicken cubes back into the wok along with the baby corn and cashews. Stir well and pour in the cooking sauce. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens slightly. Serve hot with steamed rice.

With the onset of warm, even hot weather — we had an impressive storm with lightning, thunder, and about 20 minutes of heavy rain last night — it's grilling season in Saint-Aignan now. Today we're going to have a lunch of blanched and then grilled local white asparagus, along with locally made pork sausages, parboiled and then browned on the grill as well. I'll be taking photos.