How to make cashew chicken – a classic Chinese-American dish unlike any you’ll find in Hong Kong

Cashew chicken is not a dish you’re likely to come across at restaurants in Hong Kong. There are chicken dishes here that are garnished with cashews, but they are not listed on the menu as cashew chicken.

That’s because cashew chicken is a Chinese-American dish – something you find primarily at places that cook up large batches of food at once, and keep it in warming trays under heat lamps or on steam tables. That doesn’t mean it can’t be good, though. This version takes about 45 minutes to cook, and has chunks of moist chicken, crisp-tender vegetables and plenty of crunchy cashews.

Cashew chicken

This dish is best made with boneless chicken thighs. My second choice would be boneless legs, which are more sinewy because of the tendons in the drumstick. If you use chicken breasts, cook the pieces for less time initially, so the meat doesn’t dry out.

650 grams boneless chicken thighs, legs or breasts
30ml light soy sauce
20ml rice wine
¾ tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp finely ground white pepper
10ml sesame oil
30 grams cornstarch
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 peeled ginger slices
1 large onion, about 300 grams, peeled
2 large red bell peppers, about 350 grams in total
6 spring onions
45ml oyster sauce
20ml rice vinegar
200 grams cashews
Cooking oil, as necessary

1 Cut the chicken into one-bite pieces and put them in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt, pepper and sesame oil and mix thoroughly. Set aside while preparing the other ingredients.

2 Halve the garlic cloves. Cut the onion in half, then slice it into bite-size pieces. Remove and discard the stem and seeds from the bell peppers, then cut them into bite-size pieces. Cut the spring onions into 2.5cm lengths.