Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Soy-glazed stir-fried cashew chicken made with chicken thigh or breast. Served alongside fresh butter lettuce and jasmine rice to prepare as lettuce wraps.
Ingredients
- 12–16 oz chicken thighs or breast boneless and skinless
- ¼ cup corn starch or similar, such as potato starch
- 1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts drained and rinsed
- 1 cup cashews
- ½ large white onion diced
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced garlic use more to taste
- oil for stir-frying I use peanut oil or avocado oil
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
For Sauce:
- ¼ cup chicken broth or water
- 2 teaspoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon black vinegar or sub rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce optional
- 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
For serving:
- 1 head butter lettuce washed and leaves separated
- 3 green onions greens sliced thin
- white rice optional, I use Jasmine
- toasted sesame seeds optional, for topping
Instructions
- Trim excess fat from the chicken thighs and slice them into tiny pieces, about 1 cm in size. I recommend using a very sharp knife, and first slicing the chicken into strips.
- Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper, then toss in the corn starch until fully coated.
- Mix together all the sauce ingredients and set aside. The oyster sauce may not fully incorporate, but that's okay, it will in the pan.
- Heat a very generous pour of oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium, add the onion to the pan (with more oil as needed) and cook, tossing frequently, until it is starting to wilt. About 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds until very fragrant, then add the water chestnuts and cashews. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing frequently.
- Add the cooked chicken back to the pan and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, tossing frequently.
- Add the sauce and mix everything until the sauce thickens into a glaze and coats everything, about 1-2 more minutes. Remove from heat.
- Transfer to a serving dish, then top with green onion and sesame seeds. Serve alongside prepared butter lettuce and jasmine rice for making wraps.
Notes
You can substitute chicken breast instead of thigh, but the result may be a little bit drier with white meat instead of dark.
I have not tested this exact recipe with ground chicken. I don't like the final texture of cashew chicken made with ground chicken, and prefer using diced whole chicken pieces.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25 batchCalories: 465kcalCarbohydrates: 30g
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