{"id":4863,"date":"2018-05-09T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=4863"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:44","slug":"stir-fried-chicken-with-cashews-and-snow-peas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/09\/stir-fried-chicken-with-cashews-and-snow-peas\/","title":{"rendered":"Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 9, 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the year of the Dog.<\/p>\n

It may be old news, but Lunar New Year was Friday, February 16, 2018.\u00a0 We celebrated with close friends and a dinner menu with an extensive array of Asian dishes.\u00a0 There are many traditional dishes for Lunar New Year depending on the country.\u00a0 I chose to do a pan-Asian menu rather than focus on strictly traditional recipes from a single country.<\/p>\n

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Kifune Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were in Palm Springs for Lunar New Year.\u00a0 The plan was to escape winter weather in Santa Fe which, as it turned out, was not very wintery after all, unlike what the East Coast experienced.<\/p>\n

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Sourcing Asian ingredients has become a real issue for me now that I don\u2019t live in a major city.\u00a0 The only Asian grocery store in Santa Fe, Talin Market<\/a>, closed a few months ago though the original location is still open in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

Palm Springs only has two Asian markets that I can find.\u00a0 Both are Filipino-owned and, although they stock an array of Asian goods, they really focus on Filipino foods.<\/p>\n

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Honen-in Temple, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amazon came to the rescue.\u00a0 While I\u2019d rather stand in the aisles of an Asian market reading and comparing packages of honest-to-goodness product, Amazon was a lifesaver.<\/p>\n

There were eight of us for the Lunar New Year dinner.<\/p>\n

The kitchen in our Palm Springs house is small, approximately 9 feet by 11 feet.\u00a0 Turning out a multi-course meal requires a lot of planning and organization.\u00a0 \u00a0I divided the main part of the meal into four courses.\u00a0 Each course included a complementary array of foods and different cooking methods.<\/p>\n

We started with hors d\u2019oeuvres and cocktails.\u00a0 We ended with a simple, non-traditional dessert of gelato and fortune cookies, which I purchased.\u00a0 I assumed nobody was going to be too into dessert after all the other food.<\/p>\n

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Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s the menu:<\/p>\n

Hors d \u2019Oeuvres
\n<\/em><\/span><\/strong>Vegetable Dumplings with Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce
\nSteamed Edamame with Coarse Salt<\/p>\n

First Course
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas
\nEggplant Hunan Style
\nCambodian Fish with Bean Thread<\/p>\n

Second Course
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Korean Bulgogi
\nIndonesian Sweet Corn Patties
\nSzechuan Garlic Noodles<\/p>\n

Third Course
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Hot and Sour Soup<\/p>\n

Fourth Course
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Chinese Roast Pork
\nJapanese Carrot Salad
\nMapo Tofu
\nCaramelized Tomatoes with Ginger and Vinegar<\/p>\n

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I recently published my recipe for Chinese Roast Pork<\/a>.\u00a0 Hot and Sour Soup<\/a> is coming up in a couple of weeks.\u00a0 Today, however, we\u2019re focusing on a Cantonese classic, Stir-Fried Chicken with Nuts and Vegetables, specifically cashews and snow peas.<\/p>\n

This is a recipe that I started making during junior year in college.\u00a0 It got tweaked a lot over that year.\u00a0 By then I was comfortable with the end product and didn\u2019t really do much with it\u2026 until this year.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t really change the recipe, though.\u00a0 I changed the pan!<\/p>\n

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Shrine in Gion District, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve probably figured out that I\u2019m prone to excess where kitchen equipment comes in.\u00a0 I have four woks:\u00a0 two carbon steel ones that date back to college and two that are a decade or so younger, one aluminum and one carbon steel.\u00a0 Both of these are larger than the ones from my college days.<\/p>\n

I always cook my stir-fries in a wok but this particular dish is always a problem due to the \u201cvelvet\u201d coating on the chicken.\u00a0 The coating always sticks to the wok.\u00a0 I suspect I could eliminate that problem by using enough oil to deep fry the chicken but that wasn\u2019t supposed to be the way to cook it.\u00a0 So, I always just accepted the “sticking-chicken” problem.<\/p>\n

Until now.<\/p>\n

I used a large, non-stick skillet.<\/p>\n

It worked like a charm!!!<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll give up my woks any time soon but for this particular dish, non-stick is definitely the way to go.<\/p>\n

Afterthought:\u00a0 This recipe calls for MSG, though, of course, you can leave it out if you wish.\u00a0 If you\u2019re at all interested in the hype about the health effects of MSG, I suggest you read this article<\/a>.

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Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas<\/h2>\n
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Walnuts and either broccoli or green beans can be used instead of cashews and snow peas. The chicken can be marinated several hours in advance and refrigerated, tightly covered. If you wish, you can reduce or eliminate the MSG.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>35 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>6<\/span> people as part of a Chinese meal<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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