Chicken with cashew nuts

As part of my year-long fitness challenge, I've been endeavouring to eat healthier and have been reading about the health benefits of different types of nuts. Cashew nuts, a healthy source of monounsaturated fat, immediately made me crave chicken with cashew nuts, a classic Thai dish, that was always one of my favourite meals as a kid. A quick e-mail got me the recipe straight from the source.

Recipe

from my mother
Serves 2

1 skinless chicken breast, chopped into pieces
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
⅓ cup onion, chopped
½ cup cashew pieces
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
½ tsp tapioca flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp mushroom sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar

Marinate chicken with soy sauce, ground pepper, tapioca flour. Heat oil in a wok, add most of the garlic and cook until yellow. Add chicken and sauté until almost cooked through. Remove from pan. Add small amount of oil. Add carrots, green pepper and onion and cook a few minutes. Return chicken to the pan, and add mushroom sauce, fish sauce and brown sugar. Add flour to thicken if needed. Stir in cashew nuts and serve.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: I didn't have tapioca flour so substituted all-purpose flour. I also couldn't find mushroom sauce, but upon consultation with my mother, learned I could use soy sauce instead.

A surprisingly straightforward dish that was relatively quick to make and delicious to eat! It definitely reminded me of my mother's cooking (though I'm sure hers is better). This dish has a such a well-rounded combination of flavours and textures. Though not as good as fresh out of the pan, the leftovers were good as well. A healthy and tasty meal for the win!