Chicken with Cashews (Cashew Gai Ding)

Last night I decided to try my first recipe from Grace Young's Breath of a Wok. If you're a novice when it comes to Chinese cooking, you just bought a wok, or you need new wok recipes--buy this book. There are numerous care tips for your wok, stories, and a combo of both authentic/traditional and more modern Chinese recipes.

The only adjustments I made to the recipe were omitting the bamboo shoots and using shitake instead of white mushrooms. If you do use shitake instead, add them to the wok later on so they don't get over cooked.

Cashew Gai Ding

from Breath of a Wok by Grace Young


1 pound boneless chicken breasts
1 egg white
1 tablespoon Shoaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup peanut or safflower oil
6 ounces raw cashews
6 slices fresh ginger, julienned
3 spring onions, cut in 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound fresh white mushrooms, quartered
1/4 pound bamboo shoots
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 pinch white pepper
1 pinch sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 T. cold stock or water


Dice the chicken and place in a mixture of the lightly beaten egg white mixed with 1 T. wine, soy sauce, salt, 1 pinch of pepper, and 1/2 t. of the cornstarch. Let sit for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet. Stir fry the cashews and remove. Add the ginger to the wok, stir, add the chicken, and stir for 2 minutes. Add the spring onions, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Stir fry until chicken is cooked, or about 5 minutes. Mix the stock, oyster sauce, wine, 1 pinch pepper, sugar, and cornstarch mixture in a small bowl and pour over the chicken in the wok. Stir, add the cashews, and serve immediately.

Serving notes:

I served this dish with Sichuan noodles (not as good as Ba Ren's) and dry-fried long beans.