Though I was raised to be Chinese, I rarely cook Chinese food so it is my first time to feature Chinese food here. Today I'm cooking Cashew Chicken and Shitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce, two very popular dishes in Chinese restaurants. We'll start off with the Chicken dish.
Cashew Chicken
The Ingredients:
1st Marinade
Water
Baking soda
Corn starch
2nd Marinade
The main ingredients
1 green capsicum
1 large brown onion
a little Ginger
500 grams diced chicken
Raw cashews
Sauce
Sesame oil
Honey
Soy sauce
The Procedure:
Mix the water, baking soda and corn starch and marinade the chicken in this. This will make the chicken soft. Marinate it for 15 minutes. While waiting, chop the onion, ginger, and green capsicum. Set these aside. Once the chicken is done, drain it and rinse it then drizzle it with sesame oil and a little soy sauce for the second marinade. While waiting, toast the cashew nuts in a little oil in the pan. Just toast one side and lightly salt it. Once it's toasted, set it aside. Mix the soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Make sure you mix the honey in well. The sauce should have a strong scent of honey but still remain savoury. Once you're done, fry the onions, green capsicum and ginger in the pan over medium heat. Once the capsicum becomes softer, throw in the marinated diced chicken. Cook it until it is almost done then pour in the sauce. Reduce the sauce until it becomes thicker then throw in the cashew nuts and drizzle it all again with sesame oil. Make sure it is all mixed well then take out of the pan and serve.
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| the ingredients. |
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| take the seeds out of the capsicum. |
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| chop up the capsicum. |
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| marinade the chicken in a mixture of water, baking soda and corn starch. |
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| chop up the onions. |
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| chop up a little ginger. |
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| mix some soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. |
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| toast & lightly salt the cashew nuts. |
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| once toasted, set them aside. |
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| fry the green capsicum, onions and ginger. |
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| marinade the chicken in some sesame oil and a little soy sauce. |
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| fry the chicken alongisde the other ingredients. |
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| once the chicken has turned white, you can mix it all up. it's ready for the sauce. |
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| pour in the sauce. |
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| toss in the nuts! |
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| serve hot! |
Shitake Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce
The ingredients
Dried Shitake mushrooms
Minced garlic
Green onions
Oyster Sauce
Sugar
Sesame oil
The procedure:
Soak the dried mushrooms into some water for an hour. Make sure all the parts are soft. Sometimes, the stems can be tougher. If this is the case, slice these off. The water should turn dark in colour. Chop the green onions. Once the mushrooms are soft enough, drain them but do not throw away the liquid. Saute the garlic until brown then throw in the mushrooms. After a minute, pour in some oyster sauce and then get a cup of the dark water from the mushrooms and pour it in as well. Reduce the liquids until it is thick then throw in the sugar and the green onions then drizzle it all with sesame oil. Toss and take out and serve.
Tip: Sesame oil can be overpowering. Make sure you use this sparingly.
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| the ingredients. missing here is the sugar. |
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| take out the mushrooms and soak them. |
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| after soaking, the mushrooms should be very soft. save the water. |
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| chop up the green onion. |
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| saute the minced garlic. |
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| throw in the mushrooms! |
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| pour the oyster sauce and add a cup of the water from the soaked mushrooms. |
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| drizzle with sesame oil. |
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| throw in some sugar. |
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| throw in the green onions last. |
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| toss and serve! |
Well, I hope you enjoyed these two recipes. Ciao!
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