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gai pad med mamuang Thai cashew chicken served with rice

gai pad med mamuang (Thai cashew chicken) - AU Cups

Robyn
gai pad med mamuang is a simple Thai cashew chicken recipe made with tender chicken and toasted cashews coated in a simple sauce. It is salty, spicy, easy to make and on the table in under 30 minutes.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course dinner
Cuisine Thai
Servings 2 people
Calories 358 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g chicken breast cut in to bite size pieces
  • 1½ tablespoons neutral oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2-3 dried chillies
  • 1 red pepper / capsicum cubed
  • ½ c cashews
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • pinch soft brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl mix the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, soft brown sugar and water together then set aside.
  • Fry the cashew but in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until golden, shaking the pan every so often or stirring to enable them to become golden all over.
  • When the cashews are lightly golden, add ½ tablespoon oil then add the dried chillies and fry for 2 minutes until the chilli becomes fragrent. Remove the cashews and chillies from the pan.
  • Add the rest of the oil, crushed garlic and chopped spring onions / green onions and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the diced chicken to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Drizzle in the sauce with the chopped pepper / capsicum and cook 5 minutes.
  • Return the cashews and chilli to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped spring onions.
  • Store any leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Notes

Chicken - you can use chicken breast or chicken thigh for this recipe.
Cashew nuts - try and get raw cashew nuts and then roast them yourself for maximum flavour. Don't buy roasted and salted cashew nuts as this together with the salty Thai sauce will make the dish far too spicy.
Dried red chillies – I like to leave the dried chillies whole, however if you are wanting to make this a mild Thai stir fry then remove the seeds. While dried chillies are traditionally used in this Thai stir fry, you can use fresh chillies or, to keep things less spicy (especially popular with younger family members) add a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes once served to those who want spice.
Spring onion - green onions. You can use a small brown onion, finely sliced into wedges, instead, or add the onion AND spring onions.
Soy sauce - a mixture of dark soy sauce light soy sauce provides colour and rich saltiness, but you can use just light soy sauce if you don't have any dark soy sauce:  increase the amount of light soy sauce to 1.5 tablespoons.
Oyster sauce - this thick dark brown liquid is salty, sweet, rich and packed with unami flavour. It actually doesn't taste of oysters. Not only does it pack some wonderful flavour in to this dish, but oyster sauce makes the chicken stir fry glisten and have a glossy appearance.
Brown sugar - this helps balance the salty and spicy flavours. Use soft light brown sugar, it you have palm sugar then use that! Dark brown sugar will taste too heavy with molasses and bitter, and demerara sugar won't dissolve as easily, leaving crunchy sugar crystals in the stir fry. You can also use white sugar which will provide sweetness but not so much flavour.
Spicy - if you like your gai pad mamuang spicy, add 5-6 dried chillies. I have made this recipe moderately spicy to suit the family.
Gluten free – check your oyster sauce is gluten free and use a gluten free soy sauce or Tamari.
If you want a carb free way of serving this dish, make Thai chicken cashew lettuce wraps! Spoon the chicken and cashew nuts in to crisp lettuce leaf cups and enjoy!
Extra vegetables – adding extra vegetable to the dish is a great way of increasing your servings of vegetables, and they will also help the dish go further. Finely slice some green cabbage, carrots, sugar snaps, broccolini or baby corn.

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 30gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 1041mgPotassium: 795mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 2026IUVitamin C: 78mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 4mg
Keyword chicken and cashews, Thai cashew chicken, Thai chicken recipe

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