This dish is inspired by the cashew chicken at Chinese Room that I wrote about.
I had some leftover kale and mushrooms in the fridge, and concocted this dish by putting it together with bok choy and carrots in an addictive Shaoxing sauce. Shaoxing is a Chinese cooking wine that adds great flavor to Chinese sauces. I got it from Chinatown in San Francisco but you can get it online too or at Asian grocery stores. The sauce this time turned out to be mindblowing. I just hope I can recreate the magic of this sauce because I was not measuring anything when I was making it. I tried my best below to recall how much of everything I used.
Serves 2
You will need
kale leaves 2
carrots 2
mushrooms 7-8 button or cremini mushrooms
bok choy 1 large
garlic 2-3 cloves, minced
dried red chillies 3, roughly broken
cashews 10-12
For the sauce:
fish sauce 1 teaspoon
rice vinegar 1 tablespoon
honey 1 tablespoon
brown sugar 2 teaspoons
shaoxing wine 3 tablespoons
salt 1 teaspoon
water 1/2 cup
corn flour 1 1/2 tablespoon
fish sauce 1 teaspoon
rice vinegar 1 tablespoon
honey 1 tablespoon
brown sugar 2 teaspoons
shaoxing wine 3 tablespoons
salt 1 teaspoon
water 1/2 cup
corn flour 1 1/2 tablespoon
Method
- Wash and cut all the vegetables.
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pan, cook the carrots on medium heat for about 3 mins.
- Add all the other vegetables, including the garlic, red chillies and cashews. Sauté everything together until vegetables are tender, about 5 mins.
- Give a stir to the sauce to mix the cornflour settled at the bottom, then add it to the pan.
- Adjust the seasoning to your taste. For some more spice, add a sprinkling of black pepper.
- Turn the heat off as the sauce thickens, most likely within a couple of mins.
