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Springfield-style Cashew Chicken

3.33 Mitt(s) 3 Rating(s)3 votes, average: 3.33 out of 53 votes, average: 3.33 out of 53 votes, average: 3.33 out of 53 votes, average: 3.33 out of 53 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5

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Level: Intermediate

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Description

Cashew Chicken is the official food of Springfield, Missouri. The problem is we don’t live there. Here is how we make it at home!

Ingredients

  • 4 whole Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts
  • 2 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
  • 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch, Divided Use
  • 1 whole Egg, Beaten
  • 2 Tablespoons Water
  • 2 cups Peanut Oil For Frying
  • 2 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1-½ Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon White Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Ground White Pepper
  • 2 cups Cashew (halves)
  • 2 Tablespoons Chopped Green Onion For Topping
  • 4 cups Cooked Rice, Or More To Your Preference, For Serving

Preparation

1. Wash and cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, seasoning salt and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. In another dish or bowl beat egg and mix with water. Dip chicken pieces into flour mixture, then eggs, then flour mixture again. Heat peanut oil in a large skillet and deep fry coated chicken in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes. When they are nicely browned and done, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
2. Meanwhile (while frying chicken), heat broth to boiling in a medium saucepan. Add oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce and white pepper and return to boiling. Mix remaining cornstarch with a small amount of cold water (just enough to dissolve it) in a cup or bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to broth slowly (almost drop by drop at times) and continue stirring, then cook for another 5 minutes over medium-low heat until sauce is thickened.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place cashews on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes.

To serve, pour sauce over fried chicken and prepared rice and top with cashews and green onion. Serve with soy sauce to taste, if desired.

11 Comments

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Robert on 5.16.2012

Great recipe. Very peppery though. Not like I am used to and I am native to Springfield. Perhaps I just used too much pepper by accident, but overall a solid 9 out of 10. I WILL be making this again (with less pepper). Even with the pepper, I am eating it now as I type this.

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4my4girls on 8.29.2011

Born and raised Springfieldian here….can’t wait to try this out!

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cindypowell on 4.12.2011

Hi. I made this recipe and the sauce is not quite what I remembered from Gee’s East Wind. However, I added additional soy sauce after I plated the dish and the taste was VERY good. If I had to rate this recipe on a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a solid 7. Add additional soy sauce and it goes up to an 8 or 8.5! I will make this dish again, for sure.

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kimt on 3.29.2011

Another Branson native here and Cashew Chicken (Springfield style) is the best! I hated that I couldn’t get it at a restaurant when we moved away from the area. I usually make the recipe out of the Sasafrass Cookbook. It’s great but I may try this one too.

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sherrylynns on 3.28.2011

Excellent recipe!! BTW…I’m from Branson, small world!

3 Reviews

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alllove on 5.2.2011

The batter and chicken was good, but the sauce didn’t turn out well.. I’m not sure if it is the way the corn starch was added, but it was like a clumpy gelatin.

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kendracooks on 5.1.2011

It was good- but I think it needed something, maybe a little more sweetness or a little more flavor in the batter. But I will definitely make this again, and add a little something to it- like add some fruit juice or brown sugar to the sauce and some salt or more season salt to the batter. Also, since I’ve got little kids I might leave out about half of the pepper. I really enjoyed the spice, but the kids didn’t.

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PrettyFeisty on 4.1.2011

Simple and delicious! The sauce was outstanding.

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