This Spicy Cashew Stir Fry is a Must Try
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Chinese food dishes are a blend of sweet, savory, and umami flavors, which means that nuts are an excellent addition to many meals. They add a hint of nutty, savory flavor that helps to make your favorite Chinese food dishes really stand out, and can be adjusted for heat level, flavor profile, and ingredients, so you can find—and make—the recipes you really love.
This spicy cashew stir fry dish is the perfect place to start, and Fly By Jing has the ingredients you’ll want for your pantry when you’re ready to begin making Chinese food from the comfort of home.
We believe that classic and modern Chinese flavors alike should be accessible to everyone. That’s why we carry a wide range of Chinese spices and oils and why we want to share the stories, histories, and cultural contexts that highlight just how important these recipes truly are. Explore this spicy cashew stir fry and begin sharing your favorite flavors with loved ones today.
History of Spicy Cashew Stir Fry
The history of spicy cashew chicken includes, surprisingly, Springfield, Missouri. Like many Chinese American dishes, cashew chicken stir fry is a product of the American immigration experience and tells a story of travel, access to ingredients, and the tastes of American diners. It tells its own unique and evolving history and can be easily adapted even today to fit your preferred flavors and heat levels.
Stir fry cooking has been part of Chinese cuisine for over 2,000 years, and the spicy cashew dish is traditionally prepared with chicken, vegetables, and a sauce of garlic and soy sauce.
One of the interesting variations of this dish that evolved in the middle of the 20th century was the Springfield-style cashew chicken recipe. According to the story, a Chinese chef named David Leong moved to the United States in the 1940s and struggled to create Chinese food dishes that appealed to the residents of Springfield, Missouri.
He took the classic cashew stir fry dish and began to adjust it to better interest the locals. At the Grove Supper Club in Springfield in 1963, a version of spicy cashew stir fry was first served. In Leong’s version, the chicken is deep-fried rather than being stir-fried. The classic sauce is then mixed in with the chicken, and a different array of vegetables are stirred into the dish, like onions.
The dish became so successful that Leong was able to open his own restaurant, Leong’s Tea House, which sat hundreds. Soon, Springfield began to claim the dish as its own, and Springfield-style cashew chicken began to appear all around the region, in both Chinese food restaurants and non-Chinese food restaurants alike.
The first restaurant was closed in the late 1990s, but Leong helped his son to open a second location about a decade later. In 2020, David Leong passed away at the age of 99. This is just one iteration of the delicious cashew dishes that make up Chinese cooking and highlights the way that Chinese food and flavors evolve over time.
How to Make Spicy Cashew Stir Fry at Home
If you’re more interested in recreating the classic spicy cashew stir fry version of the dish, getting started is easy. You can begin mixing and matching your favorite ingredients to cook up a great plate of food for friends and family today.
Ingredients
Chicken: You can make this delicious dish with many different meats or meatless options, like tofu. Shrimp and vegetables are also both great choices.
Chili Oil: There are many ways to add heat to your spicy cashew stir fry. We recommend mixing a chili paste or chili oil into your sauce, adjusting to taste.
Garlic and Ginger: Garlic and ginger are two of the most essential ingredients in Chinese cooking. Because cashew stir fry is lighter than some similar dishes, these great flavors shine through.
Vegetables: Like many Chinese stir fry dishes, you can adjust this spicy cashew stir fry dish to fit your flavor preferences. Some vegetables we like to use are red peppers, broccoli florets, celery, and scallions.
Hoisin Sauce: Hoisin sauce is an ingredient with a fermented soybean paste base, garlic, vinegar, sesame, and chilis for heat. It adds a sweet, rich, umami flavor to your dish.
Sesame Oil: Sesame oil is a common ingredient used in many Chinese food dishes and pairs well with the nuttiness of cashews.
Cashews: Roasted cashews are the best way to achieve that perfect nutty flavor in this dish. If you don’t have roasted cashews, you can try roasting them up at home, either in the oven or on the stove, but be careful because they can burn easily.
Spicy Cashew Stir-Fry Recipe
Once you have all of your ingredients prepared, you can begin cooking up your dish with ease.
Step One: Make your sauce and set it aside.
Step Two Begin cooking up the ginger and garlic in your wok until fragrant.
Step Three: Add the chicken or other meat and cook until no longer pink. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step Four: Cook your vegetables until they’re tender but still slightly crunchy.
Step Five: Put the chicken back into the wok.
Step Six: Pour your prepared sauce over the chicken and vegetables until all ingredients are well coated. If you’re looking for a thicker, richer sauce consistency, a cornstarch slurry can help to thicken the viscosity of the dish.
Step Seven: Stir cashews into the wok and coat with sauce. Then enjoy with friends and family!
More Nut-Based Dishes to Try at Home
If you loved the spicy, delicious flavors of the cashew stir fry, there are many other great nut recipes you’ll want to try out next. You can adjust for your favorite meat or non-meat options, vegetables, and heat levels and serve it up with a great rice side. Here are just a few of the recipes that we know you’re going to love from the very first bite.
Spicy Sichuan Noodles
These spicy Sichuan noodles aren’t just an excellent combination of sweet and nutty flavors. They’re also inexpensive and very easy to make—in fact, you can cook up a bowl in about five minutes, and you only need to have a few ingredients on hand.
For this dish, you’ll need peanut butter, vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Like the cashew stir fry, these spicy Sichuan noodles get their kick from chili crisp or chili oil and can be adjusted to your preferred heat flavor. There are many different noodle options to pick from, but we recommend using large, easy-to-cook instant noodles, so you can begin enjoying the great flavors of this dish as soon as possible.
Kung Pao Chicken or Kung Pao Shrimp
Because nutty flavors pair so well with spicy ones, your favorite kung pao dishes also have a hint of heat, though this recipe will call for whole chilis rather than a sauce or oil. Like the cashew stir fry, at least in the original iteration, kung pao dishes are stir-fried and chock full of vegetables. You can make them with your favorite meat ingredients, like chicken or shrimp, or change them out for vegetarian versions, instead.
The spicy, nutty, and fresh flavors of kung pao chicken and kung pao shrimp make them top Sichuan dishes that the whole family is sure to enjoy.
Conclusion
There are a few flavors and ingredients that show up in Chinese cooking regularly, like sesame oil and soy sauce. One of the excellent flavors that you’ll want to explore when you begin cooking Chinese food dishes at home is nuts. Ingredients like cashews and peanuts can add both a sweet and salty flavor to your dish, as well as a crunchy texture.
Fly By Jing has the ingredients and recipes that make it easy to begin mixing up your favorite Chinese food dishes, like spicy cashew stir fry, at home. In addition to providing the ingredients you need to mix chili oils and Zhong sauce at home, we also want to share the context and history that showcases why these dishes are so special.
Whether you try out the Springfield-style cashew chicken or your own version of the classic spicy stir fry, these flavors are a guaranteed hit every time. Begin cooking up a batch for the next celebration with loved ones and share your favorite ingredients and spices today.
Sources
Missouri Chinese: Two Cultures Claim This Chicken | NY Times
How Chinese immigrant David Leong found success with cashew chicken | News Leader
