Thai Cashew Chicken (Gai Pad Med Mamuang)

Authentic Tasting and Easy to Make Thai Cashew Chicken

How to Make Gai Pad Med Mamuang

In this blog, you’ll learn how to make an authentic tasting Thai cashew chicken recipe. It’s a quick meal that’s easy to make, no matter your skill level.

Thai cashew chicken was one of my favorite dishes while living in Bangkok and now it’s one of my favorites to make back in my home country.

This Thai cashew chicken recipe is the result of collaboration with my partner, Amanda and we had a blast making it for the Recipe to Roam blog!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Chicken:

• 200g chicken breast, cut sliced thinly
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• ¼ tbsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil

Vegetables:

• 1 tbsp garlic, crushed (5 cloves)
• ½ cup yellow onions, sliced into wedges (1 small onion)
• 1-3 fresh Thai bird’s eye chilis**
• ⅔ cup raw cashew nuts
• 1 Anaheim pepper, Julienned
• 1 red bell pepper (large)
• 2 spring onions
• 1 lime cut into wedges (optional)  
• Cilantro for garnish (optional) 

Lime and cilantro are a personal preference, it’s up to you!

** We like spicy. We found 3 birds eye chilis (with seeds) to be the perfect level of “true Thai spicy.” If you prefer less spice use 1 or 2 chilis and remove the seeds.  

Sauce:

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mushroom soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• ¼ cup shaoxing wine
• ¼ cup chicken stock or water
• ¼ tbsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp Shanghai white vinegar
• 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp palm sugar or cane sugar 

Cooking Utensils

• Wok or large frying pan
• Knife for chopping
• Slotted spoon
• Cutting board 
• Tongs 
• Mortar and pestle (optional) 

Preparation

1. Add all seasoning sauce ingredients to a bowl, mix and set aside.
2. Prepare and cut all your veggies.
3. Slice the chicken into even strips, mix with white pepper, salt and cornstarch.

Cooking Thai Cashew Chicken

1. Add ½ cup vegetable oil to a wok or frying pan on medium-high heat.
2. Fry the raw cashews about 2 minute or until starting to turn golden brown, watching carefully so they don’t burn. This can happen very quickly, so pay attention. Use a slotted spoon to remove cashews from oil and set aside.
3. In the same oil, fry the Thai bird’s eye chilis for about 1 minute to flavor the oil then drain and set aside with cashews.
4. Fry the chicken in the same oil for about 5 minutes until golden, use a slotted spoon to remove from oil and set aside on a plate.
5. Add crushed garlic to the oil and stir fry the onions until translucent.
6. Add the Anaheim pepper and red bell pepper, stir fry for about 1 minute. If cornstarch is starting to brown and stick on the bottom of the pan, use a couple tablespoons of water or chicken stock to deglaze, the bottom of the pan should be clear of cornstarch (this might require some scraping with a spoon or spatula) and liquid should thicken and get glossy.
7. Add the seasoning sauce mixture and stir fry until the sauce thickens and becomes sticky.
8. Add the chicken, cashews and Thai bird’s eye chilis and stir fry until everything is coated in the sauce. Add 1/3 cup of water and cornstarch mixture when wok becomes dry.
9. Add the green onions, stir fry for a few seconds then turn off the heat.
10. Add lime wedge and/or cilantro for garnish (optional).
11. Serve with steamed white Jasmine rice!