Cashew Chicken. Minus cashews.

I learned this recipe from my wonderful sis-in-law.  Since then Miyagi and I have managed to change so much that technically it's not even Cashew Chicken anymore . . .because neither of us feel like putting cashews in.  It's now known in our household as "hoisin sauce chicken" named after the main distinctive ingredient. Well we couldn't very well just call it "chicken" now could we!

It's simple.  Throw in some chicken, and whatever veggies you want, then slather it in hoisin sauce and you're good to go!  Oh.  And add cashews.  If you're into that kind of thing.

We probably made enough to feed 4 if you have some other side.  But we didn't.  And we like leftovers.  Here's how we make it.

Start with two chicken breasts cut into chunks. Marinate them for at least 1/2 an hour in some sesame oil and minced garlic.  You can even let this sit overnight if you're feeling ambitious.  The sesame oil gives a really nice flavor so try not to skip this.

While that's marinating you can chop up some veggies.  This is a whole red pepper, a whole yellow pepper, and about 1/2 an onion.  Whatever else you include I'd say these are the staples.  Start with these then add what you want.  I also like to keep everything chopped to about the same size because then when you're eating it all blends together into hoisin happiness.

Our extra veggie of choice is almost always snow peas.  Rinse them, cut off any nasty ends and keep them separate from the other veggies because we'll need to add them first.  Same goes for carrots or any other heartier vegetable. 

After the chicken has marinated for awhile throw it in a skillet and cook it up!  You don't need any more oil (hooray sesame oil!) and the sauce you add later will have plenty of salt.

Mine looks a little watery because I never manage to thaw my chicken all the way before cooking it so there's a lot more water to cook off.  You can fix this by being a responsible adult and defrosting everything thoroughly before cooking.  I just don't care that much.

When the chicken's mostly cooked through add in the snow peas (or carrots).  We want these to start cooking first because they take a little longer and this allows us to avoid getting mushy peppers while we wait for the snow peas (or carrots!) to finish cooking.

Let these go for 3-4 minutes or until they've become bright green, then started to fade again just slightly.

Throw in the peppers and onions . . .

Then almost immediately pour your hoisin sauce in.  You're going to need a lot of this.  I probably used at least 3/4 of a bottle.   This way the peppers and onions can cook slightly while the flavors work their way in. If you want to make ACTUAL cashew chicken now would be a good time to throw in some whole cashews.  Chop some up and you can sprinkle them on top to make this all fancy.

Chopped nuts is what passes for fancy in my house.

Here's the hoisin sauce I used but it was kind of sweet, so I added a little oyster sauce to even things out.  You can find hoisin sauce at any grocery store in the Asain foods section, but you might be limited on selection of brands if you're picky.

But only if you're picky.  If you're not picky then your store is sure to have dozens of brands to choose from.

Here's another picture of it done in the pan.

I took like 50 BAJILLION pictures of it all plated up and pretty, but I'd lost my light and so it looks like the dish is at the end of a dark, scary tunnel.

Don't believe me? 

This is what cashew chicken looks like to people with nut allergies.  See how it's creeping into the light?

Beware!  Look out!  When cashew chicken ATTACKS!