Thai Cashew Chicken

How to make it

1. Stir the oyster sauce, fish sauce, light soy sauce, palm sugar, and the 3 tbsp water together in a small bowl. Stir until the palm sugar is completely dissolved and the sauce is evenly dark, so the sugar doesn't settle as sweet clumps in the wok. Place the bowl within reach of the stove — the stir-frying moves too fast to measure things out as you go.
2. Rinse the jasmine rice in plenty of cold water in a bowl. Pour off the water and repeat three to four times, until the water is only faintly cloudy. Let the rice drain in a sieve.
3. Put the drained rice in a pot with the 6 dl water. Bring it to a boil uncovered over high heat, until the surface bubbles vigorously all the way around. The rice isn't salted — it's the neutral counterpoint to the salty stir-fry sauce.
4. Cover with a lid and turn down to the lowest heat. Let the rice cook for 12 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and small steam holes appear on the surface. Don't lift the lid in the meantime, since it's the steam that cooks the top layer of rice. ⏱ 10 min · passive
   Chef's tip Listen rather than look: you want a faint whisper of steam at the lid, not a hard hiss. Too much heat drives the water off before the top layer has hydrated, and the bottom catches.
5. Take the pot off the heat and let the rice rest covered for 10 minutes while you stir-fry. Fluff it with a fork just before serving so the grains separate. ⏱ 10 min · passive
6. Heat the neutral oil in the wok over medium heat and add the cashews. Toast them, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes, until they're light golden and smell toasted. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels — they go from golden to bitter in a matter of seconds.
   Chef's tip Nuts carry on browning on the paper towel from their own stored heat, so lift them a shade paler than you want them — pale gold, not amber. Spread them out rather than heaping them.
7. Add the whole dried chilies to the same oil and toss them for 1 minute, until they darken and become glossy and crisp. Lift them out to join the cashews, so they don't scorch in the hotter oil afterward.
   Chef's tip The chilies are flavouring the oil as much as themselves, and that oil goes on to season everything. Deep red-brown is right; black skins or smoke that catches in your throat turn the whole wok acrid.
8. Turn up to high heat and add the chicken cubes to the seasoned oil in a single layer. Let them sit undisturbed for half a minute before you start turning them, so they have time to take on color. Stir-fry for a total of 6 minutes, until the surfaces are golden and the meat is cooked through with no pink center.
   Chef's tip Pat the cubes dry and give them room — a crowded wok drops in temperature, the meat sheds water and greys instead of browning. You want a loud, steady sizzle; if it goes quiet and liquid pools, finish in two batches.
9. Add the garlic and onion wedges and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. The onion should turn translucent at the edges and still have some bite, and the garlic should smell sweet without taking on color.
   Chef's tip Finely chopped garlic burns in under a minute at full wok heat and turns bitter. Keep it moving constantly — ideally riding on top of the chicken rather than sitting against the bottom of the pan. You want the smell sweet, not sharp and acrid.
10. Pour the sauce in along the wok's hot edge so it comes to a boil immediately. Toss everything for 2 minutes, until the sauce has reduced to a glossy glaze that clings to the chicken and only pools in a thin layer at the bottom.
    Chef's tip Sauce poured down the searing-hot side of the wok steams and caramelizes on its way to the bottom, giving the sugar real depth. Poured into the middle, it just cools the pan, and the chicken simmers instead of glazing.
11. Fold in the toasted cashews, crisp chilies, and scallions and stir-fry for 1 minute. Toss only a couple of times, so the cashews keep their crunch and the scallions just wilt without losing their fresh green color.
12. Divide the fluffed rice among four flat plates and push it to one side. Place the stir-fry alongside, so the sauce is free to run toward the rice. Set the plates on the table and eat with a spoon and fork — the fork pushes rice and chicken onto the spoon, which is what goes in your mouth.