Cashew Chicken, Springfield Style

Today was a good day for some hot tea. The sun was deceiving today. It shone brightly this afternoon, but didn't do much to warm us up. But tea does the trick.

If you've ever lived or visited southwest Missouri, you've probably tried Springfield style cashew chicken. Once you've tried it, you realize it is way different than any other kind of cashew chicken. If you've sampled it, you more than likely enjoyed it. And every so often you get a hankering for it. That's what happened to me. In fact, my hankering lasted a few days.

So I decided to make some cashew chicken at home. I had my trusty Minute Rice, chicken and the secret cashew sauce mix. The only items I was missing was cashews. Please don't laugh. I also didn't have any green onions. But I thought, "What the heck!"

I started by cooking up the rice. When that was done, I got to work on the fried chicken pieces. That's a chore in itself. (See my blog about the dirty chicken.) When the chicken was almost done, I got the wok out and went to work frying some veggies, then scrambling eggs. On another burner I got the secret sauce going. I'm going to admit I was prepping and cooking about an hour and a half.

When everything was done, I put it all together. And it took me a little over 10 minutes to scarf down. And it was okay. It was filling, but it wasn't like cashew chicken in the local Chinese restaurants. And it wasn't the lack of cashews and green onions. I have no idea how those restaurants get such a tasty dish together. But the next time I get a hankering for some cashew chicken, I'm going to get the real thing from a real restaurant and save myself an hour and a half of work.

If you've ever made something that tastes as good as a restaurant, share with us. If you've had a not so great experience trying to do the same, share also. Let me know I'm not alone. Until the next tea break...

The Dirty Chicken Secret

Yum, green tea with pomegranate. It's still cold here, but warmer than yesterday. I'll take that. Today I got a hankering for some chicken. I have a few odd quirks about chicken. I love it, but hate dealing with bones. I like white meat over dark and I feel like germs are going all over the place every time I cook chicken.

I took a visit to New Orleans back in 2016. My first meal there was some fried chicken. It was great, even if it did have all the bones. What I really loved was all the sauces they provided. The hot sauce was delicious! When I cook up some chicken, I'm always trying to bring back the taste of New Orleans.

I always try to keep some frozen chicken in my freezer. I pull it out and defrost it in the microwave. While that's going, I heat up the fry daddy and mix up flour and seasonings along with an egg mixture.

Once the chicken is defrosted, I carefully remove it from the microwave. I say carefully because I freak out if some juice spills. I'm going to admit, I hate touching raw chicken. It's not because I'm grossed out or anything, but I can't stand the thought of raw chicken germs anywhere. I like my chicken cut up into bite sized pieces. I put them in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture and then back in the flour mixture before I place them in the hot oil. Then I immediately wash my hands. And then get them dirty again as I cut up more chicken. I swear I must wash my hands five to six times or more before I'm done with about 20 pieces of chicken.

In my attempt to get some cajun flavor, I make my own special dipping sauce. I put ranch dressing in a bowl with some hot sauce and cajun spices. Then I stir it all together. I don't really know how do make a blackened ranch, but it's a pretty good sauce if I do say so myself.

 

It was tasty. Now that I got my belly full, I had to rinse all the dishes with hot water and put them in the dishwasher. Because of all the germs I had to wipe down the counter with disinfecting wipes, toss my hand towel in the hamper and wash my hands again. I think my chicken is worth all the fuss. I just wished I wasn't so freaked out by raw chicken. Have you got any great chicken stories or recipes?I'd love to have you comment. Thanks for reading.

Now back to my tea.