S5: Fried chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce
We used to serve a dozen dishes in the Chinese take-away that I think we made better than anyone else. Biased? Maybe…
The dish that my siblings and I probably miss the most is S5. S5 was what it was numbered on the menu and will forever be our short hand for fried chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce.
On our menu, it was described as 'peking style’, although I don’t know what exactly made it ‘peking style’ or whether they have a dish like this in Beijing. But what I can say is that in most take-aways, when I’ve ordered chicken with cashew nuts, I’ve always been left disappointed. Most of the time, the dish that arrives is a mix between a British take-away style version of kung po chicken (sweet and spicy) and a chicken with stir-fried vegetables in oyster sauce. Both are OK. Edible but probably not very memorable.
If my siblings and I are all having dinner at home with my parent’s then we’ll always ask them to make S5. Here’s my Dad’s recipe:
Cut chicken thigh fillets into bite-sized chunks. Mix the chicken with a beaten egg and then coat with plain flour to create a light batter. Fry the chicken until it is cooked through and is a golden colour.
Set the cooked chicken aside to rest and make the sauce.
Add 1 tbsp of crushed yellow bean sauce to a pan (or wok), gently heat up the sauce and add some water to loosen up the paste. Then add 1 tsp of sugar. Add more water depending on how salty and thick you like the sauce. Add a drizzle of sesame oil , then quickly toss the fried chicken and roasted cashew nuts into the pan.
Once the chicken and cashews are coated in the salty, sweet, sticky sauce, turned off the heat and serve.