Chicken & Mango Stir Fry 🇹🇭

Swee, a good friend of mine, mentioned to me recently about a delicious chicken and mango dish she enjoyed at a restaurant.  With the mango season in full swing, I have researched, tested and written up this recipe, so Swee, if you are reading this, it has been created just for you!   I love eating mangoes as a fruit and use them with different ingredients in cooking.  In this stir fry dish, the liquorice-like scent of Thai basil accentuates the sweetness of the mango slices, while the crunch of the roasted cashews provides a contrast in texture with the tender chicken pieces and vegetables.  For a little heat I use Sambal Oelek (Indonesian chilli sauce), but any chilli sauce or paste will do the trick.  It looks spectacular coming out of the wok.  Serve with plenty of jasmine rice.

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS

• 440g / 15½ oz skinless chicken breast
• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 cups mango, sliced or cubed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum, sliced into bite size pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup unsalted roasted cashews
• a few sprigs of Thai basil or ordinary basil

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon of Sambal Oelek (Indonesian chilli sauce)

METHOD

1. Place the roasted cashews on a baking sheet or pan.  Revive them by roasting them in a preheated 200°C/400°F conventional or 180°C/350°F fan-forced oven for about 5 minutes until they darken slightly in colour.  Remove from the baking sheet and set aside.
2. Slice chicken breast with your knife slanting against the grain into thin bite size pieces.  Marinade them in a bowl for 15 minutes with 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of water.
3. Make the sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Heat a wok with 1 tablespoon of oil until very hot.  Add half the chicken slices and spread them out into one layer with a metal spatula.  Let them sizzle in the hot oil undisturbed for about 1 minute to brown slightly on one side before turning them over and tossing them around until the pieces cook through.  Remove and set aside.
5. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok and repeat Step 4 with the remaining chicken pieces.  
6. In the same wok, heat 1 tablespoon of oil to medium-high.  Add the chopped onions and garlic and stir fry for a minute until the onions are slightly softened.  
7. Turn the heat to high.  Add the capsicum, cooked chicken and the sauce.  Toss to combine all ingredients.
8. Add the mangoes and cashews and give it a final toss.  Stir through the basil.
9. Serve hot with rice.

*This is a good recipe for practicing or honing your stir frying techniques.  Basically, all ingredients must be prepared ahead of time, as the actual stir frying happens very quickly and there is no time for dillydallying.  The meat must be cut correctly, usually against the grain to maximise its tenderness and thinly to minimise the time it needs to spend in the wok.  I don't buy packages of 'stir fry meat' from the supermarket as you just cannot be sure if they have been cut correctly for the purpose.  I usually add the sauce ingredients one at a time without having to measure them up prior, but if you are a beginner in this method of cooking, do prepare the sauce first as suggested in the recipe so it can be quickly tipped into the wok at the critical moment.   Overtime, you would be able to adjust the amount of each ingredient in the sauce according to your taste.  With this amount of chicken, it is important to stir fry them in two batches so the wok isn't overcrowded resulting in the chicken being stewed, not fried.