Takeout at Home~ Monday Munchies #cashewchicken #awriterslife

Welcome back to Monday Munchies. For February I thought I would do Take-out at home. Yesterday I did one of my Daughter’s and granddaughter’s favorite dishes of. mine. Years ago I made homemade eggrolls, cashew chicken, and fried rice. It became a family favorite and Se always requested it for her birthday. It is not a quick meal but most of the work goes in rolling eggrolls and battering and frying the chicken.  I plan to revisit this recipe in a couple of months when I get my airfryer. so I can see which tastes best. I made this when I was in Hannibal with my brother and had two little helpers rolling eggrolls for me. unfortunately, I lost my photos when my phone broke.

Eggrolls

4-6 chicken breast boiled and shredded ( two cans of chicken breast work too.)

1 bag of slaw mix saute for a minute or two just till crisp-tender.

4 green onion chopped

soy sauce

Kraft Asian ginger sesame seed dressing  or any Asian type dressing )

Ginger, garlic powder, onion powder start with a tablespoon then adjust to taste.)

a can of baby corn drain well

2 cans bean sprouts drain well

1 can of water chestnuts. drain well

2 packages of egg roll wrappers

Oil for frying

This makes a lot you could cut back and use half the chicken and one package of egg rolls.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl let stand a few hours for flavor to develop.

(There is a similar recipe on the wrappers and it tells you how to roll)

put a heaping spoonful onto the wrapper. roll and seal with a bit of cornstarch in water. fry a few at a time in hot oil. Only takes a couple of minutes per side drain on paper towels  then put on a pan and keep in a low oven to keep warm  (around 275)

courtesy of pixaby.com

Fried Rice.

About three cups cold rice( must be cold or it gets gummy)

4 eggs scrambled in a tablespoon of butter

4-6 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled

2-3 chopped green onions

1 package of stir fry rice seasoning

soy sauce.

a cup of frozen green peas

a little canola oil for frying (I also like a little sesame oil for finishing)

Optional: leftover cooked chicken, pork, beef or shrimp.

Cook rice in the oil till stirring well for a few minutes till hot through add the seasoning mix say sauce and stir some more.  add the eggs, bacon, peas and optional meat and stir a few more minutes and   Tada it’s done. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil if you wish.

Courtesy of pixaby.com

Yesterday I made the cashew chicken. I wasn’t up to the entire meal so I did just the Chicken and served it with rice, and store-bought pot stickers.

Cashew Chicken 

4-6 chicken breasts (I am feeding 7 people) figure a large breast per person.

for the batter

make a tempura using Cornstarch, flour egg, and water.

1 cup cornstarch’

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs beaten well

1 /2 tsp salt  dash  pepper   1 tsp garlic powder

the

1 can of beef broth plus a little water.

2 envelopes brown gravy mix

soy sauce

Asian dressing

1 1/2 cups cashews plus  more for garnish

2-3  chopped green onion

Mix the flour, cornstarch into a medium bowl. add seasonings eggs and cold water. The mixture should be medium so it will cling to meat but not heavily and thick.

Dip the chicken in the tempura and to a light golden brown and no longer pink inside set aside. While frying, make the sauce by mixing the gravy and broth in a saucepan add the soy sauce and dressing till it has a nice Asian taste. add the cashews cook for a few minutes if gravy is too thick add some water you need a couple coups to coat the chicken. .  Pour over the chicken and garnish with green onions ( I set them on the table so those that don’t like onion don’t have to have them.

Serve with white rice or fried rice.

I made a bag mix of caramel cookies for dessert.

My photographer

Whats your favorite Chinese or Asian Takeout? do you make it at home too?