^{Note: The Springfield style cashew sauce is nut free and is a topping, almost like a gravy, that will be served with this style of fried chicken. This whole recipe is peanut & tree nuts free unless you want to add some at the end as a topping. I see how it seems misleading, but I always imagined it was more of a name than anything else.}

I often still crave that taste of home and many times on dark cold winter days here in the north I dream of driving down to the four states just for some Springfield cashew chicken! It’s one of my favorite dishes and something I learned to make when I moved to the north because I missed it so much.

When frying chicken I have determined that there isn’t really a good replacement for eggs that I like, so I just leave it out and sprits the raw chicken with a little avocado oil then go right to dredging the chicken in the flour mixture rather than dipping it in egg first. It doesn’t create quite the crisp and crunch that you’d find typically but the coating is still good and adds a nice texture to the chicken. You will want to use an oil with a high smoke point like avocado oil so that it doesn’t cause smoke when frying.

For the flour, to keep it gluten free I use Bob’s Redmill 1-to-1 Baking Flour, it has for the most part worked like normal flour for me without adding any extra flavors that I don’t want especially to the chicken.

If you’re trying to be more sodium friendly you can use liquid aminos in place of the soy sauce, but it does still have soy in it so it’s not a soy free option for this.

For this recipe you can use both boneless and skinless breast and boneless and skinless thighs. I typically make a mix at once of a pound of thighs and a pound of breasts.

For the base of this dish I usually use rice, which I have listed in this recipe, but we have also tried different rice pastas and corn based spaghetti pastas with success. For an easier, less involved dish though I typically reach for the instant rice. Please make sure to read the labels here to make sure it’s gluten free as well!

There will be two main things going on at once during this cooking process between the sauce cooking, and the chicken frying. It is not difficult but I will add headers between the two so that it all stays organized!

Springfield Cashew Chicken – Allergy friendly

Ingredients:

Cashew Sauce

• 4 C Chicken broth
• 5 Tbsp. Oyster flavored sauce
• 3 Tbsp. Sugar
• 3 Tbsp. Soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Pink Himalayan salt
• 3 tsp Garlic powder
• 2 tsp Onion powder
• 4Tbsp. Corn starch
• Cold water

Chicken

• 2 Pounds of boneless and skinless chicken
• 2 C. Gluten free flour
• 2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• Avocado oil
• Canola oil

Rice

• 3 C White Rice
• 3 C Water

Instructions:

Cashew Sauce

1. Pour the chicken broth into a sauce pan, cover and bring to a full boil over medium high heat
2. Once the broth is boiling stir in the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, salt, garlic, and onion powder.
3. Bring back to a full boil, whisking a few times during the process.
4. Use a fork to mix about 4 Tbsp of cold water into the cornstarch until it becomes a slurry
5. Slowly add the liquid cornstarch into the broth mixture. Whisking until it forms the consistency of gravy.
6. Once thickened remove from heat.

Chicken

1. Pour 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of canola into a skillet and heat over medium heat, it will be ready when a pinch of flour added to the oil sizzles.
2. Cut the chicken into one inch pieces and set aside in a bowl
3. In a medium bowl mix together gluten free flour, cornstarch, and seasonings
4. When the canola oil is ready spritz some of the chicken with avocado oil, then coat it well in the flour mixture
5. Place the coated chicken into the skillet, do not overcrowd the chicken.
6. Once chicken is golden brown on one side flip it over and continue to cook until reaches an internal temperature over 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Place cooked chicken on a paper towel lined plate.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 until all of the chicken has been cooked

Rice

1. Add 3 cups of boiling water to 3 cups of instant white rice. Allow to cook for 10 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked and fluffy. Fluff with a fork.

Bring them together

1. Plate everything together by scooping some of the cooked rice into a plate then top with about 1/4 of the cooked chicken, and a ladle or two of the cashew sauce
2. Serve warm

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Notes

1. For a crunch try topping with a handful of cornflakes, or cashews/peanuts if you are able to have nuts