Chicken With Cashews & Steamed Yardlong Beans

This dish, Chicken With Cashews was featured last week in the Food section of the Washington Post. The Chinese-Australian who wrote the article said this dish is a "new" soy sauce free version of the usual Chinese chicken. But I have been preparing and have eaten this dish many many times in restaurants in Binondo in the Philippines. This dish is also in 3 of my Chinese cookbooks, one of which is 25 years old.

Chicken With Cashews
1 pound boneless, skinless dark or white chicken meat, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sherry
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg white
1 tablespoon light olive oil
3 spring onions, sliced into ½ inch pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 cup roasted cashews (or walnuts, or petite green peas)
2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

• Mix first 4 ingredients and let sit for 20 minutes. Mix in egg white. Stir fry in hot oil for 3 minutes, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the spring onions, cook for 2 minutes, then add salt, sugar, sesame seed oil, and cashews, stir fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, cook for 1 minute. Serve with rice and steamed and salted, or sauteed yardlong beans.