INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Description: There is a little confusion in the name of the dish:
mamuang is mango, but in the full formal Thai language mamuang
himaphan is a cashew nut; the logic is as follows: himaphan refers to
the Brahministic equivalent of the Garden of Eden, and the bean in
which the cashew nut grows is similar to a small mango, hence the
cashew is the "mango of paradise". However this leads to one of those
delightful double recipes, which is a sort of culinary pun, which the
Thais seem to be particularly fond of. To add an element of piquancy
to the dish you can include a small amount of shredded mango - it is
however quite optional if you prefer to leave it out.  The sauce
includes honey as a sweetener, again the connotation is of  the land of
the dawn paradise - but if you prefer you could use sugar  (preferably
palm sugar), though the sauce won't have quite the same  flavor.
Further the sauce is flavored with "sweet soy", which is  freely
available in Thailand, and is effectively a dark soy to which  a little
sweetness has been added. However you can easily substitute  Maggi's
Seasoning Sauce if you cannot find Thai sweet soy.  Finally there is
the matter of the cashews themselves. You have a  variety of strategies
available for cooking these: you could simply  buy roasted cashew nuts
(unsalted of course), or you could prepare  your own. Their is no doubt
in my mind that the flavor of freshly  prepared cashews is far better
than any pre-cooked nuts bought in the  supermarket.  If you choose to
cook them yourself you may simply 'dry fry' them in  a wok or skillet
over medium heat. This however tends to lead to  localized burning and
uneven cooking unless you keep them constantly  on the move. You could
deep fry them (and some people choose to add a  few dried red chilies
to the oil for flavor), but this in my opinion  makes them a little too
oily for the balance of the dish. Better then  to cook them as
indicated below.  Method: First roast the cashews: this is best done in
a turbo-oven (a  glass or steel container with a hot air heater/fan in
the lid that  produces very hot dry cooking conditions), at 300 C until
golden  brown.  In a wok, over medium heat, saute the garlic and prik
ki nu, until the  garlic is golden and the whole is aromatic, then
remove and reserve  the chilies and garlic.  Add the chicken and all
the ingredients except the cashews, stock and  wine to the pan and stir
fry until the chicken just begins to cook.  Add the stock and continue
over low heat until the chicken is cooked,  then using a slotted spoon
remove the chicken from the sauce and set  aside.  Add the rice wine,
and reduce the sauce until a slight glaze appears  (if necessary add 1
teaspoon of arrowroot powder, dissolved in a  little tepid water).
Return the chicken, chilies and garlic to the sauce, and add the
cashews. Make sure they are heated through.  Serving & Storage: Serve
with steamed white rice.  Tease 2 tablespoons of mango into shreds with
the tines of a fork (or  julienne finely), cut the whites from 4/5
spring onions, and thinly  slice about 3 tablespoons of the green tops.
julienne the sweet  chilies or bell peppers, and garnish the dish with
the mango, onions  bulbs and sliced tops, and the chilies.  Serves 4
Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V3 #207  From: "Col. I.F.
Khuntilanont-Philpott"  <colonel@korat1.vu-korat.ac.th>  Date: Fri, 10
Jan 1997 13:33:12 +0700

A Message from our Provider:

“Jesus: Everything else will fade”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 660
Calories From Fat: 292
Total Fat: 34.6g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 2900.9mg
Potassium: 1210.9mg
Carbohydrates: 75.9g
Fiber: 7.5g
Sugar: 27.2g
Protein: 21.6g