Gluten Free Slowcooker Cashew Chicken

Every now and then, I get invitations to various foodie events and parties down in London. Perks of the "job", I suppose. Just a few weeks ago, I was contacted about an amazing opportunity to attend a launch for a new bottle of Amoy Soy Sauce. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right for me to arrange for someone to watch Callum and get down to London. Instead, the lovely rep I was working with, popped a parcel in the post containing a bottle of the soy sauce! Keeping the sauce company on its trip up north was a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup with Sweet Chilli. Sweet. Chilli. Ketchup.


Needless to say, I was pretty excited about that parcel and the next time I made fries, I opened the bottle of ketchup. One dunk and a runny nose later, I realized the spice in that bottle was serious and not for the whimsical French fry in pool of ketchup scenario I'd envisioned. Reluctantly, I put the bottle back in the fridge and started coming up with a recipe that would allow me to tame the amount of spice while still getting the lovely flavor. After researching a few teriyaki style recipes, I combined the soy sauce and the ketchup and came up with this!

I made this when we had my mother-in-law here for company, so this recipe yields enough for three adults and one toddler. We all ate it quite happily and it's already been put on the menu for later in the month.

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Ingredients:

For the chicken
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 tbsp plain flour
4 boneless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
sunflower oil cooking spray

For the sauce
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/4 cup rice win vinegar
1 tsp grated ginger
1 cup cashews
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsps sweet chili ketcup

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All right, let's slow cook:

Begin by cutting the  chicken thighs into either strips or chunks.

In a bowl large enough to hold the chicken, mix the flour with the 5 spice, salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in the bowl to coat, then tumble into the slow cooker and spray with the cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic and ginger thoroughly. Pour over the chicken and cook on low for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally and checking to make sure the sauce doesn't reduce too quickly.

After 4 hours, stir in the cashews and turn the slowcooker off until you are ready to serve.

I served it with basmati rice, broccoli and sweet corn.