Stir Fried Aubergine, Mushroom, Chicken and Cashew Nuts

Stir fried meat or seafood with vegetables is probably my most frequent dish category, but since ingredients change every time I cook (depending on what I find in the fridge), I hardly ever post about it. However, my first combination of aubergine, mushroom, chicken and cashew nuts proved so good, I decided to put down the exact ingredients, write about it and, thus, share this easy Autumn recipe with you.

Aubergine season is over and the ones I buy grow in green houses, so strictly speaking this is not a seasonal recipe. In spite of that, the mushroom flavour of the aubergine combined with simple button mushrooms and crunchy cashew nuts created a definitely comforting, warming dish, ideal for cold days. Even the dark brown colours seemed seasonal. As I have lately told Kelly from Inspired Edibles, seeingย her cashew butter, I love cashew nuts in savoury dishes. They have a delicate taste, which goes well with almost everything, and they add a pleasant crunch. Grilled sesame seeds are my huge addiction. I sprinkle them on the majority of my meals now, hence their presence on the photo (of course they are not obligatory here). Chopped shiso proved once more ideal with aubergine (I have discovered it in the Aubergine with Ponzu, Miso and Sesame Sauce), but it can easily be skipped.ย I served this stir-fry “donburi” style, i.e. on top of a bowl with rice, but it can of course be served separately and not necessarily with rice.

Before I pass to the recipe I would like to say I am particularly happy today ย because Mr. Three-Cookies (from Three-Cookies an Easily Good East blogs) has posted a modified version of my Easiest Apple Cake recipe, substituting bananas for apples. His cake looks absolutely luscious and original. Have a look at his beautifulย Layered Banana Semolina Cake recipe. Thank you, Mr. Three-Cookies, for improving my awful Monday mood!

Preparation: 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

100 g aubergine

100 g button mushrooms

50-70 g chicken breast

10-15 cashew nuts

1 clove garlic

oil

(3 chopped shiso leaves)

Sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce (or more if using low-sodium)

1 heaped tablespoon miso

2 tablespoons mirin

1/3 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Chop the garlic clove.

Cut the aubergine into thin, bite-sized pieces.

Slice the mushrooms.

Cut the chicken breast into strips or bite-sized pieces and season it slightly with salt.

Combine the sauce ingredients.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and grill slightly the cashew nuts. Put them aside.

Add some oil if needed and stir fry the aubergine for about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, the chicken, the garlic and stir fry for at least ten more minutes (the aubergine has to be very soft and the chicken thoroughly cooked).

Pour the sauce, throw the cashew nuts into the pan, stir well for about one minute and serve (sprinkled with shiso if you have it).

41 Replies to “Stir Fried Aubergine, Mushroom, Chicken and Cashew Nuts”

  1. Mmmm … cashews seem to go with everything … well, for me anyway ๐Ÿ˜€
    I was planning something using cashews as well … quite similar. But that will be awhile yet or if I manage to get a get pic. This donburi style dish is lovely.
    I’ve seen Mr T’s banana bar using your very interesting apple cake recipe. Looks yum!

  2. Ditto on the Monday mood โ€“ ha-ha!

    Using up whatโ€™s in the fridge is the best way to go โ€“ it makes abundant sense and creates something new every time. I agree, stir fries are just so easy and satisfying… I love the different tastes and textures you have in this dish โ€“ the softness of the aubergine, the depth of the mushroom and chicken and the crunch of the cashews (one of your very favourites!! Thanks Sissi for the shout-out! you’re very kind ;0)

    I use sesame seeds quite a bit but not grilled โ€“ I must try! Your pottery dishes are so pretty Sissi…what an attractive and satisfying looking meal.

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. Your recipes and the conversations we have are very inspiring and when I started to write about this dish I instantly remembered your cashew butter ๐Ÿ™‚ The more I cook Chinese and especially Japanese, the more I pay attention to such things as the aesthetic side and difference in textures. Sometimes I feel a particular dish literally cries for a crunchy addition of nuts or (more often) sesame seeds. I have sesame seeds almost every day and only wonder what is the healthy limit ๐Ÿ˜‰ (Of course I have it in tiny amounts). I think I have crossed the addiction limit a long time ago. I buy white sesame seeds in 1/2 kg bags (I find organic sesame, quite cheap at the closest supermarket). I grill them on a clean pan in small amounts (a couple of tablespoons), which are then put into a small glass container, placed between salt and pepper: this illustrates the frequency with which I use them ๐Ÿ˜‰
      The only thing I hope is that they are healthy…

    2. Thank you for the pottery compliment. I have become a big fan of Japanese bowls and plates and have been spending a fortune on them… Unfortunately my two Japanese shops sell different beautiful dishes all the time. This black bowl with strange coloured interior was the first black dish I have ever bought in my life and I love it more every time I eat in it. I am very happy you like it too.

      1. There’s a beautiful Japanese store not too far from our home – I need to get out more often! ;0 Your dishes are inspiring me…

  3. I have never seen or tried aubergine, mushroom, chicken and cashews all together. I am trying to imagine the taste. I love meat and aubergine, chicken and cashews etc but all together? Really curious and I am sure very delicious

    1. Thank you, Mr. Three-Cookies. If you like all these ingredients separately, you would probably enjoy this combination too.

  4. love aubergine, can’t wait for summer again! i love stirfries too. quick simple yummy!

    btw i tagged you in a bloggers unplugged tag going around ๐Ÿ˜‰ do it if you like (: xx

    1. Thank you so much, Reem. I haven’t thought about it, but you are right. Stir fries force us to eat vegetables.

    1. Thank you so much for the compliment. I think this was actually Kung Pao where I first discovered cashews in a savoury dish. Of course it wasn’t very hot (one more cookery book “adapted” to Western palates…). I must look for a real Kung Pao recipe (I love very hot food, although probably not as hot as people from Sichuan ๐Ÿ˜‰ )

  5. Hi Sissi! What a hearty stir fried dish! Eggplant, chiciken, mushrooms, and cashew nuts! I usually don’t put nuts in the food and I definitely need to learn which nuts go with what kind of food. =P Eggplant + shiso + miso/soy would go really well and my stomach reacted to my brain when I typed it out. So funny. I’d love this dish!

    1. Thank you so much, Nami. Frankly I think you would love this dish. As you see (and as I have mentioned) the miso and shiso part was inspired by your Aubregine with shiso and ponzu (remember I didn’t have konbucha first and used miso instead?), as for the cashew nuts, I think they are the best to start adding nuts to dishes because of their milky, neutral taste. Walnuts can be great, but with some dishes they tend to be bitter. Cashew nuts are never bitter. Apart from fish, aubergine is also the ingredient I love more thanks to my discovery of the Japanese cuisine. I think you like it a lot in Japan ๐Ÿ˜‰

  6. I love Aubergine so much – I’m on a real aubergine kick at the moment – I should make one of the first things I ever made using them sometime and post it! Your recipe sounds lovely Sissi, although I still need to find these ever elusive shiso leaves ๐Ÿ˜€ I guess if you had them available, using shiitake mushrooms would go really well with the aubergine in this too… both so meaty and delicious (that’s another thing I’m really into at the moment). In season or not, it looks like a perfect dish for this time of year. Full of warm flavours, and crunchy cashew nuts as an extra bonus!

    1. Thank you, Charles. I also love aubergine and think it’s a perfect Autumn vegetable (still don’t understand why it’s in full season in the Summer). It’s so comforting, mushroomy and the colour doesn’t remind me of the Summer at all. Shiso is not necessary here of course. I now add it whenever I feel it will suit (I buy huge bags of shiso every ten days ๐Ÿ˜‰ I really am hooked on it).
      I really hope you find shiso in this big Asian supermarket in XIIIth arrondissement. I know that Japanese shops in Switzerland sell it only during a very short period, so maybe this is the same in Paris. And the Korean shop rue St Anne? I remember they had such a choice of gochujang and it was so cheap!
      Shiitake would be perfect here.

  7. Sometimes we want what we want. Winter lasts awhile you know. This recipe would make me abandon my seasonal ways. It looks fabulous.

  8. Yum! Stir fries are so easy, I don’t know why I don’t make them more often… I love your combo here though, especially with the cashews! I had a cashew chicken I made once for my husband, after which he told me he didn’t eat cashews and he had pushed them all aside, wasting perfectly good cashews! I’ll have to try this when he isn’t around ๐Ÿ˜‰

  9. I am definitely a fan of stir-fried vegetables with seafood, as I am a big seafood fan:) Hand me a plate, and I’d definitely have the appetite, LOL ๐Ÿ˜‰

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