Cashew chicken with jasmine rice

Method

1. Cut the chicken into 2 cm cubes, unless the butcher has done this, and immediately mix in a bowl with 7 g light soya sauce, 1 g white pepper, 20 g water and 8 g cornflour, until the water is absorbed and each piece has a thin coating. Add 5 g oil and mix again. Leave at room temperature for at least 10 minutes while preparing everything else: fridge-cold chicken cools the wok. Do not add salt, as kosher meat has already been salted during koshering.
2. Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold water, rubbing it between your fingers, until the water runs almost clear; drain. Put in a saucepan with 210 g water, bring to the boil, cover and cook over a very low heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes without lifting the lid: the grains should be tender, the water absorbed and small craters visible on the surface. It can then wait, covered, off the heat, staying hot for 20 minutes.
3. While the rice cooks, cut the pepper and onion into 2 cm squares and the spring onions into lengths, keeping the white and green parts separate. Chop the garlic and ginger. For the sauce, crumble one-fifth of the stock cube into the 100 g lukewarm water and dissolve, then add 5 g cornflour, 15 g light soya sauce, the dark soya sauce, honey, vinegar and the pinch of white pepper. Mix thoroughly. Measure the wine into a small glass and place beside the hob, along with a small bowl lined with kitchen paper for the cashews.
4. Put 20 g oil and the raw cashews into the cold wok, heat over a medium heat and stir constantly. They should be pale golden and smell buttery 2–3 minutes after the oil begins to sizzle around them. Immediately lift out with a slotted spoon into the small bowl, as they will darken further off the heat, and season with a pinch of salt. Pour half the flavoured oil into a ramekin. Turn the heat up high until the oil shimmers and barely begins to smoke, then spread half the chicken in a single layer and leave untouched for 1 minute 30 seconds: the pieces release by themselves once seared. Turn and stir-fry for another 1 minute, until golden outside but still a little pink at the centre. Set aside on a plate; repeat with the oil from the ramekin and the remaining chicken.
5. Without washing the wok, add 10 g oil over a high heat, then the onion and pepper with a pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 3 minutes: the edges should colour while the centres stay crisp. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and stir for 30 seconds, without letting the garlic blacken. Pour the wine around the hot sides of the wok: it should sizzle and evaporate in 15–20 seconds, losing its alcoholic smell.
6. Return the chicken and its juices and stir-fry over a high heat for 1 minute. Stir the sauce in its bowl to lift the settled cornflour, drizzle it around the sides of the wok and stir for 1–2 minutes. It should bubble, turn a glossy mahogany brown and coat the pieces in a thin layer, without pooling at the bottom. Cut open the largest piece: the flesh should be opaque white to the centre and the juices clear, or 74°C if you have a thermometer. If the sauce thickens too much, add 1 tbsp water. Off the heat, add the sesame oil, spring onion greens and cashews and toss twice. Fluff the rice with a fork, divide between two plates and serve the chicken immediately to keep the cashews crisp.