Flash marinate the cubed chicken pieces with light soy sauce and sesame oil. This step is totally optional. It gives the chicken a nice color and kind of works like velveting the chicken.
Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE and set it on NORMAL. Add 2 tbsp oil and when the oil becomes moderately hot gently release the whole raw cashews and shallow fry them until nicely golden in color. Stir the cashews often while frying them. Set the golden fried cashews aside.
Now, add the rest of the oil and saute the flash marinated chicken pieces until they are lightly golden around the edges. Add the red pepper flakes half way through while sauteing the chicken.
Next, CANCEL the SAUTE function and add the water to the pot. De-glaze the pot very well by scraping the sides and the bottom of the pot with the help of your spatula. This will help to prevent the BURN error. There should not be any bits and crumbs stuck at the bottom of the pot.
Close the lid of the Instant Pot and seal the Valve. PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 1 min in case of organic farm fresh chicken or 3 mins in case of regular chicken.
Once the pressure cooking cycle is over the Instant Pot will begin to beep. Immediately do a QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE manually by moving the valve from the SEALING to the VENTING position. Open the lid carefully when the metal pin on the lid drops.
CANCEL the Pressure cook function and set the Instant Pot back to SAUTE function and keep it on LOW.
Add all the sauce ingredients like Hoisin, Sriracha, Dark Soy, Light Soy, Rice Vinegar and also the cornstarch slurry (the thickener). If you prefer a sweet sauce add 2 tbsp brown sugar now (I didn't add any). Give everything a good stir and simmer until the sauce thickens. The simmering time totally depends on how thick or how thin you want the sauce to be. I simmered the sauce for about 2-3 mins approximately. We prefer a thick sauce.
When the sauce reaches the consistency that you prefer add back the golden fried cashews and the Chinese dry red chilies. Give everything a good stir and enjoy with some Jasmine rice or noodles. The sauce will thicken further as the dish cools down. Enjoy!