Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sizzle, Stir, Serve

I made this quickie stir fry last week with a random assortment of ingredients that were in my fridge and in need of using. Stir frys are a great way to mix the more transient inhabitants of the fridge (fresh meat, veg etc) with the long term residents, who tend to prefer the door of the fridge (condiments and seasonings). The great thing is that usually you can go without a recipe and if it tastes bland, a splash of soy sauce will usually fix it!
A few rules for stir fry that I've picked up:
  • get the wok hot enoughand use an oil with a high smoke point (such as canola) unless you want to be fanning the smoke alarm for the duration.
  • chop all the vegetables a similar size so they cook equally.
  • Have ALL your ingredients prepped and ready to go. From start to end, the cooking process is usually 5-10mins.
Here is the recipe I came up with:

Ginger beef and pepper stirfry
Meat marinade (choose beef, chicken or pork, sliced)
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
marinade 10-60 mins depending on time. I usually put the meat in to marinate and then prep all the veggies.

Veggies
sliced yellow bell pepper
sliced mushrooms
chopped scallions
hot sauce to taste (optional)
1 tbsp grated ginger
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed


Heat vegetable oil in wok. Drain marinade from meat (set liquid aside). Add meat to pan, it should sizzle. Stir frequently until browned and then remove from pan and set aside.
Add ginger and garlic to pan and stir for 30 seconds, ensuring it doesn't burn.
Add chopped veggies( not scallions) and stir until they soften slightly. Add meat back to wok.
Stir and add reserved marinade.


Add hot sauce at this point if desired.
Remove wok from heat. Serve over rice or noodles and sprinkle on scallions and sesame seeds to serve.



I am a very fast eater so I always use chopsticks for stir frys to slow me down. I should probably try to use them for other meals too...or I could just...slow...down.

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