Saturday, February 19, 2011

Kitchen Sink Stir-Fry

Yesterday Corey and I had a nice day together running errands and enjoying the weather.  We stopped at a small market in Narragansett (Roch's) to pick up something for dinner.  I ended up getting a top round steak, just because it was so inexpensive - $2.71 for about 3/4lb, and decided to make a stir-fry.  I didn't really know what we already had on hand at the house, so I just grabbed some veggies - 1/2lb mushrooms (half shiitake, half white to save on cost), an orange pepper, some asparagus, and mung bean sprouts.  I didn't think to get fresh ginger so I used dried.
What resulted from this was absolutely delicious, and so much better than takeout.  I really dislike "American" Chinese food, while Corey prefers it over more authentic Chinese food.  Somehow, this stir-fry satisfied both of our palates.
Here's what I did:
1. Slice all the veggies - pepper, mushrooms and asparagus, cut an onion into wedges, and mince about 1T of garlic.  Keep all of these on a board separate from each other, or in individual bowls.
2. Cut the steak into small pieces against the grain, and put the steak in a dish with 1T low-sodium soy sauce and 1T dry sherry.
3. Make sauce: Mix together 1/4C low-sodium chicken broth, 1/4C low-sodium soy sauce, 2t rice vinegar, 2t toasted sesame oil, 1t crushed red pepper, and 1t sugar in a small bowl.
4. Make thickener: Mix together 2t cornstarch with 2T chicken broth into another small bowl.
It is important to have all of these done before you start cooking, because stir-frying is done very quickly.
5. Add 1T oil to a wok or skillet (I used safflower oil, you could also use peanut or vegetable).  Add steak and stir-fry until just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove to a clean bowl.
6. Add onion to the wok and stir-fry until light brown, about 1 minute.  Add garlic and fresh ground ginger (I used about 1t ground), and then the asparagus.  Cook for 1 minute, and then add the pepper and mushrooms.  Cook for about 2 more minutes and then mix in bean sprouts.
7. Return the steak to the wok.
8. Whisk the sauce in the bowl, and add it to the wok, mixing together with the veggies and steak.  
9. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until slightly thickened.

This would be great with rice or Asian noodles.  I used rice noodles, which are so easy because you only have to soak them in hot water until they are tender.
Once the noodles were tender, I added them to the wok and mixed together with everything else until they were coated.

Stir-fries are great because you can use any vegetables you want, along with whatever protein you prefer.  Just cook the vegetables in stages, starting with the one that takes the longest to cook, and only for 1-2 minutes each so that everything will be crisp-tender at the end.

Corey loved this so much, he asked where I have been hiding this all this time.  I have made stir-fries before but this sauce was really the best.
Make this, and your mate may chase you around the house with a big grin, just as mine did.

2 comments:

  1. That sounds so yummy!!! And I might actually be able to make it here! Good job!

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