Let's talk stir-fry...

Ok, so about stir-fry... These days it seems like everyone has a version of stir-fry that works best for them in the kitchen. Some meat, some veggies, some sauce, boom. Now I'm not knocking your method, but I'd like to introduce a thought on the matter. Mess around a little bit. Have fun! My friend, and fellow chef, who has asked to remain nameless, have argued much on the subject of the perfect stir-fry. We have never agreed... until now. Try this recipe out and tell me what you think! It's fun, easy, and quick.

Ingredients
  1. 1/2 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth (no need to get fancy)
  2. 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (make sure you go low-so)
  3. 1 teaspoon Chinese chile-garlic sauce (generally available everywhere)
  4. 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  5. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  6. 1/4 cup fresh ginger, cut into fine matchsticks/lengthwise
  7. 1/2 pound snow peas
  8. 1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined (please devein them, don't be gross)
  9. 4 small scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (diagonal so they look pretty)
Ok, so:
Get yourself a small bowl. In that bowl, throw in the chicken stock with the soy sauce, Chinese chile-garlic sauce and cornstarch. Then whisk those all together until it all looks like one, happy sauce. Then you're going to want a non-stick skillet. I know some people may be against non-stick coatings and how they may or may not give you cancer. Use a regular skillet if you like, I'm just trying to make this easy. So, get your nonstick skillet and heat the vegetable oil until it shimmers, medium to medium-high as a stove setting works. If you're not sure what that looks like, just wait and you'll get it. Add the ginger matchsticks and stir-fry (meaning to cook in the oil while almost-constantly moving the food about in the pan) over moderately high heat until they are softened, which takes about 1 minute. Add the snow peas and stir-fry until crisp and the ginger starts to brown, which will take about 2 minutes. Carefully add the shrimp to the skillet and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Shrimp cooks fairly quickly, so be ready to rock on these last few items! Throw in the scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Now go grab that bowl of sauce you whisked together and give it another quick whisk. Throw that in to the skillet and make sure you coat everything in that skillet evenly with the sauce. About one minute after you add the sauce, the sauce should thicken and the shrimp should look ready to go. Now go grab a plate, some rice, some chopsticks, a beer (or wine or sake or whatever), and maybe a dinner guest and get to eating!

Comments

  1. Carolina M. Valdez SchneiderApril 26, 2011 at 2:54 AM

    I love stir-fry. I don't know that I've ever made it, though. Actually, no, I'm sure I've never made it. I enjoy it, though. Perhaps I should try this then. First without a guest. Would rather not embarrass myself.

    ReplyDelete

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