Chinese style stir frying is a wonderful cooking method, especially for summertime, that uses a minimum of oil and high heat to rapidly sear the food, cook it to perfection and flavor it almost all at the same time. Stir-frying works equally well on the indoor stove top as it does on a grill, keeping kitchen heat to a minimum if not nil.
Since all the equipment required is a wok (or sauté pan) and a wooden spoon or flat wooden paddle, clean up takes mere minutes. I use a cutting board to hold all the chopped vegetables before using, a small bowl for the proteins, and a small pitcher (or two cup Pyrex measuring cup) for the sauce.
Most of my Asian style recipes are flexible guides. I like to change ingredients according to seasons as well as switching or even mixing proteins. If you feel like eating seafood more than chicken, by all means make the substitution. Just be sure to change your cooking time and ingredient order accordingly.
The sauce in this recipe has been tested on pork, poultry, tofu and seafood. It works very well with each of them. My inclination was not to use beef with it because it’s such a very light sauce and I have better suited, heavier sauces to use with beef.
For a vegetarian meal, omit the animal protein and increase the vegetable amounts and/or variety. Go ahead and put your own signature on this dish. This recipe comes in handy after a visit to the Farmers Market too! My recipe changes every time I make this meal.
Ingredients, approximately:
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 thighs
1 medium sized red pepper, seeded and deveined, julienned
1/2 pound mushrooms
4 green onions, slice white portion, cut green tops into 1” lengths
1/2 pound pea pods and/or 2 cups broccoli sliced into small florets
1 can (15 oz) bamboo shoots, drained
1 heaping Tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons aji mirin or dry sherry
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3-4 Tablespoons peanut oil, approximately
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (the real stuff—not kikkoman)
4 oz. cashew nuts or more depending on your preferences
(Bean sprouts, optional)
Serve over white rice, brown rice, quinoa, or your favorite grain. Rice or pasta noodles work well too.
Method:
Begin by preparing the grain or pasta. Set aside, covered to keep warm.
Slice chicken into thin strips or 1” cubes. Refrigerate, reserved in a small covered bowl, until ready to cook.
[If using tofu in place of animal protein, I find it best to stir fry it first, set it aside and add it back in at the end to heat it thoroughly without overcooking it.]
Slice mushrooms, julienne red pepper, chop broccoli and slice green onions into 1" lengths. Set aside on a platter or cutting board.
Rinse pea pods and set aside.
Open can sliced bamboo shoots, rinse and drain. Set aside.
Chop ginger and garlic and set aside.
Pour chicken broth into small pitcher. Set aside.
Mix together soy sauce, mirin, cornstarch, and sugar. Set aside.
Toast nuts until golden brown. Set aside. Do NOT cover them because the heat causes condensation which makes the nuts soggy.
Heat oil over moderately high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add the mushrooms and red pepper, taking care to push them into the oil away from you rather than toward you to avoid splatter.
Stir fry for a minute or two and add the ginger.
Add the sesame oil for flavoring.
When the ginger gives off an aroma, add the garlic and the chicken and cook until the chicken is opaque and no longer pink inside.
Add peas, broccoli and (bean sprouts). Stir to mix and cook.
Pour broth over, stir, and simmer about 2 minutes, just until the broccoli is bright green.
Add bamboo shoots.
Stir in soy sauce mixture and cook until thickened.
Toss in the sliced white portion of the green onions.
Simmer to heat through, about 30 seconds or so.
Mix in green onion tops.
Serve over grains or noodles and sprinkle with nuts.
Don’t count on having any leftovers. I never do.
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Comments: 50
This looks delicious. mmmmmmm
Thanks, Priya!
I love stir fry. This sounds really good.
Thanks for posting to Cook it up Big!
Thanks, Jan.
I am printing this one. We started using coconut oil (which, as you know, looks more like shortening) to stir fry our vegetables and spices.
Interesting choice for fats, Marilee. That might give this more of an Indonesian flare though.
I'm definitely fixing this. Richard loves cashews and ginger and I like anything with bamboo shoots and we both like mushrooms and chicken.
Thanks, Donna - I'll print this one out tomorrow - I even have the type of frying pan that can double as a wok - it has the cutest dragon on it:)
Rose, I hope you both enjoy this one! It's so easy and inexpensive.
All I can say is Wow. Makes my mashed potato and corn supper look pretty bad.
Thanks very much, Vicky. I hasten to add that one of my favorite foods is mashed potatoes though! I love to use them in a variety of ways~so your dinner sounds pretty tasty to me!
This is a keeper...and healthy and a year-round palate pleaser!
Thanks, Jan! Yes, it is healthy and can cost next to nothing if you use your own veggies from the garden in the summer months.
I love Chinese food! Alas, it is beyond me to cook.
Magi, it seems I have a growing list of things I should make for you when you drop by. It'll be one huge market trip! Haha.
A HUGE trip, Donna! Followed by the magic in the kitchen ... followed by heaven on a plate.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Linda, you're very welcome. Thank you.
Another great dish from the Gather Queen of Cooks....this looks almost easy. I would probably substitute seafood for the chicken.
bob, Thanks very much. It IS easy! You can make it any which way you like and it's really inexpensive if you have a vegetable garden or know someone who shares.
OK now you are hitting one of my all time favorites here Donna are you gonna invite me to dinner?
Debra, thanks. The door is always open & welcoming folks and we can seat anyone anytime.
Looks wonderful!
Sherrie, thank you.
Scrumptious!!!!!
Featured in Blue Ribbon Recipes!!!!!!
Marianne, thanks! (x2)
Wonderful recipe and I love how versatile it is.
Thank you, Katie. The versatility makes this recipe a "go to" favorite for many of my friends. I get requests for it all the time from guests too.
Love these kinds of recipes.
Thanks, J F, me too!
This sounds delicious. Peculiarly, because my wok fits in the burner hole of my woodstove, I cook more stirfry during the winter months. I'll have to get a stand that lets me use it in the summer too. Thanks for the push
Richard, that's interesting. I use my wok more in the spring and summer when it can go outdoors on the grill! Fast, easy and economical after a trip to the beach!
Oh Donna, this looks delicious. I adore stir fries.
Thanks very much, donna. I hope you try this one.
Mmm...I swear I can smell this through the computer screen.
Haha, thanks, Sue!
This looks delicious. I love to stir fry and do so often....Your combination of protein and veggies looks so pretty....I also like to add slices of water chestnuts for a bit more crunch.
Like Sue, I swear I can smell it too!!!
Sonia, thanks. The joy of this recipe is that it doesn't constrain. I make it with different combinations of ingredients every time, it seems.
Mine are never the same either....depends on refrigerator contents...
;-)
Mmmm - looks wonderful. Stir fry is such a wonderful cooking method as it is so flexible, and is a great way to get the vegetable crisper emptied :)
Thanks, Tonia. Yes, it's both of those things.
Great post Madame. I have some beef marinating in leftover pineapple juice in the fridge and fresh snow peas on the vine outside. I'll go more teriyaki with my sauce, to account for the beef, but you have indeed provided the ideal inspiration.
Thanks very much, Ms. MMM! I'm sure yours was very good too!
This excellent article has been featured in the group Cooking 101. Thank you for sharing it with the group.
Thank you very much, Vicky.
That looks and sound wonderful - it must be time for me to dust off my wok!
Oh do so, DD, you won't regret it. I use mine all the time!
This really looks delicious.You made it easy by explaining it so neatly.