Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Easy Asian Stir-Fry


Sometimes I get the biggest cravings for Chinese food - I just love it!  Tonight I had to have some Chinese so I decided to whip up an easy stir-fry that would be ready for my husband and I when he got home from work. 

Maybe you get those Chinese food cravings too, so I thought I would share my super easy stir-fry recipe with you so that you can create your own chinese take-out at home.

Easy Asian Stir-Fry
Ingredients:
2-3 Chicken breasts, thawed and sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 carrot, cut lengthwise and then sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:
When you begin slicing all of your ingredients, turn your saute pan on to low-heat to start to warm it up.  Slice all ingredients (as directed above).  To make sauce, mix the following together in a bowl; chicken stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, hot red pepper flakes, and sugar.  Pour a small amount over the sliced chicken and allow to sit for a few minutes.  In a seperate bowl, mix together 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water, set aside.

Before you begin cooking, turn your pan up to high-heat.  Add 1 tablespoon oil.  Add chicken to skillet and saute until cooked - should get a nice color on the chicken.  Once cooked, remove from pan.  Add another tablespoon oil.  Add all vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes until they start to become tender.  Add garlic, saute 1 minute.  Add chicken back to skillet.  Pour sauce over veggies and chicken.  Saute 1-2 minutes and then add cornstarch mixture.  The cornstarch will bring the sauce together and thicken it slightly.

Serve stir-fry over jasmine rice (or white rice). Garnish with fresh cilantro and crushed cashews or peanuts (if you have them on-hand).


Cottage Mama's Note:  You can substitute any meat or veggies in this stir-fry dish.  The key is to keep your pan VERY hot.  I did not do a tutorial for this recipe due to the fact that stir-fry cooks very quickly and there would be no time for me to take any pictures.  Some other stir-fry ingredients I enjoy are shrimp, broccoli, snow peas, snap peas, baby corn, water chestnuts, thinly sliced cabbage, sliced onions, and ginger.  I typically stir-fry whatever I happen to have on-hand and most of the ingredients for the sauce are ones I believe should be staples in every well-stocked pantry.

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