Ginger Stir-Fried Vegetables

While I wasn’t impressed at all with the tempura chicken made during my stir-fry cooking class, I was very impressed with the Ginger Stir-Fried Vegetables. They were so simple and wow did they pack a tasty punch. I’m seeing lots of ginger stir-fried veggies in my future.

The Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
3 Tablespoons Ginger – minced – Chef Cris used her microplane
1/2 Cup sliced carrots – cut on the bias – about 1/4 inch thick
1.5 Cup Snow Pea Pods – stringed and cut on a diagonal in 1/2
1/2 Cup Fresh Button Mushrooms – stemmed and thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Fresh Shitake Mushrooms – stemmed and thinly sliced – the stems are too woody
1/4 Cup Sliced Green Onions – cut on the bias, 1/4 inch thick

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and sugar, and set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Add the ginger and cook, stirring, until aromatic, about 30 seconds. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing the room smelled. Add the carrots and stir-fry until beginning to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add snow pea pods and mushrooms and stir-fry until beginning to soften, 1 to 1.5 minutes. Add the green onions and soy sauce mixture and stir to coat. Cook for another 45 seconds, stirring.

The tempura chicken in my photo was prepared using a cornstarch, egg, cold water, all-purpose flour and cajun seasoning. The best part about the chicken portion of the dish was the plum sauce. I could see myself skipping the peanut oil frying and putting the sauce on grilled chicken breasts or panko breaded/baked chicken tenders.

The Plum Sauce:

1 Cup Plum Preserves
4 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Minced Shallots
1 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Minced Fresh Garlic
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch 5 Spice Powder (Cinnamon, Fennel, Cloves, Star Anise, White Pepper)

Combine all plum sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. 4-5 minutes.

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Thinking out loud…

No doubt I will have some major failures in the kitchen as this blog grows and as I continue to step out of my comfort zone in the kitchen. I promise to post the disasters as well as the successes. I think a lot of it has to do with learning about the ingredients and knowing what you like and don’t like. Figuring that out is the first step. Some people would rather die by fire than eat fake pasta made with zucchini or eggplant… I get that and having different likes and dislikes is what makes us who we are. How boring if we were all the same.

This whole adventure started because I wanted to put a stop to my frozen meal/processed food eating/calorie counting habits. I’m proud to say, it has been a total success. Food is no longer the enemy for me. I’m finding that if you don’t limit or restrict what it is you eat, the urge to overeat just isn’t there. When nothing is “bad” or “off limits” – there is no sense of urgency. You aren’t left feeling like it’s the only time you will ever get to have it. Eating real food leaves you feeling satisfied. Not sure if that makes sense, I know it will for some of  the readers from my old blog. Also not sure what exactly prompted these thoughts today, but apparently I felt this was important enough to share on a post about ginger stir-fried veggies. 😉