This week I decided to try my hand at a home made stir fry. I'll have to be frank, prior to this attempt I was unaware that stir fry had a specific sauce. Excited to try something new I wasted no time scouring the web (or selecting the first google option) for a great stir fry sauce. What I found was a recipe which claims itself to be "The Best Chinese Stir Fry Sauce" and without further ado, I decided to test this claim.
Recipe
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken broth, vegetable broth or even water
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
The Stir Fry
1 Carrot, sliced
1 handfull of spinach, chopped
1 handfull of green onion, chopped
~3 cups rice noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 jalepeno, sliced
1 pound chicken, chopped
Now in order to make this meal I decided to make some adjustments. The first came in the form of the sauce, rather than add sriracha, which I did not have, I instead replaced that with ketchup that I bought for this assignment to add sugar and a similar flavor. To accomplish the spice, I used the seeds from the jalepenos that I chopped and soaked them within the sauce until it was prepared. I first created the sauce by mixing all of these ingredients together in a bowl with exception to sesame oil and cornstarch because I haven't expanded my pantry enough for these items, YET of course. Next I got the chicken started, we all know how long that stuff takes to cook so it was the first thing done. Meanwhile I snagged the rice noodles and began boiling them along with the carrots. Now this turned the water a little orange but I figured with carrots taking so long to warm up and since everything would be mixed together anyways, why not have some fun with the colors. As the chicken reached it's golden brown state and with the noodles softened to perfection, it was time to see if the work paid off. I strained the noodles and carrots to prevent excess liquid from entering the situation and threw all of it on top of the chicken to continue frying. It was at this point I added in the jalepenos and green onions to the party because I wanted them to fry a little bit with the rest of the food. After letting the whole gang of food heat up in one giant sauna, it was time for the sauce. I was quite nervous being I had never made a stir fry sauce before, so I gingerly covered the entire dish in it. After letting it cool, it was time to feast.
Here we can see some of the ingredients. I was unsure of how to best cook the carrots so I sliced and chopped those bad boys into a couple styles. As you may be able to tell, my old cutting board was left before I moved and resorted to using a (COMPLETELY CLEAN I SANITIZED IT I PROMISE) Back to the Future (TM) movie poster that was encapsulated in a cutting boardesque material. Anyways, I have since ordered a new cutting board which will be featured shortly. I also later found a sliding one under my new countertop but this was way beyond the cooking portion.
Last but not least we have the final product. Was it the best stir fry I've ever had? That's a hard question to answer because I can't recall the last time I've had an authentic stir fry. That being said, this was quite the delectable sauce. It had that very familiar salt and vinegar taste from the soy sauce and vinegar respectively, but packed one hell of a punch as far as the spice department goes. Adding in the seeds from the jalepenos definitely ramped up the flavor in what I would describe as a good way. I think the meal definitely turned out better than I had expected after using many ingredients I hadn't combined together before. It was one hell of a ride and I'm sure I'll visit this recipe again someday.
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