I’m great at following recipes but clueless when it comes to creating them. Here’s what I want to create: a spicy Asian stir fry with shrimp, baby bok choy, red bell peppers and snow peas. I’d also like to use rice noodles, fresh ginger, garlic, scallions, and onions. I’ve got a pantry that’s well-stocked with Asian ingredients – soy sauces, vinegars, chili sauces, sesame oil, fish sauce, etc. But I need a recipe to follow. Can anyone help me?
Thanks!
Soften the noodles.Make up a sauce using the fish sauce (or soy), a little of the chilli sauce, oyster sauce if that’s included in your “etc” - taste it to see that it’s right for you and adjust if not
Fry the ginger, garlic, onions in a neutral oil (I’d use sunflower). Then stirfry the other ingredients. Add the noodles to start to warm through. Add the sauce. Serve, drizzled with a very little of the sesame oil.
Here’s a recipe from Weight Watchers that I’ve used with various vegetables, calls just for sugar snap peas and red pepper:
Mix 3 T reduced sodium chicken broth, 1 T red miso paste, 1 T dry sherry, 1 T Sriracha, and 1 tsp sugar.
Heat a pan or wok until hot, add 2 T peanut oil then 1 T minced ginger and stir fry about 10 seconds, Push aside and add 1 lb medium shrimp (peeled, deveined, and dried) in a single layer, cook about 1 minute, turn shrimp and cook another 30 seconds. Mix in ginger.
Add 3 C sugar snap peas and 1 C slivered red bell pepper (make sure both are dry), and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir fry another 30 seconds.
Mix 3/4 tsp cornstarch into broth mixture. Swirl into mixture in pan and continue to stir fry 1-2 minutes or until shrimp are done.
Hi Cindy,
Well looks like you already created your own recipe pretty much and it sounds good to me.
Stif fry is great! easy healthy and quick. The stir fry sauce itself I think is what gives people the most trouble I became very frustrated trying to find an all in one stir fry sauce that was decent. Many have high salt, MSG, & other artificial ingredients and don’t taste that good I finally found a couple that were ok . Now I have reached the point where I make my own little batches of stir fry sauce by combining my own ingredients. You may want to try some of the linked ones to see what you like so you can make your own. Maggie Gins is pretty good.
http://www.honestfoods.com/magginfinchi.html
http://www.vitacost.com/productresults.aspx?ta=stir+fry+sauce&Ntt=stir+fry+sauce
My typical stir fry with Chicken, Tofu, or Shrimp Might have fresh ginger, Garlic Baby bok Choi, Snow peas, Napa Cabbage,Red bells, Shitake mushrooms,(love shitake btw – other mushrooms not so much) You can get shitake powder for sauce also.Beef is good with Broccoli and Asparagus I like with chicken.
So just experiment around and whip together your own sauce to your liking. You can thin it and thicken it also. Use some chicken or Veggie stock to thin. You can thicken with Arrowroot powder or flour. One thing to be note about of in Stir Fry is SALT content, so try to stretch out that sauce and then thicken so it is not too salty and you have enough to go around.
For spice well I am still working on that a little myself and have been just doing red pepper flakes but I know there has to be some good Chinese Sschwan style Tabasco sauce.
So maybe try soy sauce, sherry, oyster extract, dried garlic, fish sauce, vinegar, little hot sauce. and shitake powder.
. Maybe use low sodium soy sauce. and I like this product for soy alternative.
One last product link actually has high sodium but is a magic ingredient and that is Red Boat fish sauce. I haven’t even figured out how to really use this stuff but I know it is good.
Regarding cooking oil, I’ve done well with Virgin Coconut oil, and I think it is healthiest for you. For Asian flavor though Peanut oil and Sesame oil is good.
So with the execution of the Dish. I usually go with Brown Basmati, but whatever rice or noodles you like.
Maybe put everything in small prep bowls. Have sauce ready, veggies cut and protein ready. Whatever takes longest to cook put in first. Heat up pan put oil in and little sauce. Then protein and maybe shitake. Then Garlic, ginger (remember you don’t want it raw or burnt) If stuff starts to stick add sauce or straight stock, but not too much so it gets too steamy. Veggies go in last and then steam for 5 mins and done. Don’t overcook veggies. I probably like them crunchier than most but Most Chinese places also serve them pretty crunchy. Lots of good nutrients in those veggies and the sauce make them taste good.
Miso paste don’t know why I didn’t think of that one, makes perfect sense. I’ll have to try it. And ok Sriracha, thats the Chinese hot sauce stuff I was thinking about, but couldn’t put into words.
I know Miso has a lot of sodium, but question. Is that type of sodium better for you than regular salt? I know in Japan Miso is such a mainstay and it is usually considered pretty healthy for you right?
I think miso is generally thought of as healthy (if you don’t avoid soy) but it is high in sodium. Like soy sauce you can get a lowered sodium version of the paste.
