Stir Fry/Chinese food recipes.

Basic Chinese stir fry:

Slice up the chicken thigh or breast in thin slivers, and douse with a little cornstarch. Stir fry with some chopped garlic, ginger, salt until not quite done. Remove from heat.

Add extra oil to the pan if necessary. Now stir fry the vegetables. If you are using vegetables that take a long while to cook such as carrots or green beans or broccoli, blanch by microwaving for a minute first. Add soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and optional chili paste. If the veg is still too hard add a quarter cup of water then boil off uncovered at high heat.

When ready to serve (ie when the rice is ready) return to the chicken into the pan with the vegetables and warm through until chicken is done.

The two main tricks to Chinese stir fry is coating the meat with cornstarch, which helps keep it tender and the pinch of sugar which gives it that Chinese taste. Also the order of frying the meat, removing from pan and frying the veg in the meat juices.

They do make lower-sodium soy sauce, and you never really need a lot.

Ginger, garlic, hoisin, duck sauce, plum sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, Chinese rice wine vinegar, brown sugar...

There are options. So very many options. And cookbooks.

Having access to a Chinese supermarket is a great thing. In my experience, anything you can buy there will be cheaper than a conventional supermarket. I stock up on frozen prawns and scallops, spices including pepper, and chestnuts.

instead of using sesame oil i crush peanuts in a baggy with a rolling pin. It helps in a pinch. I do home stir fry all the time with left over veg n grilled chicken. A lil ginger, garlic, onion, soy sauce, pepper, crushed peanut and crushed red pepper flakes work lovely for a quick n easy meal

Mango Chicken Stir Fry

Makes 4 servings
1 1/2 cups per serving
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks
1/4 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (I use Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips
2 mangos, pitted and cut into bite-size strips
1/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds
ground pepper to taste
2 cups cooked brown rice

Preparation:
1) Spray a large wok or skillet with non stick cooking spray.
2) Saute chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3) In a small bowl, stir together pineapple juice, ginger, and soy sauce. Add sauce and bell pepper to skillet.
4) Cook and stir for about 5 minutes until peppers are crisp-tender.
5) Add the mango and almonds to the wok or skillet and cook until hot. Season with ground black pepper to taste.
6) Serve each cup of stir fry over a 1/2 of brown rice.

Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories 387, carbohydrate 47 g, Dietary Fiber 7 g, Protein 31 g, Total Fat 9 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 68 mg, Sodium 496 mg