Sunday, April 05, 2009

My First REAL Stir Fry... HELP!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine, apple juice or water
1 pound boneless beef round steak, cut into thin strips
3 cups broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 (6 ounce) package frozen pea pods, thawed
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, undrained
hot cooked rice

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce and wine, apple juice or water until smooth. Add beef and toss to coat; set aside.
In a large skillet, stir-fry broccoli, carrots, pea pods and onion in 1 tablespoon oil for 1 minute. Stir in water chestnuts. Cover and simmer for 4 minutes; remove and keep warm.
In the same skillet, stir-fry beef in remaining oil until meat reaches desired doneness. Return vegetables to pan; toss. Serve over rice.



*** To say that I am a novice cook is an understatement and this was the first time that I made this recipe and even a real stir fry meaning I didn't just make it up. I really hated it actually, but it could be really good, I think. I over steamed the veggies so they were kinda soggy. I made twice the amount of gravy which I think was good, but the gravy was pretty flavorless. I think that I would also double the amount of onion next time as well as add some garlic and a bit of ginger.. I used the apple juice option, but a question to those of you who cook more... would rice wine vinegar be good next time? Also, I would like it to have a little heat to it... is there a good Asian hot sauce that anyone can recommend? Any other suggestions??

3 comments:

Circe said...

It looks delicious! I'm thinking the apple juice would be too sugary. How about apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar? I'm no expert either, but I usually use rice vinegar and sesame oil in my Asian cooking. I'd be happy to sample it next time! :)

B-Blogit said...

I am a huge fan of peanut sauces if no one is allergic to it. I dont have a specific one and I admit I havent used it before but it seems like it would be good with the stir fry. You just made me hungry.

Nash said...

rice vinegar would be great. i love vinegar specially with asian cooking. also oyster and seafood sauces seem to be in alot of asian dishes. i haven't used them other than at mongolian bbq. anyway i always seem to make mine up but who knows.
there is red paste that is hot think it is called chili paste. also just adding red pepper flakes might help.
i am no cook, but like to experiment. my husband lived in asia for a long time and he loves that chili paste. i know you can get it at pei wei restaurants.