Friday, September 21, 2012

Stir Fry the Sure Try

If there is one thing that I think I consistently do well, it is stir fry.  Now, stir fry is not the most complex thing to ever happen to mankind, but it can be one of the most delicious.  Here is how I make mine:

First, I like to alter soy sauce.  In one of my small plastic containers I mix up about 1/4c or so of soy sauce, 1/2 pack of true lime (a little lime juice is just fine if you have it), three shakes of the ginger bottle, and about a half teaspoon of brown sugar.  Mix this up, taste it to make sure you don't need to add a little more brown sugar, and set it aside while you prepare the rest of the stuff. 

The reason I make that sauce like that is because it cuts the super salty taste and adds some lighter, fresher notes into the stir fry.

You can also make the sauce and put it on asparagus, cook until tender, and it is phenomenal.  Actually, it is really just good on everything.

For the stir fry itself you need:
-1 thin cut pork chop
-1/2 cup cooked rice
-a handful of frozen corn (weird but true!)
-4 mushrooms, sliced
-1/4 to 1/2 cup of broccoli and/or any other veggies you want to add
-1 egg

Now look.  I know this isn't your typical Asian selection, but hang with me on this one.  You can put absolutely anything in a stir fry and make it delicious.  If I had pineapple on hand, I would have even thrown a few pieces of that in there.

Back to the stir fry.  Heat up a big skillet, the one I used here is at least 10 inches and might have been my 12.  I am not 100% sure, but it is my second largest skillet I own.  Put a pat of butter in the bottom because BUTTER IS THE KEY TO LIFE.  And, when used in moderation, butter provides delicious flavor and does not make you fat unless you overdo it and hit drive throughs all the time.  As far as I am concerned, butter is never the enemy.

Oh right, back to the stir fry.  Drop your veggies in, except the corn, you really just want to add any that are going to take a while to get tender, and salt and pepper them.  If you are worried about it getting too salty, just do the pepper.  You will have enough flavor in the sauce that it will be ok either way.  Drizzle a small portion, maybe just a tablespoon or so, of your ginger lime soy sauce over your veggies and let them do their thing. 

While they are cooking, salt and pepper your pork and cut into small cubes, I shoot for no bigger than an inch and sometimes go smaller.  Why is this awesome? They cook up so quickly this way!  Move your veggies over in your skillet and add your pork.  Drizzle another tablespoon or so over it and let it start cooking.  Give it a minute or two and turn the pieces over, and scoot them to one side of your skillet as well (this is why you need to use one of the larger ones you own!).

Crack your egg in any open spot on your skillet and break the yolk like you are scrambling it.  Attend to the pork and the veggies as needed and add in your corn, turning and whatnot as you see fit.  Flip the egg when you can and once it is pretty much cooked through chop it up into small pieces with your spatula. 

Toss the cooked rice in the skillet, stir everything up together, and add at least 3/4 of the rest of your sauce.  Mix it all around so that everything is coated, and let it cook for 3-5 minutes or so.  You can add another pat of butter in here if you like, I would be lying if I said I didn't!

Taste your rice and make sure it has enough saucy flavor, and add the rest in if needed.  This makes enough to feed me twice, just out of this small amount of ingredients.  The more veggies you add in the more it will feed, and you can easily up this recipe to feed as many as needed.  I am but one person, so I try to make things from a "one me, one meal" point of view.  This is one of the few recipes that I make that I have not yet managed to get down to one portion, but I can't say I mind that.

Again, use the ginger lime soy on chicken, on asparagus, on tons of things.  You can add more ginger if you want, play around with this until you find how it best fits you. It is very flexible and VERY flavorful.

And add corn into your stir fry, it is delicious.  Three cheers for hybrid dishes! Pin It Now!

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