I Need A Bigger Wok... and Kitchen

Stir-frys are great. They’re quick, they’re easy and you can put pretty much anything you want into them. You’d think that they’re sort of hard to mess up… I usually run into problems because I try to add way too much to the wok. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes I end up cooking in two or three pans because otherwise I’d be waiting forever just to heat the peppers. I always underestimate how much food my stir fry will make too. I usually start with a reasonable amount of ingredients, but then I start throwing in that half a pepper that’s sitting in the fridge, or those couple mushrooms that need to be eaten and while I’m at it, why not add some bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and a carrot? Somehow, it doesn’t look like too much when the ingredients are sitting on the counter but then I chop them, and chopping seems to multiply everything by a factor of at least 37. Suddenly I feel as though I’m swimming in veggies. The good thing is that if I give them enough room in the wok, they shrink back down again. It’s finding room for everyone that’s the problem.

The other reason that I like stir-frys so much is that by swapping a few ingredients in the sauce, you get a completely different flavour. I’m always looking for new combinations too, so if you’ve got a favourite stir-fry sauce, send it my way!

As I was making my stir fry today, I was thinking about kitchen tools that I love that are often overlooked. One of those things is my Lee Valley microplane. It’s perfect for grating hard things like parmesan or frozen ginger, (I always freeze my ginger, it makes it much easier to grate) but it also zests citrus fruit like nobody’s business. I don’t know how people survive without one. The other thing I love is my bench scraper. Anytime I’m dealing with dough or things that are sticky the bench scraper comes to my rescue and cleans off the counter in one fell swoop. It’s also useful for transporting peels from the counter to the compost bucket or waving menacingly at someone who’s trying to steal food while you cook.

What’s your favourite little gadget? I’m always looking for more ways to clutter up the kitchen. Bring ‘em on.

Pork, Beef & Veggie Stir Fry (Adapted from The Ultimate Chinese and Asian Cookbook, Ed. Linda Doeser)

8 oz can of pineapple chunks

1 T cornstarch

2 T light soy sauce

1 T red wine

1 T brown sugar

1 T rice wine vinegar

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

2 tsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 fresh red chili, seeded and chopped

1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 pork chop

1 steak (of similar size to the pork chop)

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

3 mushrooms

2 stalks broccoli

6 oz snow peas

4 oz bean sprouts

1 can of bamboo shoots

1 T sesame seeds, toasted

Jasmine rice

Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice. To make the sauce mixture, combine the cornstarch with the reserved pineapple liquid. Add the soy sauce, win, vinegar and 5 spice powder, stir to mix and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add
the garlic, chili and ginger and stir for 30 sec. Add the pork and beef and allow to cook through. Remove the meat. Add the broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, snow peas and stir fry until desired tenderness is almost reached. Add the bean sprouts and bamboo shoots, stir to combine.

Pour in the sauce mixture and reserved pineapple and stir until sauce thickens.

Serve over jasmine rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Technorati Tags:

Stir Fry + Pork + Beef + Asian