culinary happiness

[lagilman]

Deadlines are getting nailed. But it's hungry work.

Suri's Scrumptious Stir-fry

Two chicken thighs, sliced thin against the grain and doused with teriyaki sauce, set to chill.

a handful of baby carrots, quarter-length cut
several stalks of celery, chopped
fresh ginger, chopped
fresh garlic, minced
1 star anise

Mix the garlic, ginger and anise in heated oil. Add soy sauce. Add chicken. Cook until almost done, add carrots and celery. Cook until celery begins to become slightly translucent but is still firm. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Add a small amount of cornstarch to thicken liquid. Remove anise (important!) and serve over brown rice.

OMG.

(I have to say it: I make killer stir fry. Just killer. And, best of all, it's not only a lot cheaper than getting take-out, it's a hell of a lot healthier!)


Note: stir-fry is forgiving, you can add pretty much anything you want, so long as you keep the proportions right. I like cashews in mine, when I have them. Other people swear by water chestnuts, or mushrooms, or even string beans.

Comments

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

What would you call a small amount of cornstarch? I suck at getting that right. And I cannot for the life of me get the brown rice to cook right. I think it's an altitude problem. Still I keep trying . . .

[lagilman]

as with so much of my cooking, I adhere to the "looks right" philosophy. Against all advice I don't dissolve the cornstarch in water before adding it, but stir it directly into the liquid at the bottom of the wok. For about 1/c cup of liquid tonight, I added a teaspoon of cornstarch, a little at a time, until it looked right.

Brown rice is, like risotto, surprisingly tough to get perfect. Any advice I could give you would have to be tweaked for altitude, yeah.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Brown rice cooks perfectly with the old-fashioned white rice method - boil with twice as much water as rice (I often skip the boiling, to be honest, so I wouldn't worry about the details of the altitude boiling temp issue), then simmer covered on lowest heat until all the water is absorbed. It's pretty forgiving.

[lagilman]

I've found that doing that gives me somewhat 'gummy' rice. I bring the water to a hard boil with less water, and let it finish with steam, not simmer. But preferences for texture vary...

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Really? I tend to get nice nutty, al dente rice from that. (From brown rice, anyway; I'm not a fan of white rice in any incarnation, so I can't say that texture thrills me.)

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

I am so totally trying this. You're evil.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Next time, we'll come for dinner!