I love stir-fry! I like all the crunchy veggies, the spiky Asian flavours and the noodles or rice with a hint of dressing... What I don't love about stir-fry is my complete inability to make them! I always... well, to be perfectly honest I'm not sure exactly what it is that I "always" do... but I can promise you that "do a fantastic job" will rarely, if ever, follow when I'm talking about stir-fry...
Stir-fry (if you can do it, which - let's face it, most people can!) is an idea student food - quick, flavourful, healthy and, above all cheap! Very little protein is needed to make stir-fry feel like a meal - even an egg will do in a pinch!
However, I do have some schnitzel kicking around in my freezer, and Tamy of Always Eat On the Good China (who is, once again my partner for Taste & Create this month...) has a recipe for Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry... I haven't got any broccoli, but I do have some beef and a bagful of frozen, mixed veggies... So here goes nothing!
As always, I did my best to stick to the original recipe - but made a few changes... I've given you both Tamy's recipe (and my changes/thoughts)
1 pound flank or round steak cut into thin strips (Secretly, I don't know what "flank" or "round" steak is... and I was too lazy to Google it... I've assumed it's the same as schnitzel... and used that...)
1 Jumbo egg, white only (Pffft! White only... I was gonna use the white only, but then I didn't know what to do with the yolk, so I chucked it into the sauce mix... Otherwise, guess you could make a one yolk, milk based custard...? Yummy!)
1 Tbsp cornstarch (I used 2tsp... Apparently I fail at direction following...?)
3 cups broccoli florets (... or a 500g bag of mixed, frozen veggies...)
3/4 cup snap pea pieces (see above)
2 tsp minced garlic, jar (Bleh! To me, jar minced garlic tastes like ants. Not that I've eaten ants. If you're not a fussy-Kat - use jar like you're told. If you are a fussy-Kat - two cloves of garlic, crushed works!)
1 small bunch green onions, thinly sliced (Green onions are like spring onions, yes? I didn't have any of those... I used one of my pathetic, baby red onions chopped into half-moons instead)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or... you can say to your Mummy "Muuumyyy... may I have some dried red chillies pleeeaseee...?" and she will post them to you... and then you can crush 5 or 6 of them in the mortar and pestle you conveniently stole from your Daddy so that he could buy a new one... Just don't stick your fingers in your eyes afterwards. It hurts. Also, if your Daddy doesn't let you conveniently thieve - the back of a spoon on a chopping board would work... and and if your Mummy has no chillies to send you - I imagine dried powder, or even a fresh chilli would work too!)
2 tsp soy sauce (Oh! Oh! I actually did as I was told here!!!)
2 Tbsp sesame oil (2 tsp? I think yes...)
1 tsp sugar (Is Kat physically capable of doing as she's told?! Only when it suits... Like now.)
1/2 tsp ground ginger (Well... I would have done as I was told here... except I didn't read the recipe properly... insert 1 tsp minced ginger from a tube... Yeeeah... "No!" to garlic, "Yes..." to ginger?! ... Um... I like to make life interesting...?)
1/2 cup hot water (Boo-yah! I can totally do that!)
1/2 teaspoon Better than Beef Bouillon (Um. *assumes is the same as beef stock* *uses beef stock* *has no beef stock* *uses chicken stock cube instead* That's just how I roll...)
(2 Tbsp, ish toasted sesame seeds)
Beat egg whites until frothy... Conveniently remember that you are not supposed to be making meringues and chuck in you cornstarch/flour and sliced meat. Toss to coat - get your hands it there! Before marinating for an hour or so... (I don't really know what the egg whites do... I know that later the cornflour will help thicken the sauce... but that's the extent of my knowing-ness...)
Heat 1tsp sesame oil in a large frying pan, or a wok - if you're sufficiently awesome as to have one... (if you're worried that 1tsp is not enough oil - throw in a little carrier oil, like vegetable oil or some such. We're students. Sesame oil is expensive, but delicious. You should definitely have some!)
Fry your broccoli/frozen veggie pieces for several minutes until crisp, but tender (and/or thawed...) and then add garlic and onion slices. (Unless you're me... in which case you fail to notice that the garlic should go in here and mix it in with your sauce... Because you're just cool like that...) Remove with a slotted spoon and add more oil if necessary.
Stir fry meat pieces for several minutes until cooked through. Or - you could fry them until they're almost cooked through and then get impatient and throw the sauce on top anyways...
Whisk together the hot water, bouillon, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, egg yolk and red pepper flakes (and garlic, if you're me) until well blended. Add broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until glaze forms... then add vegetables back in and heat through.
Serve over rice or noodles and sprinkle over toasted sesame seeds OM NOM NOM!!!
Aside from my epic, EPIC failure to do as I'm told - this is really yummy! You should make it! Unless you're vegetarian. Then you should not make it. Well you should make it... just with tofu/egg instead of the meat. Oh! And vegetable stock. But I guess you knew that...?
LOVE!!!
(Can I go back to sleep now? I think my brain has died...)
Stir-fry (if you can do it, which - let's face it, most people can!) is an idea student food - quick, flavourful, healthy and, above all cheap! Very little protein is needed to make stir-fry feel like a meal - even an egg will do in a pinch!
However, I do have some schnitzel kicking around in my freezer, and Tamy of Always Eat On the Good China (who is, once again my partner for Taste & Create this month...) has a recipe for Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry... I haven't got any broccoli, but I do have some beef and a bagful of frozen, mixed veggies... So here goes nothing!
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| It's ALIIIVE!!! *ahem* I mean, it worked!!! |
As always, I did my best to stick to the original recipe - but made a few changes... I've given you both Tamy's recipe (and my changes/thoughts)
1 pound flank or round steak cut into thin strips (Secretly, I don't know what "flank" or "round" steak is... and I was too lazy to Google it... I've assumed it's the same as schnitzel... and used that...)
1 Jumbo egg, white only (Pffft! White only... I was gonna use the white only, but then I didn't know what to do with the yolk, so I chucked it into the sauce mix... Otherwise, guess you could make a one yolk, milk based custard...? Yummy!)
1 Tbsp cornstarch (I used 2tsp... Apparently I fail at direction following...?)
3 cups broccoli florets (... or a 500g bag of mixed, frozen veggies...)
3/4 cup snap pea pieces (see above)
2 tsp minced garlic, jar (Bleh! To me, jar minced garlic tastes like ants. Not that I've eaten ants. If you're not a fussy-Kat - use jar like you're told. If you are a fussy-Kat - two cloves of garlic, crushed works!)
1 small bunch green onions, thinly sliced (Green onions are like spring onions, yes? I didn't have any of those... I used one of my pathetic, baby red onions chopped into half-moons instead)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or... you can say to your Mummy "Muuumyyy... may I have some dried red chillies pleeeaseee...?" and she will post them to you... and then you can crush 5 or 6 of them in the mortar and pestle you conveniently stole from your Daddy so that he could buy a new one... Just don't stick your fingers in your eyes afterwards. It hurts. Also, if your Daddy doesn't let you conveniently thieve - the back of a spoon on a chopping board would work... and and if your Mummy has no chillies to send you - I imagine dried powder, or even a fresh chilli would work too!)
2 tsp soy sauce (Oh! Oh! I actually did as I was told here!!!)
2 Tbsp sesame oil (2 tsp? I think yes...)
1 tsp sugar (Is Kat physically capable of doing as she's told?! Only when it suits... Like now.)
1/2 tsp ground ginger (Well... I would have done as I was told here... except I didn't read the recipe properly... insert 1 tsp minced ginger from a tube... Yeeeah... "No!" to garlic, "Yes..." to ginger?! ... Um... I like to make life interesting...?)
1/2 cup hot water (Boo-yah! I can totally do that!)
1/2 teaspoon Better than Beef Bouillon (Um. *assumes is the same as beef stock* *uses beef stock* *has no beef stock* *uses chicken stock cube instead* That's just how I roll...)
(2 Tbsp, ish toasted sesame seeds)
Beat egg whites until frothy... Conveniently remember that you are not supposed to be making meringues and chuck in you cornstarch/flour and sliced meat. Toss to coat - get your hands it there! Before marinating for an hour or so... (I don't really know what the egg whites do... I know that later the cornflour will help thicken the sauce... but that's the extent of my knowing-ness...)
Heat 1tsp sesame oil in a large frying pan, or a wok - if you're sufficiently awesome as to have one... (if you're worried that 1tsp is not enough oil - throw in a little carrier oil, like vegetable oil or some such. We're students. Sesame oil is expensive, but delicious. You should definitely have some!)
Fry your broccoli/frozen veggie pieces for several minutes until crisp, but tender (and/or thawed...) and then add garlic and onion slices. (Unless you're me... in which case you fail to notice that the garlic should go in here and mix it in with your sauce... Because you're just cool like that...) Remove with a slotted spoon and add more oil if necessary.
Stir fry meat pieces for several minutes until cooked through. Or - you could fry them until they're almost cooked through and then get impatient and throw the sauce on top anyways...
Whisk together the hot water, bouillon, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, egg yolk and red pepper flakes (and garlic, if you're me) until well blended. Add broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until glaze forms... then add vegetables back in and heat through.
Serve over rice or noodles and sprinkle over toasted sesame seeds OM NOM NOM!!!
Aside from my epic, EPIC failure to do as I'm told - this is really yummy! You should make it! Unless you're vegetarian. Then you should not make it. Well you should make it... just with tofu/egg instead of the meat. Oh! And vegetable stock. But I guess you knew that...?
LOVE!!!
(Can I go back to sleep now? I think my brain has died...)
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| Here. Have another picture... |
Hilarious! I'm so glad your meal was edibly delicious! ;-) Always fun to have you participate. Great job! (and I would totally send you some dried chiles if you are ever again in need...)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your recount and I too have trouble following a recipe so laughed quite a bit while reading. I prefer fresh garlic too, but a good quality jar is better than nothing when the snow is 10 feet deep! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll be done with my post on your recipe in a few minutes.
Looks so good! I'm going to definitely try this this!
ReplyDelete