Stir-fry

When I cook I tend to get on kicks with a certain type of food and I become obsessed with making it until I feel like I have perfected it. I was on a total soup kick this past winter, someday I will post some of the fruits (or vegetables?) of my soup labors...

For now though, my latest kick is stir-fry. I think I wanted to take on this challenge because I absolutely love Asian food, it is by far my favorite cuisine. 

I feel like cooking Asian food at home, for a white girl like me, is something that requires me to really think outside the box of everything that I normally do when it comes to food. Thankfully, I worked at a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant (perhaps the best in the world) for about 6 years and I picked up some Asian basics from watching my friend Mykha cook. Even though Asian food is probably my most attempted style of cooking at home, I am still always pleasantly surprised and impressed when it turns out well. 

When I want to try a new recipe I usually go to epicurious and look up a few recipes and meld them together till I find one that works for me. This has been my go-to base recipe for the stir-fry's I've been making lately: Quick Beef with Broccoli. I have made it following the recipe and it is pretty good. I usually throw in extra veggies and extra garlic and I always use Tamari soy sauce as it adds a much more complex layer of flavor (it's these little things that make all the difference). I have also been experimenting with stir-fry sauces from Trader Joes. Whatever I end up doing this base recipe is a good place to start off. Also, I always serve my stir-fry with Quinoa rather than rice; better for you and I think better tasting too.

Also, I do not have a wok. It's something I have just never gotten around to purchasing. So if you don't have one, don't let that discourage you from trying to make stir-fry at home. I just use a large skillet...and I do it on a stove-top from the 1920's! If I can do it with that equipment then you can too!

Sometime soon I will post my favorite Asian recipe...chicken satay with my speciality peanut sauce. yum yum yum.