Stir Fry
One of my favorite memories in the late 1950's and early 1960's is of eating 'take out' or 'take away' as they called it then. My Dad and Mom would drive us into the city of Auckland on a Friday night. We would go to the back door of a Chinese restaurant and get the food served into our own pots and pans that we'd brought from home.
Then we'd drive up Mt. Eden, which looked over the city, and eat the meal on our own plates from the back of the car.
In those days 'take out' was a pretty new thing. But for us picnicking was a way of life. We would eat from the car or outside with a blanket at every opportunity.
Mt Eden is an extinct volcano, so it has a nice crater for a kid to roll down into then climb back out. That was always a high light of our outdoor adventures.
As long as there was a pretty view, we were there. It rained an awful lot, so whenever the weather was good, we were always heading outside.
Since then, I've lived in Asia and learned to make that distinctly delicous style of food for myself.
Here's something I would make about once a week for my children when they were growing up. I would say this is my signature dish.
Stir Fry
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 carrot, sliced diagonally
1 handful of broccoli, sliced long ways
1/2 red, yellow or orange bell pepper sliced, veins and seeds removed
1/2 c pea pods, whole
1/2 c mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp oil
3 Tbsp Yoshida's Gourmet sauce (or your favorite stir fry sauce)
1 c chicken, cooked or raw, cubed
Heat the wok with the oil until really hot then add the onions and carrots and stir well, (tossing is more the technique) for about 1 min.
Add the broccoli, garlic, peppers and mushrooms and stir well.
Add a little water to the pan if it looks like its getting too dry, but not enough to boil anything.
Once the colors of the vegetables become very bright, they are done. You don't want to cook them too long, until the color turns dull again. They should be crisp tender.
Cook the pea pods very quickly at the end. with the pre cooked chicken and add the sauce.
If your chicken was raw, cook this first in the wok with oil, until it is no longer pink then remove to a plate. Do not over cook the chicken as it will become rubbery.
You can omit or add any vegetables you like. This recipe is a bit heavy on the vegetables. Three of them is usually fine. Just choose something, green, red or orange. And always have onions.
The key thing is to have everything ready and handy, because everything gets cooked so fast, right before you serve it.
Serve over steamed rice. I prefer Jasmine brown rice.
In my previous blog I told a funny story about a cooking fiasco that took place on Great Barrier Island. Hope you read that too.
