Seriously. One of mankind’s greatest inventions. Make a basic stir fry, then just before you thicken it, mix in two or three heaping teaspoons of the magic elixir. Result – nirvana. Or to be more correct, ambrosia (food of the gods).

This is a good brand, but they’re all pretty much the same. Chili, garlic and salt. Normally I would tend to shy away from products from the People’s Republic – their problems with food producers using dodgy ingredients are well documented – but I have to admit that the Lee Kum Kee sauce has a nice fresh taste. Speaking of fresh, remember that this ingredient is very inexpensive. It will last forever in the fridge but if it’s been open for six months or so why not splurge on a new jar?

OK, I hear you thinking, what’s a basic stir fry?

Basic Stir Fry Recipe

Principles:

Cut your ingredients into pieces of roughly the same size. (Ingredients meaning the meat or tofu and vegetables). 2cm cubes for example, but it’s not that critical as long as the meat pieces are a consistent size. Definitely smaller than a ping pong ball though. The meat in particular has be in small enough pieces that it will be fully cooked.

Most vegetables will work well but if you are new at this avoid carrots – they take a lot longer to cook than most others.

Have everything ready before you start.

Use high heat. Be fearless. You are flash frying here, not making a stew!

Unless you have a screaming hot gas burner, a proper Chinese wok will not produce good results. You could use a wok pan (a flat bottomed wok with a handle) but many of these have a non-stick coating which is (a) unnecessary and (b) can start to bleed off chemicals if used with really high heat. Your best bet is a good old faithful dutch oven. It will stand high heat and the tall sides keep ingredients from escaping.

Ingredients: (stir fry for two people. fully scalable)

Oil that can take high heat – Peanut or Canola will be fine. Do not use extra virgin olive oil!

Salt. Kosher or coarse salt by preference.

If using meat – a couple of boneless pork chops or two to four boneless chicken thighs. Cut into pieces as per above.

Tofu is a good alternate to meat. Just be sure you use the firm stuff. Cut into neat cubes as per meat.

Two or three cloves of garlic, minced fairly finely.

A chunk of fresh ginger about the size of your thumb. Two options here. Either peel and mince finely, or leave the skin on and slice into rounds about 1/8″ thick – say about as thick as a Ritz cracker. If you prefer the lazy option but still like a strong ginger flavour then slice a bit more.

Vegetables chopped into chunks of about the same size. For this amount of meat I would recommend a whole bell pepper (red or yellow by preference), then about the same volume of celery chunks and also of broccoli florets. A handful of sliced button mushrooms never hurts.  Alternate or additional vegetables include snow peas (use these whole), canned baby corn, green beans or cauliflower florets. Most vegetables will work, but avoid zucchini or eggplant as they will bleed too much water and turn your stir fry into a soup. Key point – keep the vegetables in separate bowls so you can control the cooking time. Some take longer than others and need to be added sooner.

A quarter cup of chicken stock, plus water if you need more liquid. If you are avoiding meat use water with a slurp of soy sauce instead.

Have corn starch and a small mixing bowl handy, but don’t make your slurry yet.

And of course, the blessed chili garlic sauce!

The Method

Place the pan on the burner and crank the heat up to 11.

Sprinkle in a good pinch of salt, then add a generous dollop of the oil (2-3 tablespoons)

Watch the surface of the oil. When it starts to shimmer you are ready. Add the meat pieces. Let them sit for a few seconds then start stirring and lifting them with a metal spatula. What you are aiming to do is to brown them slightly while cooking them part way through. Loud sizzling noises will abound and steam will boil up. Don’t be tempted to turn down the heat – just stir faster!

The meat will be ready when there are no pink bits showing. At that point take the pan off the heat and remove the meat to a bowl using a slotted spoon. (Tofu does not need to be cooked so skip this step if you are going the vegetarian route).

Now reheat the pan, add oil if needed, and throw in the garlic and ginger. Stir fry until the aroma rises strongly from the pan. The key here is not to burn the garlic, so don’t wait until its starts to go brown before you add your first vegetable. If you use the suggestions above add the pepper, closely followed by the celery. Continue stir frying.  Do not turn down the heat! After 30-40 seconds or so add the brocolli, then the mushrooms . Continue stir frying until the brocolli turns bright green and the mushrooms look cooked rather than raw.  Add the meat and any juices and stir fry until they have fully heated up. (If you are using tofu instead of meat add it now). At this point pour in the stock and turn the heat down to medium. You are now in the final stages, where the idea is to ensure that everything is cooked without turning it into soup. This should only take a minute or two. Let the stock come to a low boil and if necessary add more water. There should be enough liquid to form a sauce without having the ingredients drowned in it.

While you wait put a heaping teaspoon of corn starch in a small bowl and then add about the same amount of water, Stir and mix, using the back of the spoon to squish any lumps. You are aiming for a thick slurry about the consistency of heavy cream. Note that it is easier to add water than to subtract it, so start out on the slightly dry side.

When the stir fry looks done (you can test a chunk of meat to be sure), dollop in two or three heaping teaspoons of the chili garlic sauce and stir until well mixed. Then pour in half of the cornstarch slurry and mix. If your sauce is thick enough then be happy, otherwise stir in the rest.

Serve over rice (Jasmine by preference. Long grain white or Basmati are fine as well. Brown would be ghastly).

Bliss. Enjoy!