I am getting better and better at stir fry sauce. It used to be awful, and poor Chris would choke it down. I’m surprised he even lets me make it anymore. But I think I’m finally figuring it out. It’s always a little too watery, because I don’t want to use corn starch, but it tastes good and that’s all that matters. I’m going to just outline the recipe here because I didn’t really use exact measurements, as usual. Sorry, but I’m a much better cook if I make it up as I go along.
Basically I made a sauce with a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, about two tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of vegetable broth, about a pour of maple syrup, fresh ginger, about a 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter, a teaspoon of hoisin and some cayenne pepper. The amounts are mostly estimates, so taste as you go along. I whisked it all together to get this:
It looks gross, but it tasted good! Finally.
I used another teaspoon of sesame oil to cook some tofu (about half a block), and then at the very end threw in a little of the sauce to make it crispy and caramelized:
Okay, it’s not crispy and caramelized in this picture, because I took it before all the exciting caramelization occured. Use your imagination.
Next, I set the tofu aside and cooked some garlic, broccoli, mushrooms and bok choy:
When it was done, I mixed it all together – the tofu, the vegetables, the sauce and some brown rice. I threw some walnuts in too at the last minute, which prompted Chris to tell me that his portion had some “very hard pieces of rice.” Boys.
Here’s the finished product:
See? A little watery. Which sucks because that means you can’t eat all of the sauce (unless you break out a spoon, which believe me, I thought about it). But still good.
No dessert – too full! Fiber. But I did snag two chocolate covered raisins out of Chris’s stash about an hour ago.
I never use corn starch for stirfry sauce, I just make it less juicy and let it cook off so that it evaporates. It always seems to work.
Okay, that made me laugh, “hard pieces of rice”! Too much!
wow that looks soo good! I’m going to have to try this really soon…cept that means going out and buying sesame oil- which ive grown up eating, but it hasnt made my spice/oil stash since i moved out of my parents house 2 yrs ago. mmm i love tofu though! thanks for taking pics of all the steps too! that’s always fun to see
hey, your stir-fry sauce looks great to me!! and it SOUNDS amazing, as well – I like the ingredient-mixture!
haha, oh yes, boys ;0)
boys can be so picky sometimes!
i’ve NEVER been able to get my stir-fry to be less liquidly. I have the same problem always and have no solution for you. if you find one, please share!
Sort of like what Romina said, what if you put the sauce in an extra sauce pan and let it reduce while you cook the rest of the stir-fry? But it looks REALLY good and that is a lot of fiber. I bet you had a stinky night last night. 🙂
Romina –
Do you let it reduce in another pan first, then add it to everything?
Karen –
It made me laugh too. I was like, uh, walnuts? I mean, can’t he taste the difference? Apparently not.
Emma –
Sesame oil is cheap! And you can use it for other things – I like broccoli plain just sauteed in a little of it, too. And it’s good for salad dressing.
VeggieGirl –
Thanks! It was good. I like bok choy.
Betsy –
I will. When I use more peanut butter, it’s not as watery, obviously, because the ingredients are thicker. I think Romina’s got the right idea, though. I’ll try it next time and report back.
Robin –
Yeah, I’m going to try it. I think I’m used to a lot of fiber. Lucky for Chris.