I'm going to start this by saying that this stir fry was really good and really easy. Any problems are because of "user error." Essentially, the "user" needs to read the recipe all of the way through.
Before settling in to watch a movie, I shredded the carrots, skinned and cubed the chicken and set out all of the ingredients. Mise en place. Got that down.
Once the movie was over, I took a look at step one.... "soak the mushrooms in .. cold water 30 minutes."
- First, I could have bought fresh mushrooms and skipped this step.
- Second, I need to read recipes all of the way through.
This gave me time to get my act together. I'm new to wok cooking. It is very fast paced. In step one of the book, you soak the mushrooms. In step two, you mix the chicken, cornstarch, and soy sauce. In step three, you stir fry. Here's how I broke down step three.
Yep. Nine steps. I'm a beginner. And I'm a read-write learner. Thank goodness I'm completely comfortable writing in my cookbooks.
This stir fry is simply chicken thighs, garlic, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms with soy, sugar, and salt, but it is pretty magical. The carrots were amazing.
If you want to save a huge amount of time preparing the julienned carrots, get one of
these.
It works great.This dish was a big hit in our house. If you want a recipe that will get people to eat their carrots, go with this.
The dish goes best served with rice. It reheats beautifully, and is wonderful as a main course or as an addition to a multi-course meal. I like to add a little black and crushed red pepper at the table.
This recipe is from Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. I am loving making the recipes in this book. As a beginner, I also love all of the wok tips.
I'm also enjoying the Wok Wednesdays community. Amazing how food brings us together.
The recipe can also be found here.
You just made me so hungry. I was going through the WW posts on Facebook and found the link to your blog. You did such a fine job with the stir fried chicken with carrots. I love how your carrots look like. Thanks for sharing! Happy Wok Wednesday :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks BettyAnn. I used one of those shredder thingies. They work great.
DeleteI did the same thing regarding the mushrooms. Good thing stir-fries are quick - an extra thirty minutes doesn't seem so bad. I too write in my cookbooks all the time. Love the bowl!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Cathleen. I can't help but make notes in my cookbooks! The more used, the more loved, right?
DeleteYour stir fry looks delish, Karen!!! And a nice healthy entree to balance out the mocha cookies ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz! Sometimes I need a break from the baked goods =)
DeleteI love baking and Asian cooking too, so I'm extra glad to find your blog thanks to Wok Wednesdays. Love that bright bowl full of good carroty-chickeny goodness, and your photo of annotated cookbook. YES! They are to be used and they are ours --- good reminder of that. Library-book carefulness is deeply ingrained here, thanks for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancie. Yes, I find if I make notes, than it helps me next time I make the dish because I don't always remember what happened and what I should do differently.
DeleteOhhhh yummmie, I love this. I do not have a wok so I am going to attempt to make it this weekend without. I was going to buy a wok but I have zero space for pots & pans ... do you think a wok is essential or could I live without it? I really have been thinking about it .. I must make space for a wok lol
ReplyDelete