Title: 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes
Author: Nancie McDermott
Published March 2014 by Robert Rose
Suggested Price: $24.94 US
ISBN: 97800778801573
Are you looking for an easy way to capture the freshness of summer or bring back flavor during the cool seasons? Stir-fries allow us to quickly create delicious and healthy meals all year round, regardless of skill level in the kitchen. You just need a wok or skillet to heat these home-cooked meals. I can’t wait to do stir-fries often this summer and not heat up the house.
Author Nancie McDermott shares recipes that were created based on her world travel experiences in 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes. Information has been included on traditions and techniques with stir-frying. Nancie has also provided a basic pantry list and equipment to create her dishes.
32 beautiful color photographs are contained within. Many vegetarian dishes are also included. To give you a taste of 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes, please try out the recipes I have been allowed to share below and enjoy!
Courtesy of 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes by Nancie McDermott © 2014 www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission.
Chicken with Sweet and Hot Peppers, page 31
Bursting with vitamin C and ablaze with color, sweet bell peppers make an ideal ingredient in stir-fry dishes. You could use red, yellow and orange bell peppers, or just green ones from your summer garden. Jalapeños make a hot but not blazing spicy note here. If you want more heat, use fresh green or red serrano chile peppers, and if you want a fiery dish, use tiny Thai chiles instead.
1 tbsp cornstarch 15 mL
1 tbsp water 15 mL
2 tsp dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine 10 mL
12 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks 375 g
3 tbsp chicken stock or water 45 mL
1 tbsp soy sauce 15 mL
1 tsp salt or to taste 5 mL
1⁄2 tsp granulated sugar 2 mL
2 tbsp vegetable oil 25 mL
1 tbsp chopped garlic 15 mL
1 tbsp finely chopped jalapeño peppers (see Tips) 15 mL
2 tsp chopped fresh gingerroot 10 mL
11⁄4 cups thin strips red, green and yellow bell pepper (see Tips) 300 mL
- In a bowl, combine cornstarch, water and sherry and stir well. Add chicken and mix gently to coat evenly with marinade. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine chicken stock, soy sauce, salt and sugar and stir well.
- Heat a wok or a large deep skillet over high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat pan. Add garlic, jalapeño peppers and ginger and toss well, until garlic and ginger are fragrant, about 15 seconds.
- Add chicken mixture, quickly spreading into a single layer and cook, undisturbed, until edges turn white, 1 minute. Toss well and cook for 1 minute more. Add bell peppers and toss well. Reduce heat to medium.
- Add chicken stock mixture and cook, until chicken is no longer pink inside and peppers are tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve hot or warm.
TIPS
To chop jalapeño peppers, cut off stems and halve each pepper lengthwise, discarding seedy portions and most of the seeds. Chop lengthwise into thin strips and then crosswise to make small bits.
To make pepper strips, halve each pepper lengthwise and discard stem section and seeds. Cut off the rounded top and bottom portions and reserve for salad or other dishes. Cut enough of the remaining portion of each pepper into slender strips about 11⁄2 inches (4 cm) long.
Serves 4
Five-Spice Bok Choy and Green Onions, page 91
Five-spice powder is an extraordinary mélange of aromatic spices that brings marvelous flavor to meat dishes all across Asia. Made from star anise, Szechwan peppercorns, fennel seeds, cinnamon and cloves, it is often available among the spices on supermarket shelves or in Asian markets. Enjoy this richly flavored stir-fry with a salad of spinach, dried cranberries and thinly sliced almonds, tossed with a citrus dressing.
1 tbsp soy sauce 15 mL
1 tbsp dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine 15 mL
1 tsp five-spice powder 5 mL
1 tsp cornstarch 5 mL
8 oz boneless pork (such as loin or tenderloin), thinly sliced 250 g
1 tbsp chicken stock or water 15 mL
1 tsp brown sugar or granulated sugar 5 mL
1 tsp salt or to taste 5 mL
2 tbsp vegetable oil 25 mL
2 tbsp chopped garlic 25 mL
1 cup chopped bok choy (see Tip, right) 250 mL
3 tbsp chopped green onions 45 mL
- In a bowl, combine soy sauce, sherry, five-spice powder and cornstarch and stir well into a smooth sauce. Add pork and stir to coat evenly. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine chicken stock, sugar and salt and stir well. Set aside.
- Heat a wok or a large deep skillet over high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add garlic and toss well, until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
- Add pork mixture and spread into a single layer. Cook, undisturbed, until edges change color, about 30 seconds. Toss well. Cook, tossing occasionally, until no longer pink, about 1 minute more.
- Add bok choy and toss well. Add chicken stock mixture and cook, tossing occasionally, until pork is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add green onions and toss well. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve hot or warm.
TIP
For 1 cup (250 mL) chopped bok choy, you’ll need about 3 leafy stalks. Trim 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the base of each stalk and then halve it lengthwise. Chop resulting strips crosswise into 1-inch (2.5 cm) lengths. You’ll have bite-size pieces, roughly 11⁄2 inches-by 1-inch (4 cm by 2.5 cm). If bok choy leaves are very large, cut them lengthwise into 3 or 4 pieces, rather than in half.
Serves 4
Pork Slices with Bursting Peas, page 88
Sugar snap peas look like little snow peas inflated to just-before-the-bursting point. Though the two vegetables differ in a number of ways, they both offer a fresh, intense flavor and delightful crunch and can be used interchangeably in many stir-fried dishes. Sugar snaps need a little more liquid and a slightly longer cooking time than snow peas.
1 tbsp soy sauce 15 mL
1⁄2 tsp salt or to taste 2 mL
8 oz boneless pork (such as loin or tenderloin), thinly sliced 250 g
1 tbsp fish sauce 15 mL
1 tbsp chicken stock or water 15 mL
1 tsp granulated sugar 5 mL
3⁄4 tsp freshly ground pepper 4 mL
2 cups sugar snap peas 500 mL
2 tbsp vegetable oil 25 mL
1 tbsp chopped garlic 15 mL
2 tbsp chopped green onions 25 mL
- In a bowl, combine soy sauce and salt and stir well. Add pork and stir to coat well. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, chicken stock, sugar and pepper and stir well. Set aside.
- Trim sugar snap peas, cutting off stem and pulling it along straight edge to remove any strings. Set aside.
- Heat a wok or a large deep skillet over high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat pan. Add garlic and toss well, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add pork mixture and spread into a single layer. Cook, undisturbed, until edges change color, about 30 seconds.
- Toss well. Cook, tossing occasionally, until most of the pork is no longer pink, about 1 minute more. Add sugar snap peas and toss well.
- Add fish sauce mixture, pouring in around sides of pan. Toss well. Cook, tossing often, until pork is cooked through and sugar snap peas are tender-crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add green onions and toss well. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve hot or warm.
Serves 4
Disclosure: I received a copy of 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes to review. No other compensation was received for this post. The thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.
