Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

Every time I make stir fry, I change the recipe, because I make it up each time.But this one turned out so good, I thought I would make sure I wrote this down.

Sweet & Sour Stir Fry

Begin to boil rice. I use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups water. I cover the pan and start it cold allowing rice to soak up water as it starts to boil. Turn down heat to medium low and boil for 20 minutes

Cut a variety of  vegetables into 1 inch cubes including: Onions, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, bell peppers, water chestnuts and soy sprouts (from can),  mushrooms (add last) and anything else that looks like it would be good in stir fry. At this point add precooked, cubed chicken* if desired.

1 Tablespoon olive oil in wok. Heat until almost smoking. Add cut up vegetables. Saute and stir until tender. 

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

In sauce pan combine the following ingredients

1 cup concentrated frozen orange juice

any liquid drained off canned vegetables added to stir fry

2 cups water

1 Tablespoon ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp garlic salt

pepper to taste

soy sauce to taste

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 to 1 cup sweetener to taste (I use brown sugar)

Bring to boil and allow to boil for 5 to 10 minutes continuing to stir.

Slowly add:

1/4 cup cold water mixed with corn starch

continue to boil stirring vigorously while sauce thickens.

Remove from heat and pour over vegetables

Remove cooked rice from heat. Make sure no liquid remains.

Add 

1 can unsweetened coconut milk from can (found in Chinese food section of grocery store)

Serve with Sweet & Sour Stir Fry Vegetables and breaded, pan fried shrimp* from a box. 

*If  served with shrimp, the chicken is not necessary

Egg Drop Soup

5 cups chicken stock/broth
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 2-inch piece ginger root, peeled
1 garlic clove
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 green onion, thinly sliced
sesame oil

In a large pot, combine stock and soy sauce. Grate in ginger and garlic, stir. Bring to a boil. Let boil 4 or 5 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Stirring soup in a circular motion, slowly pour eggs into soup in a continuous stream. Let simmer undisturbed until egg is cooked (approx. 1 minute). Pour into serving bowls, top with green onion and a small drizzle of sesame oil.

Goes Well With: Chinese food, obviously.
Tips: If you can't foresee using the rest of your ginger root anytime soon, put it in a ziploc bag and pop it in the freezer. It'll keep forever(ish).

Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup bean sprouts

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms (3 oz)

3 cups cold cooked rice

1 cup cut-up cooked pork

2 medium green onions sliced (2 tablespoons)

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

3 tablespoons soy sauce (*We found 3 tablespoons to be WAY too much.  My sister made it with 1 1/2 tablespoons and said it was perfect.)

Dash of white pepper

1. Rinse bean sprouts with cold water; drain.  2.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat; rotate skillet until oil covers bottom.  Cook mushrooms in oil about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until coated.  3.  Add bean sprouts, rice, pork and onions.  Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up rice until hot.  4. Move rice mixture to side of skillet.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to other side of skillet.  Cook eggs in oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until eggs are thickened throughout but still moist.  Stir eggs into rice mixture.  Stir in soy sauce and white pepper.

*The recipe says to use cold rice, even day old rice, because it prevents it from getting mushy.  We didn't have day old rice, so we made some in the microwave and then stuck it in the fridge until it had cooled down a little.  That worked just fine.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

My son loves "Chinese chicken" so I was looking through my cookbooks to see if I could find an orange chicken recipe, which I couldn't find, but I did find this recipe for sweet and sour sauce in my Betty Crocker cookbook.  It was delicious and my son loved it, so win-win!

1/2 Cups packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, drained and juice reserved

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

1.  Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in 1-quart saucepan.  2.  Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1/2 cup; stir into sugar mixture.  Stir in vinegar and soy sauce.  3.  Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Stir in pineapple and bell pepper.  4.  Use sauce immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 1 year.  Serve over pork, poultry of seafood.

*We had it over chicken we just cooked in a pan.  It was really delicious.  Mm mm!