Revisiting Stir-Fry

The other day I made stir-fry for supper, and it was a big hit. I've made it in the past and the family eats it and gives me supportive comments (thanks for not poisoning us, dad), but for the most part, I myself feel disappointed with the end result. First off, the sauce is too thin, and secondly, the veggies too soggy. Now I know what you're thinking, just thicken the sauce and cook the veggies less, but sometimes the obvious is not always so simple.

That's when it helps to look up a recipe and follow the instructions. I just happened to have an old stir-fry cookbook that my mother in law gave me and I broke it out. It has notes on good recipes, as well, so I picked one that got a thumbs up and gave it a go. Of course I didn't follow it to a "t," but I got the gist of how to make the sauce and cook the veggies. The key is compartmentalization. You cook the veggies first, take it out, then cook the veggies, then the sauce, and add it all together. There was some cornstarch involved, which I've avoided in the past, and I think the idea of cooking one part and removing it to cook the next part sort of turned me off (too many steps, I need simplicity), but it wasn't such a big deal. The stir-fry came out nicely, and now we have another dinner option that you can do vegetarian or with chicken or beef. We opt for the chicken, I'm not man enough just yet to go for beef, but maybe one day.

Thanks JR, our palates are grateful. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Robert Greenwood for the pic.