Stir-Fried Vegetables – 3 Ways

Hi guys! Today I would like to share with you how I make stir fry at home, namely vegetable stir fry.

So what do I consider as a good vegetable stir fry?

The vegetables have to be on the crunchy side. Definitely. I  hate… oh wait hate is a strong word. Let’s just say the moment I sank my teeth into soggy vegetables, I feel disappointment. The same disappointment when I bought a dress online and it didn’t fit. Bummer!

With that being said, when I said “crunchy”, I didn’t mean raw crunchy. It’s more like you know the vegetables were cooked as there was no longer taste raw but the vegetables still remained firm. Oh yes, like any good steak and pasta, vegetable stir fry has to be cooked just right.

I like to think that I make a decent stir fry at home.  Here are the 3 ways on how I cooked my vegetables and I hope they will inspire you to make and improvise your own vegetable stir fry at home. Enjoy!

Snows Peas & Carrots with Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup & Sesame Seeds

What you’ll need for 2 people with rice:

• Vegetable oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & finely chopped
• A handful of snow peas (about 80g/3 ounces), trimmed
• A carrot, skinned and julienned
• Maple syrup, to taste
• Soy sauce, to taste
• 2 tiny drops of sesame oil
• 1 dash of ground white pepper
• 2 tsps sesame seeds (you can toast them ahead but it’s optional)

Method:-

Heat some oil in a medium sized pan. When the oil is hot, add chopped garlic and julliened carrots over medium heat. As soon as the garlic is aromatic, add snow peas and saute until they turn bright green. Lower the heat to low, add maple syrup, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and sesame seeds. Turn the heat settings to high and saute until the “sauce” starts to thicken. Turn off the heat  and serve immediately with some rice.

Yellow Squash, Zucchini and Chickpeas “Italian Styled” Stir Fry

What you’ll need to feed 2 – 3 people:-

• Olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• Dried chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp Masterfoods Italian Herbs (or your choice of mixed dried Italian herbs)
• 2 tbsps tomato paste
• 2 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 x 400g/14 ounce canned of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• Water (you may need some depending how the mixture turn out)
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper

Methods:-

Start by heating some olive oil in a medium pan. When the oil is hot, add garlic, chilli flakes (if using) and dried Italian herbs and saute until aromatic. Then add tomato paste and saute over low heat until the olive oil turn red and separates from the mixture (you may add more olive oil if the mixture looks a little dry). Add sliced yellow squash, toss to combine with the tomato paste mixture and saute for a minute or so. Add chickpeas and toss to combine. If the mixture seems a bit dry, add 2 tbsps of water and close the pan with a lid. Cook until the squash slices are half-way tender. Then, add sliced zucchini toss to mix and again, close the pan with the lid to cook until the vegetables are tender to your liking. You may add some more water during the cooking time. Once the vegetables are tender, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with some olive oil before serving. Serve immediately with some brown rice.

Choy Sum with Fresh Shitake Mushrooms

What you’ll need to feed 1 -2 people with rice:-

• Vegetable oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 100g fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of choy sum, trimmed,cut the bunch crossways into 3 pieces and wash thoroughly
• Water
• 2 tbsps oyster sauce
• White pepper
• 1-2 tiny drops of sesame oil

Methods:-

Start by heating some oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot, add garlic and mushrooms and saute until aromatic. Then add choy sum and 2 tbsps of water (add more water if the pan looks dry) and saute until the choy sum begins to wilt a little. Over the lowest heat setting, add oyster sauce, white pepper and sesame oil (again, add more water if the mixture seems a little dry). Mix the sauce with the vegetables over high heat untilthe vegetables appear to be just soften and bright green. Serve immediately with rice.