My favorite Chinese dish...

My beautiful sister got us a wok for Christmas our first year together.  She knows how much I love to cook. At that time, I had not made any Chinese food other than what my brother called Chicken Teri Yucky  I often wondered if he really liked the meal when he gave it such a name, but he requested it enough for my feelings to not be hurt.  When I got the wok I wondered if I would really use it that much but my darling husband/best friend, along with having a penchant for pico de gallo, also has an intense Chinese food fetish.  So three cookbooks later I started my adventures in wok-ing.  This recipe is my absolute favorite.  You can use chicken or beef and any veggies you have on hand.

The first picture is what I call my go-to rice for Chinese meals.  It is white basmati cooked in chicken broth.  You want to put this on first because it takes 20 minutes to simmer.  While you are waiting for the rice to get done chop up three garlic cloves and four green onions and saute them in some oil then when the rice is done add it and a packet that I found in the store called Stir Fry Rice seasoning.  It's in the Asian food spot of any store around here so I know you can find it where you are. Combine well and let it sit while you do everything else.  Rice done.

While you are waiting on that rice to cook, because we all know it does not take 20 minutes to chop up three garlic cloves and four green onions, you can be cutting your meat into bite size pieces and making the marinade/sauce.

The best part of this recipe is the marinade/sauce.  I found this recipe in a magazine (so much for the expensive cookbooks),

Marinade/Sauce recipe
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (actually I use 1 1/2 cause we like it HOT)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup of water

stir this up and put about half of it on the meat of your choice and allow it to marinate while you chop everything else up.  Reserve the other half to throw in with your veggies while they are cooking.

Once again I needed to use up some veggies in the fridge.  The tri-color peppers I got on sale at the beginning of the week were about to meet the same shriveled fate that the jalapenos were headed for yesterday.  I had half a red, yellow, orange and green pepper just waiting to be chopped up.  I added two carrots and the rest of the celery I had on hand, about three average stalks.  It was actually the middle bits but I think they would average out to three stalks of the outer part.  I added one small onion cut in half and then sliced thinly.  I can't resist water chestnuts so I threw in a can of those also.  I have used bok choy and sugar snap peas in this recipe but like I said earlier you can use any crunchy veggies you have on hand.

Just use the standard Chinese food cooking method.  Wok hot-throw in some oil and the meat-cook for a minute or two and remove from the pan. It doesn't need to be completely done because you are going to throw it back in towards the end.  Add a little more oil and throw in the veggies.  Cook for a minute or two and put in the reserved sauce.  Cook for a minute or two and throw the meat back in. (Don't leave out the meat juices that are on the plate, that's the good stuff)  Cook for a few more minutes or until the veggies are the desired crunch for your taste.

The third picture is to show that you can garnish this to your heart's delight.  My darling husband/best friend loves some extra green onion and we both love the crunch of the peanuts.  Yummm.