What’s your go to for a quick meal that ticks all the boxes?
With fast, busy lives and no time to prepare meals it’s hard to go past a stir fry.
What’s not to love?
- ready in 15min max
- no prep necessary
- you can put just about anything into them
- meals full of colour and crunch so you know your getting all the nutrients you need
- they’re prefect with chilli (and who doesn’t love chilli?)
Check out our top stir fry veggies and flavour hacks for sauces you can knock up in 5 min, one bowl will never be enough!
The Greens
Most Chinese greens are available locally all year round so it’s the perfect go-to meal at any time of year. In summer you can stick to lighter sauces and flavours and in winter when you want something a bit more nourishing reach for coconut milk, turmeric, chilli and ginger to get you going.
Buk Choy – A popular green with white or green stems and large round leaves. It should be the last thing you pop in the wok and will only need to cook until the stems are soft enough to eat. As with all Chinese greens don’t over-cook them or else they lose all of their appeal! Perfect in both stir fries and Asian curries.
Gai Lan – Otherwise known as Chinese broccoli, its Fleur’s favourite and for good reason. It has harder stems and more fibrous leaves that the other greens and is typically served seamed with oyster sauce. It’s a yum char favourite!!
Choy Sum – a longer, thinner green that buk choy, Choy Sum is again perfect in stir fry’s or steamed on the side. It won’t take long to cook, so keep an eye on it.
Celery Leaves – Ever wondered what to do with all the leaves off your bunch of celery? They’re perfect as a side salad with any Asian dish. Fry them up with garlic, a little white vinegar and a splash of soy sauce. Once they are cooked you can toss them through a stir fry or eat them on their own. Celery leaves have a beautiful celery flavour but not quite as much crunch as the stems.
Cabbage- Again a great stir fry filler. Cook cabbage on it’s own, then toss it through the stir fry, especially if you’re using purple cabbage. Cabbage will take a little bit longer than most of the other greens as it has a much firmer leaf.
Killer Stir Fry Sauces
One of the best things about a stir fry is you can dress it up or down depending on the crowd. To make sure you cater for all taste buds, cook the stir fry without any flavour and then let people add their own dipping sauce at the table, you can also have little dishes of stronger species (like chilli) at the table for people to add as they like.
Chinese Style Dipping Sauce
Mix together soy sauce, white vinegar and sesame oil at the ratio of 5:2:1. You can experiment based on how much vinegar you like. Then add some finely chopped garlic and chilli to taste. Lemon grass and kaffir lime would be perfect in this sauce too.
Vietnamese Style Dipping Sauce
One of my all time favourites. Add a tablespoon of tamarind paste, fish sauce and rice bran oil and mix until combined. It will make a thick sauce, add water slowly until you get the consistency that will work for you. This sauce is perfect with chopped chilli, fresh coriander and kaffir lime.
Japanese Style Dipping Sauce
The kids will love this one! Mix a tablespoon of miso, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, one teaspoon of sesame oil together then add water until you get the right consistency. You can leave this sauce plane or add in some kaffir lime and chilli. Sticking to the theme when ever you use this sauce add a sheet of nori to the bowl or chop it up finely and sprinkle it over your dish to garnish.
Enjoy and we’d love to hear all about your stir fry creations! Come on over to our Facebook Group Foodies of YFC and show us!
