June 2013

Our Favourite Stir Fry





Monday night's stir fry night. It has been for the past year since our son came back to live with us after completing his degree. He took it upon himself to cook a couple of times a week and since he's keen on using a wok and I'm not, we settled into the routine of me chopping and him frying every Monday evening. Our recipe has evolved over time and this is our current favourite :


INGREDIENTS -                    For 4 People


NOODLES - Dried fine Sharwood's egg noodles - 3 nests for 4 people


SAUCE      -  one small cardboard pack of Tesco's organic chopped tomatoes

                    -  grated fresh ginger - approx 3cm

                    -  2 crushed garlic cloves

                    -  teaspoon of dried basil

                    -  pinch of paprika

                    -  teaspoon of organic tomato puree

                    -  tablespoonful of Meridian tamari soy sauce

                    -  1/4 chopped fresh red chill
                       
                    -  pinch of dried seaweed

                    -  teaspoonful of sesame seeds



TOFU         - pack of Cauldron firm white tofu



VEG            - grated savoy cabbage

                     - about 6 broccoli florets

                     - about 4 chopped baby sweetcorn



NUTS         - about 1 tablespoonful of toasted, chopped almonds or toasted pine nuts




TO COOK


                    TOFU

                    1 Slit the pack and drain the liquid away.

                    2 Rinse the tofu under the cold tap

                    3 I use a clean tea towel to pat the tofu dry. You could use kitchen roll.

                    4 I put the tofu in a large seive which rests over my sink. A colander would

                        also work. The idea is to press some of the liquid out of the tofu before 

                        frying it.

                   5 I place the tea-towel over the tofu and put my heavy mortar on top. Weights 

                       from an old-style weighing scale would be good or a clean stone.

                   6  Leave it to drain for about half an hour.




                    NOODLES

                     1    Bring a  large pan of fresh water to the boil

                     2   Place the noodle nests in carefully

                     3   When the water comes to the boil again, turn the heat down until they're
                           just simmering

                     4   Wait for 3 mins

                     5   Turn the heat off and put a lid on the pan

                     6   You can leave these for about 4/5 mins while you do some more prep

                           then drain & fill the pan up with cold water, drain them, fill up with cold

                           water again,  fork through and leave to drain
                   
                      7   Again, after about 4/5 mins, you can return them to the pan and pour about

                           a teaspoon of your favourite oil over them, eg sesame or olive. fork it through

                           to coat the noodles and put the lid back on until you're ready to add them to

                           the stir fry.

                           Straight - to - wok noodles are nice too !



                       SAUCE

                    
                     1   Empty the carton of chopped tomatoes into a large flat dish and, using a 

                          potato masher, squeeze any large lumps into oblivion. You could use a 

                          liquidiser of course, but think of the electricity, the mess, the noise ! I've

                          always hankered after one of those hand-held whizzers. Perhaps they're

                          the answer.......

                     2  Peel and grate the ginger. I use the middle-sized side of the grater. You don't             

                         want great big slivers. Add to sauce and mix with a fork.

                    3   Peel & finely chop the garlic. I read that leaving chopped garlic to the air for a

                         bit of time allows it to develop some of its good properties so before crushing

                         it with salt, I just let it lie for a bit.

                    4  I do tend to love the aroma of dried basil when my sense of smell's functioning.
      
                        It's not really the right herb for a stir-fry but I'm a bit reluctant to leave it out

                        because of its familiarity. I put a level teaspoon in this sauce.

                    5  I started using paprika alot when I discovered the expensive but delightful

                        smoked variety. Suma's is fabulous. You only need a pinch.

                    6  I don't always put tomato puree in but it does thicken the sauce a little and

                        I think tomatoes are very nutritious !

                    7  Meridian soy sauce is a lovely natural product. It says its made from whole

                         soy beans & the only added ingredients are sea salt & Koji which I assume is

                         the brewing agent.

                    8  I usually use half a red chill, assuming it's a big fat one, putting a rubber
   
                        glove on to wash it then slice it lengthways in four in order to carefully slice

                        the seeds out. If you like your food really hot, of course, the seeds can be left

                        in, but ensure no-one is allergic to the seeds first ! I chop the chilli into really 

                        tiny pieces.

                    9  I'm trying to remember to pop a pinch of seaweed into any sauce I make

                         these days to ensure we have a natural source of iodine and it seems 

                         particularly appropriate to the flavours of this dish.

                  10  Sesame seeds are also an appropriate flavour for this dish, and add a 

                         good balance of amino acids to the tofu. I've taken to toasting them in 

                         the oven by spreading them on a baking tray and popping them in the 

                         oven at about 180 C for about 10 - 15 mins until light golden then they

                         can be stored in a jar.

                         TOFU

                       
                   1    Chop the tofu into small cubes and roll in plain flour.

                    2   Fry carefully in a frying pan until crisp

                    3  Put in a bowl & keep warm in the oven - only barely on.

             

                        VEG


                   1   Slice about one quarter of the cabbage into fine slivers, wash then

                        leave in a colander to drain.

                    2  Wash the baby sweetcorn and chop into small (1 - 1 1/2 inch) pieces

                    3  Break the broccoli florets into bite-size pieces and chop the hard part of

                         the stem off. Wash and drain with the cabbage.



  COOKING

      

                      Tofu

           
                      What makes this particular stir fry our favourite, is the way returning son

                      instigated the genius process of frying the tofu separately before adding

                      it to the wok. He uses our old heavy frying pan to fry the coated cubes

                      until they're quite golden, then pops them in a dish in the oven with the warming 
             
                      bowls until the last minute.


                     STIR FRY !!!!!!!!!!

                     I've recently got interested/obsessed with the qualities of different oils & have

                    been seeking out cold-pressed ones which apparently have been made 

                    without the use of chemicals. My favourite one recently is Borderfields British 
    
                    rapeseed oil, but I've also seen a Yorkshire one which I'm very excited about -

                    I'm easily excited ! The only problem is, it's quite a strong smelling oil, so I tend

                    to mix it with our usual sunflower oil. 


FRYING

                    The order for frying would be :


                   1 - Heat up oil

                   2 - Place prepared veg in, starting with sweetcorn, then broccoli, then cabbage.

                   3 - Fry for about 3 mins, stirring & avoiding burning!

                   4 - Add sauce, mix in, turn heat down & fry for a further 3 mins.

                   5 - Add noodles, mix in well, heat through - takes about 3/4 mins

                   6 - Add tofu cubes & mix through. Heat for about 2 mins.

                    
                   7- Serve in the warm bowls, leaving the toasted nuts and the bottle of shoyu

                      out for people to help themselves !