the appetizer:
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories by Grace Young, includes recipes like The Simple Stir-Fry; Stir-Fried Squid with Black Bean Sauce; Stir-Fried Lotus Root with Bacon and Vegetables; and Wok-Seared Vegetables.
Wok-Seared Vegetables
Serves 4 as a vegetable side dish.
This recipe is a template for how to stir-fry vegetables with hard, medium-hard, and soft textures. "Hard" carrots are cut into 1/4-inch-thick julienne pieces so that they cook quickly. Blanching the "medium-hard" asparagus enables it to be stir-fried together with the shiitake mushrooms and "soft" cherry tomatoes. This is a dish I like to make in the spring when asparagus comes into season. I prefer using grape tomatoes because they have more flavor than regular tomatoes that time of the year. You can substitute button mushrooms for the shiitakes.
- 12 ounces medium asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
(about 2 cups) - 3 tablespoons Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup julienned carrots
- 8 medium fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps quartered
(about 4 ounces) - 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
1. In a 2-quart saucepan bring 3 cups water to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring, 1 minute or until the asparagus is bright green and the water has almost returned to a boil. Drain the asparagus in a colander, shaking well to remove excess water. In a small bowl combine the rice wine, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.
2. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the oil, add the shallot, ginger, and garlic, and stir-fry 10 seconds or until the aromatics are fragrant. Add the asparagus, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry 1 minute or until the mushrooms begin to wilt. Add the tomatoes, sprinkle on the sugar and salt, swirl the rice wine mixture into the wok, and stir-fry 1 minute or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- from:
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge:
The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories - by Grace Young
- Photographs by Steven Mark Needham
- Simon & Schuster 2010
- Hardcover; $35.00
- ISBN-10: 1416580573
- ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-8057-7
- Reprinted by permission.
Buy Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
Recipes
- The Simple Stir-Fry
- Stir-Fried Squid with Black Bean Sauce
- Stir-Fried Lotus Root with Bacon and Vegetables
- Wok-Seared Vegetables
- Cookbook Profile Archive
This page created September 2010