Cantonese Style Stir-Fry

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I totaly forgot to post my entry for the Blog Appétit No 7. I’m 2 days late! So much for a sticker on the screen reminding me of it.

This time the theme is poultry and cabbage. Since we’re not particularly fond of cabbage in our home, I decided to use a vegetable from the brassica family, bok-choi which latin name is Brassica Chinensis. It’s mellower in taste than regular cabbage. It’s reminiscent of Swiss chard.


I decided to make a stir-fry. It’s a very convenient cooking way. It’s quick and allows for a healthy meal by itself. I also like its versatility. I usually use what I have in the fridge and if there’s no meat, I just make a vegetarian version.

One of the more important rules in making stir-fry is to sauté meat and vegetable over very high heat in small batches. It makes for quickly seared thinly cut meats and deliciously crunchy vegetables. Once the stir-frying begins, there will be no time to prep for anything. This means all ingredients must be prepared in advance.

Cantonese Style Stir-Fry

You can substitute any kind of vegetables or meat to suit either you tastes or what is available in your fridge. The thing to remember is to cut in thin strips.

It's also better to stir-fry in small batches in order to keep the temperatures high. For this recipe I stir-fry the content of each bowl of ingredients I prepared in two batches.

Preparing the ingredients

Chicken and its marinade

Cut 2 chicken breasts in thin strips. Add:
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Mix well and allow to marinate while you're getting the rest of the ingredients ready (about 20 minutes.)

Vegetables

I always prepare 3 or 4 different bowls of vegies.
- The first one is for "root vegetables" which take longer to cook (carrots, celery...)
- The second is for more tender vegies like bell peppers and bok-choi stalks.
- The third is for leafy vegetables.
- The fourth is for onions when I use them.

I stir fry the onions first when I use them. Then I proceed in batches, from the hardest vegies to the quickest to cook, leafy ones being the last to go in the wok.

1st bowl
2 celery stalks, cut thinly
1 carrot, cut thinly

2nd bowl
1 small bell pepper or half a medium one, cut in thin strips
Stalks of the bok-choi (reserving the leaves) cut in thin strips
Few mushrooms (chinese or other), thinly cut

Bowl 3
Bok-choi leaves, cut chiffonade-style.

Bowl 4
1 onion, cut in thin strips.

The sauce

Mix together:
1 cup (250 ml) COLD broth (or water)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soay sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 inch long frash ginger root, finely grated

Add:
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Mix well and keep at hand near the stove.

Noodles

If you can't find chinese (cantonese) style noodles, you can use egg noodles or spaghettini as substitutes. You will need 250 g (half a pound). Cook according to package direction (if using non chinese noodles, they must be al-dente to prevent a mushy mess), strain and cool completely under cold running water.

Keep at hand with the other ingredients near the stove.

Let's stir-fry now

You can use either a wok if you have one or a regular pan but by all means avoid non-stick pans as they reliese toxic fumes when heated to high temperatures like it's necessary for a stir-fry.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. When very hot, add half the oinion and sauté 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the wok or pan from heat and put the sautéed onions in a bowl big enough to recieve all of the vegetables and the meat when cooked. Proceed sautéing the rest of the onion.

Stir-fry in the same fashion the chicken strips, half at a time and add them to the bowl with the onion. You may feel it's necessary to wash the pan after cooking the chicken. Particularly if the heat wasn't high enough to sear it.

Proceed with all the vegetables in the same fashion, half a bowl at a time, adding a tablespoon of oil between batches if necessary.

When all the vegetables are stir-fryed, add a tablespoon or two of oil and stir fry the noodles quickly over very high heat. Don't remove from the wok (or pan) and lower the heat to medium. Stir the sauce quickly as the cornstarch will have settled at the bottom of the bowl and then add it to the pan. Add the vegetables and chicken and mix well to coat with sauce and reheat at the same time.

Allow to cook 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. If you feel it's too dry (it can be the case if you used regular nooddles instead of chinese ones) add some more water or broth.

Serve at once, sprinkled with toasted sesames seeds if you wish.