Stir Fry...

Stir Fry's are awesome. Crank up that heat and watch the oil get so hot it's almost ready to combust and blow the kitchen roof off or the kitchen gets so smoky you can't see and the smell is still lingering five days later. Yip we've all been there probably at some point, for me it was when I left home and bought my first bachelor pad. I really liked Chinese food and thought that I could just make my own with a wok and a bottle of Kikkoman but oh how wrong I was.

Thankfully now there's less threat of blowing up my house or yelling to the family to drop and crawl to the nearest exit. I still crank up the heat and create a little smoke but that's just stir frying. Having all of the ingredients ready at hand is key and then its just a matter of throwing them into the wok in a timely manner.

Once you pick your main ingredient whether its seafood, meat or tofu then you can let your imagination run wild. Pick another 5-6 items which are small, this might mean chopping up the asparagus or slicing the carrots julienne to help expedite the cooking process. Another thing I learned from experience is to treat the stir fry like a salad. When adding the sauce, don't drown it just because the Sechuan five spice hoisin label looks awesome, a little goes a long way just like a salad dressing. Its really hard to mess up a stir fry and as long as you started with the largest ingredient the rest should just follow and still be slightly crunchy when ready to serve.

Here's the recipe:

6oz firm tofu.
Canola or veg oil for the wok.
4 Garlic cloves finely chopped.
14 Large shrimp, peeled and deveined.
6 Scallops halved.
4 Spring onions, chopped.
1 Can of baby corn.
Handful of mushrooms. I used dried for the first time just because I hate white buttons and was really happy with them.
1 Chili, chopped, this can be added at the table if nobody else likes it spicy.
4 Tbsp soy sauce.
2 Tbsp fish sauce.
2 tsp brown sugar.
Juice of 1 lime.
Fresh cilantro, chopped.

Add 2 tbsp of oil to the pan and wait till it smokes, throw in the tofu and cook until golden brown. Take it out and leave to the side . Add 1 tbsp oil and heat, add the chopped garlic and cook for only a minute or it will become bitter. Add the seafood and toss for 3-4 minutes. Add all of the other ingredients and keep mixing over a high heat for about another 7 minutes.
Transfer to bowls and serve with a generous amount of cilantro and some bean sprouts if you have them.