Stir Fried Vegetables with Fresh Ginger

At a street food centre down on the beach at the east coast of Singapore, I asked the stall owner for a vegetarian clay plot. He said that his clay pot used animal fats but he could cook us something without meat. What showed up was a delight to the taste buds. It was really a basic stir fry but the generous dash of fresh ginger really brought it to life.

Ingredients

Sesame Oil, Ground Nut Oil or Coconut Oil

1 Carrot

1 Red Pepper

1 Green Pepper

1 Onion

1 Spring Onion

4 or 5 Asparagus stems

Cup of Prawns (For the vegetarian version, use cashew nuts instead of prawns)

Fresh Ginger (piece about the size of a golf ball) grated or very finely chopped.

1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped.

Soy Sauce (around 4 tbsp)

Rice Wine (around 4 tbsp)

Oyster sauce (around 4tsp) (use vegetarian or mushroom sauce for vegetarian version)

Corn Flour (around 1 tsp) dissolved in a few tsps of warm water

Pinch of Brown Sugar

(Note: You can try other vegetables such as French beans, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, Chinese leaves, snow peas, baby corn and green chilli. Don't try aubergines or courgettes!)

Method

We are using the assembly stir fry method here so as to keep the wok hot. You could throw everything in the wok at once but the assembly method will ensure your vegetables are cooked yet crispy.

1.     Chop all the vegetables into bite size pieces

2.     Steam the harder vegetables (carrots and asparagus) for 3 or 4 minutes to soften. Set aside and season with a dash of soy sauce.

3.     Stir fry the prawns and spring onion until just cooked. Remove from the wok, set aside and season with a dash of oyster sauce.

4.     Next, stir fry, the chilli, ginger and softer vegetables (peppers and onion) for 2 - 3 minutes.

5.     Add the harder vegetables and prawns and continue to stir fry for another 2 - 3 minutes

6.     Add the rice wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and corn flour and continue to cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Add a cup or two of water and cook for one more minute.

7.     Serve hot with rice.

Notes

1.     When stir frying, keep the wok very hot

2.     Use just a drop of oil to keep the wok moist

Thai Chinese Pepper Fish

Ingredients

300g White Fish Fillets

2 Bell Peppers (red, green or yellow but choose two different colours)

Medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 sticks of celery with leaves

Fresh ginger (piece about the size of a golf ball)

1 tsp black peppercorns

Pinch of salt

White flour (I use chick pea flour but you can use any type)

Ground nut oil

For the sauce:

2 tsp Oyster sauce

1 tsp Soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

Tamarind (about two finger length)

Vegetable or fish  stock (about half a litre)

To Cook Fish

1.         Grind the black peppercorns in a pestle and mortar

2.         Place some flour, a pinch of salt and a pinch of the ground pepper in a bowl

3.         Cut the fish into bit-size pieces

4.         Toss the fish pieces in the flour mixture

5.         Fry the fish pieces in groundnut oil over a medium heat, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through to the inside. Set aside on kitchen paper to drain off the oil.

Sauce

1.         Soak the tamarind in hot vegetable stock for 5 minutes. Mash the tamarind and strain the mixture through a sieve, discarding the seeds. Place the tamarind juice and stock in a bowl

2.         Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and the remainder of the ground black pepper and mix well.

Vegetables

1.         Roughly chop the peppers, celery and onion

2.         Finely chop the ginger and garlic.

3.         Stir fry the peppers, onion, ginger and garlic until starting to go golden

4.         Add the sauce, fish and celery (and some more stock if needed) and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes

5.         Serve hot with rice

Serves 2 – 4

Notes

1.         The fresh ground pepper gives a much better flavour than using the ready ground variety.

2.         Chinese people believe this is a very healthy meal as celery is good for lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure and ginger is good for the stomach.