Any serious cooks here ?

Cooking is my 1st true love. My mom told me a story about me cooking. She said that very early one morning she found me at the stove when I was 4 years old. Apparently I had pushed a chair up to the stove, and I was scrambling eggs.

Ever since then I have been passionate about cooking/baking.

Well, currently I am looking for the perfect home-made stir fry sauce. Yes, I know there are numerous jars of the stuff at the grocery but I am always interested in making dishes from scratch.

So, does anyone make their own stir fry sauce ? I'd love to trade ideas.

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

I use the Ken Hom recipe for sweet and sour sauce if that's any good?

3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Mix everything except the cornflour in a saucepan and heat gently to the sugar dissolves then increase the heat to a simmer
Mix cornflour with a little water to make a thin paste then add to the pan. Stir until the sauce thickens - if you like it a bit thicker, add more cornflour in small amounts until you get to the desired consistency.

I do a stir-fry as normal, then just pour the sauce into the wok before stirring it in.

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Hi

I love cooking.

I do not bake other than Soda Bread.

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

thank you , Judd, but I am happy with my sweet and sour recipe. I do appreciate it though.

The recipe I am looking for is a stir fry recipe that is not at all sour and ever so slightly sweet.

Most of those recipes call for a low sodium soy sauce, a tad of sesame oil, corn starch, chicken stock and occasionally some tiny bit of rice vinegar. Other chefs add some freshly ground ginger and freshly minced garlic.

Some Chinese chefs only add the ginger and garlic as they stir fry the vegetables and AFTER the meat is done. A few chefs add a small amount of honey.

I think I'm on the right track but something is not quite right.

I'm trying to duplicate a fan-bloody-tastic chicken stir fry I had while over-seas. But, please keep the ideas coming.

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

I just happened to stumble across Martin Yan's (of Yan Can Cook, TV fame) recipe for stir fry sauce.

He uses a bit of dry sherry in his recipe. Now is not the time to go all the way into downtown San Diego on public transportation to get to a good wine seller, so I'll have to wait.
But, I have a feeling that just might be the "missing flavor".

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Ken Hom always used to put rice wine in things,
and for some reason I always remember him
saying 'if you can't get rice wine use some dry
sherry' so that could be it!

And of course you forgot the chilli again

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Cooking is totally alien to me. Don't have a clue, even boiling water is saved because the kettle auto switches off. Still there is always the chippies in normal times. till That new cooking range looks good in the kitchen

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Rice wine, soya sauce and a splash of water.



My stir fries are normally pork, beef or chicken. With crunchy veg added.

I cut the meat fine and add cornflour before frying. This cooks it rapidly without stewing. It also thickens the sauce instantly.

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Not a great lover of rice, probably because I find it bland has any body out there got a recipe I could use to tart it up a bit ?

Re: Any serious cooks here ?

Yes, as a start, may I suggest that you cook your rice in a nice rich chicken stock ? Barring that, use a chicken bouillon cube.