As I have mentioned before, I am not very intuitive in the kitchen, but I usually know my way around (albeit rudimentary) the flavors and ingredients of various cuisines. EXCEPT–ASIAN!!! I know it partly has to do with the completely alien cupboard of spices and sauces required in this cuisine, which I just don’t practice at daily or evenly weekly. I really wish I had a solid standby stir-fry sauce, really spicy and not sugary or gelatinous. And also NOT one with a bazillion ingredients! I would like to get rid of the dozen or so random bottles of Asian sauces and vinegars occupying some major real estate in my fridge! I need something simple and easy enough that I can remember it off the top of my head. Any ideas?
Spicy Shrimp, Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-Fry (draft version)
- 1 pound cooked shrimp
- Mushrooms, sliced (My husband doesn’t like mushrooms, so I picked them out of his dish above.)
- Broccoli Florets
- 3 Scallions, sliced white and barely green parts
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 1 jalapeno pepper (would have used some Thai chili peppers if I had had them.)
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- red pepper flakes
- canola oil
Here is where the ingredients list gets a bit wonky because I just started adding stuff to beef up the flavor.
- Tamari Soy Sauce
- Schezuan Sauce (I don’t know why or how I got this, but it was never opened.)
- Hoison Sauce (a dollop)
I first blanched the broccoli and carrots. I heat up the oil and sauteed the garlic and red pepper flakes first then added the scallions. Next I added the carrots, broccoli, jalapeno and mushrooms and let them all saute well. Started adding the sauces until it tasted somewhat interesting. Then tossed in the shrimp and heated it thoroughly and served it with brown rice.
It was OK, but something about the sauces left a bad aftertaste, like I could taste the cornstarch or something…I dunno. Let me know what you think, it would be greatly appreciated.
domestophile 
Hi Christy,
Biney and I eat a lot of asian food, and because Biney loves spicy, I have two standby sauces that I use a lot. You can get both at any big grocery store, or at the Asian store. Both are by Huy Fong Foods (out of California). The first is a chili garlic sauce- the asian name is Yuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam, it comes in a jar and has a green lid. The second is Sriracha hot chili sauce (this comes in a squeeze bottle with a green top). Both sauces go a long way, so try a little first and add more according to how spicy you like it. You may have seen these sauces on the table at any Vietnamese Pho place- they add it to make their soups more spicy. It works wonderfully in stir fry. Good luck- hope that helps!
Enjoy the spice!
Kristen Dhillon
Hey Kristen! Thanks for the advice! We do use Sriracha religiously. Anything spicy and garlicky is music to my ears (tongue?). I guess I’m looking for something more soy sauce/sesame oil based for stir-fry stuff. Thanks for the help and commenting!
hey! back when we used to stir fry a lot, we would make a really simple sauce using garlic, fresh ginger (or you can buy that ginger people jarred stuff, which is pretty good), soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. et voila! the proportions can totally be played around with and if you want spicy, just add some sriracha or red pepper flakes (or…gasp! chopped hot peppers!). the best part (to me) is that we use the same exact list, plus some honey and peanut butter for a super awesome peanut sauce. ahhh…so good on noodles!
Thanks Valerie!
Yes, that’s what I was looking for, thanks! I’m definitely going to try the peanut sauce variation! that sound so easy! I hate how so many recipes call for cornstarch and crap like that.