We make stir-fries all the time – remember our steak with stir-fried veg? They’re really easy to throw together, quick (this one takes less than 20 minutes altogether!) and healthy too. If you’ve got a few store-cupboard essentials you don’t even need to buy any sauce, and it’s a great recipe for using up any left-over veg. Our tamarind and oyster sauce is really tasty, and would be a great one to show off to guests who like their stir-fries.
To make the sauce for 2 people:
- Chunk of tamarind (see pic for size! About 3cm by 5cm), soaked in hot water and strained
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Groundnut oil
- 1/2 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
- Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp caster sugar
And to make the rest of the stir-fry, throw together whatever veg you have lying around with some noodles! Here’s what we used:
- 1 Courgette
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Pak Choi
- Handful of Cabbage
- 50g Mange Tout/Sugar Snap Peas
- 10 King Size Prawns
- 2 portions straight-to-wok noodles
Start by making the sauce. You’ll need to soak the tamarind for about half an hour in a bowl with boiling water, and then strain it through a sieve – make sure you manage to squeeze all of the flavour out of it. Mix together all the ingredients and give it a good stir. Depending on how you like your stir-fries, you could use more or less chilli – these proportions make a sauce that has a medium heat when using relatively firey chillies. A bit of a tip for ginger too – we keep loads frozen in the freezer in small chunks – it grates really well from frozen, and the flavour really comes through.
Once the sauce is made, slice up all the vegetables. How you slice depends on what veg you’re using, but as a general rule make sure that everything is sliced really thinly – especially hard vegetables like carrots – so that it cooks quickly and retains its crunch. No-one wants a soggy stir-fry! Add you veg to a wok with a splash of vegetable oil (or any other flavourless oil) and cook over a high heat, stirring regularly. Once the veg is close to cooked (this shouldn’t take longer than about 5 minutes) add the sauce, stir in and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add the noodles, stir in again, then finally add the King Prawns and cook for another couple of minutes until they’re just pink – that’s it, you’re done!
You could try this sauce with different meats – it would be pretty good with chicken or turkey – and it would work with loads of different veg too. It’s a perfect go-to meal if you’ve had a long day at work, and is guaranteed to perk you up.
Fats and Bird 