My brother Matt made a great stir-fry meal for me about two years ago and I have been making variations of it ever since. The three key ingredients in Matt’s stir-fry were cashews, fennel seeds and a hot/spicy oil. I use these three ingredients (the “triple threat”) in almost all of my stir-fries and that is why they never fail. You can add anything else you want to your stir-fries and I know they will be great as long as you use the cashews, fennel seeds and hot/spicy oil. Tonight, I made a stir-fry for dinner and here is the basic recipe which served about 2 people, including steamed brown jasmine rice on the side.
UNCLE MATT’S NO-FAIL, TRIPLE THREAT STIR-FRY WITH BROWN JASMINE RICE
Ingredients:
1 cup of cashews
1 (14 oz.) package firm or extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1/2 package (12 oz.) soybean sprouts
1 small handful of fennel seeds, adjust to your personal taste
5 shakes from a bottle of EDEN FOODS Hot Pepper Sesame Oil
1 three-quarter lb. package ready to cook, pre-chopped stir-fry vegetables (or cut up your own)
Olive oil in spray bottle (I use the MISTO bottle) or 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Tamari sauce to add to stir-fry, as needed
Directions:
Spray wok (I use a triple-ply stainless steel one from COSTCO) with olive oil to coat or place two tablespoons oil in wok. Turn up heat to medium/medium high and let wok heat up. Then add about five shakes of Hot Pepper Sesame oil to wok, cashews, tofu cubes and fennel seeds. Stir these ingredients together quickly to try to get them a little “toasty and roasty.”
Next, add the stir-fry vegetables (but not the soybean sprouts) to the wok and start sauteeing them with Tamari Sauce. Keep adding just enough Tamari which is necessary for the vegetables to cook. After the vegetables cook a little, add the soybean sprouts. Stir everything in the wok together. Add either water or more Tamari to the stir-fry, as necessary, to prevent vegetables from sticking to the wok. You might want to add a few more drops of the Hot Pepper Sesame Oil at this point, depending upon how hot you like your food.
When broccoli turns a bright green, the stir-fry is done. I served my stir-fry with a side of steamed brown jasmine rice which I threw in my rice cooker earlier in the day (the rice cooker keeps it warm). If you want, you could steam the brown jasmine rice with coconut water which is delectable!! Voila!!! A simple dinner!!!
