Lately, I have been trying out a  simple vegetable sauté recipe found in an Asian cook-book  that was given to me as a birthday present some years ago (Mon carnet de cuisine Asie, Terry Tan).

I have always found it difficult to reproduce that special taste of Asian food, but I think that after several turns of experimenting on the same theme,  I’ve managed to get it quite right.

This is how I have tweaked the original Chinese-style vegetable stir- fry of page 21 to suit the requirements of my palate…

I have not used any exotic ingredients. No soy sauce, no fish or oyster sauce. Just some sesame oil and ginger. I have used ginger root mostly, but I’ve also complemented it with dry ginger powder when I ran out of stock.

As for the chili, I’m  using Greek-style coarsely ground dry chili, not cayenne pepper, but I believe in make-do. The chili should definitively not take over, use it with moderation.

Ingredients for two big portions:

1 capsicum, preferably red/yellow/orange cut in thin wedges
2 medium sized carrots cut in thin wedges
250-300  gr cauliflower sliced
1 dl  green peas
1 onion cut in 8
1 tsp rock salt
3 big garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp ginger minced
0.5-1 tsp dry red chili
1 tsp brown sugar
vegetable oil (olive, canola, etc.) & sesame oil
1 tbsp corn-starch; 200 ml water
a small handful of cashew nuts, unsalted

Preparation:

• Cut the capsicum and carrots in thin wedges. Separate the cauliflower in bouquets and slice them vertically. Cut the onion first  in half, and then each half in quarters.
• Put the carrots and cauliflower in a pot and add just enough water to cover them. Soft-boil for 2 min,  strain the vegetables and save 200 ml  of broth for later.
• Finely mince the garlic cloves and ginger.
• In a dry, or slightly greased pan, roast the cashew nuts until  golden and crunchy.  Set aside.

Cooking:

• Heat up a big pan and stir fry the garlic, ginger and chili in 2 tbsp of oil: 1 min
• Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil and the onion: 2 min
• Add the cauliflower, carrots, capsicum, salt &  sugar and stir fry until the vegetables have become softer, but are still a bit crispy: approx 5-6 min
• Turn off the heat and add the corn-starch diluted in some of the broth. Add the rest of the liquid while stirring. The sauce will thicken immediately. Remove from the heat, put on a serving plate and add the cashew nuts.