If you've been a reader of this blog for some time now, you'll know that I'm all about simple food.
That's not just in my work either.
Simple food is easier, more instinctive to cook and requires less ingredients. A recipe with 20 ingredients is just not my jam and at home I like to keep things as whole, healthy and easy as possible.
Who's with me?
One of the first dishes I made for myself as a teenager was a stir fry. It actually wasn't half bad and I'm still using that same wok!
These days though I've learnt to find maximum flavour with minimum (whole) ingredients and time.
I love the idea of a stir fry as it's lightning fast and allows the produce to shine. Seasonal veggies and other yummy bits in a hot wok and there's dinner. Texture, taste and smell in just 15 minutes.
For me the key is selecting just a few vegetables; those that cook quickly and provide gorgeous colour. In the past that's always been my mistake, piling in the veggies and wondering why they don't cook well. Take carrots for instance, they're a denser veggie and therefore will take longer to cook then say capsicum. So by all means use carrots in your stir fry, though consider the individual cooking times needed for that perfect stir fry texture - al dente.
This recipe has simple though delicious flavours and is jam packed with goodness!
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 300g quality beef strips
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 long fresh chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- Handful bean sprouts
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- Juice of ½ lime
- 1 red capsicum, finely sliced
- 1 handful snow peas
- 6 shallots, sliced
- Fresh coriander leaves, to serve
- Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot wok or large frying pan
- Stir fry beef, garlic, ginger and chilli until just cooked
- Add bean sprouts, tamari, sesame oil and lime juice for 30 seconds
- Remove from heat and pour contents into a large bowl
- Return wok to heat and add remaining oil
- Stir fry all vegetables for 1-2 minutes
- Return beef and juices to wok
- Heat through quickly and divide between plates to serve
- Top with fresh coriander leaves
The gorgeous ceramics you see in this post were kindly borrowed from Chuchu. You can check out their amazing wares here.
