How to Make an Awesome Chicken Stir-Fry
When you need to get a healthy meal on the table quickly, stir-fries are the perfect choice. They’re quick, they can be tailored to suit any taste, and they’re an easy way to give your family loads of fresh ingredients for dinner.
As the name implies, a stir-fry is a cooking technique where ingredients are kept moving (stirred) in a frying pan or hot wok over high heat. Since all ingredients need a different amount of time to cook through, the only trick you need to know is to add the longer-cooking items first, followed afterwards by the more delicate ingredients that only need a few minutes in the pan.
In this stir-fry recipe, garlic and hot sauce add kick, with pistachios offering a nice crunch. But this is just a jumping off point. You can substitute the vegetables and the sauce in this recipe with your favourite flavours and easily make this your own.
What you’ll need:
- wok or heavy sauté pan
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lb asparagus
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp light tamari sauce
- 1 tsp Asian hot sauce
- 1 cup green onions
- ¼ cup unsalted pistachios
- 1 ½ cup white rice
Since the rice takes the longest to cook, prepare it first so your meal will all be ready at the same time. Simply bring water to a boil in a saucepan, then add the rice and stir. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, snap the tough ends from the asparagus. Cut up green onion and the asparagus into 2-inch pieces, or any length that your family won’t need to cut again when served. Next, cut the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. Remember to wash up well after handling raw chicken, including washing counters with soap, water and a cap of bleach.
In a wok or a nice big heavy sauté pan, sauté the asparagus in some oil for 2 minutes, then set aside so it doesn’t continue cooking while you prepare the chicken in a separate pan. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, add the asparagus and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Then add the ginger, hoisin sauce, tamari sauce and hot sauce. Stir it around until everything is coated, then plate it over a few spoonfuls of rice. To keep everything neat until the plates reach the table, create a little hollow in the rice to place your stir-fry into. Garnish with a toppling heap of pistachios and dig in!