Chicken Stir Fry

Serves 4 | Prep Time: 25 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes

---

Ingredients

For the marinade

1/2 tsp salt

1 TB brown sugar

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB sesame oil

 For the sauce

1 cup stock or water

3 TB soy sauce

2 tsp brown sugar, to taste

3/4 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger

¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

1 TB cornstarch mixed with 2 TB water

 For the stir fry

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 TB peanut oil

1 head of broccoli

2 medium carrots

5 oz green beans (use frozen green beans if they are out of season)

3 oz snap peas (use ½ cup frozen green peas if they are out of season)

2 scallions

1 clove of garlic, pressed

1 or 2 TB peanut oil

---

Method

1. Slice chicken thinly and cut into pieces about ¾ of an inch wide (bite-sized). Mix the marinade and place the chicken in a zipper bag. Pour in the marinade and squish it around a bit to distribute the marinade over all the chicken. Put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

2. Mix the sauce ingredients except for the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Mix the corn starch and water in a separate small bowl. Set both aside.

3. Cut the top off the broccoli. Separate the broccoli top into individual florets (seriously—they need to be tiny) and peel the stalk. Chop the stalk into 1/4-inch pieces. Top and tail the green beans, and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Grate the carrot. Cut the snap peas in half. Remove the root end, and chop the scallions. When the chopping is done, take the chicken out of the refrigerator.

4. Turn on the stovetop fan. Begin heating a wok or wide skillet over high heat. Add 1 TB of oil and add the broccoli and chicken, and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir constantly until the chicken has lost its raw color, about 3 minutes.  Add 1 TB of peanut oil and add the green beans and stir fry for another minute. Add the carrot, snap peas, scallions, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.

5. Push the vegetables to the edges of the wok or pan. Stir the sauce well, and add it in the center of the pan or wok. It will boil (raise the heat if it doesn’t). Give the cornstarch mixture a stir, and then add to the sauce and mix well. Once it has thickened, stir into the rest of the ingredients evenly. Serve hot over rice.

---

Variations:

• Use any vegetable you have, cut to about the same size. You are aiming for a total of about 1½ pounds of vegetables.

---