Chinese New Year is less than a month away and as a result, I feel like eating everything Chinese. Made some Hokkien Char Mee (dark noodles) a couple of days ago and I am itching to try my hand at Wan Tan Mee, complete with vegetarian char siu! But today, I made the easiest, most versatile and delicious vegetable dish: the Chinese stir-fry mix vegetable.
You can basically use any vegetable you desire but the commonly used vegetables are carrots, snow peas, tofu, straw or shitake mushrooms and corn. I decided to use broccoli, straw mushrooms, capsicum and bean sprouts as these were the only vegetables I had in my fridge. I would have loved to add some tofu but honestly, I didn't really miss it.
OK. So not only is it wonderful that you can use any vegetable you like for the dish, it's also a cinch to prepare. All you have to do is heat up a little oil in a wok, fry some chopped garlic and sliced ginger for a minute or two and add your vegetables. (I blanched my broccoli first because I don't like it too crunchy). Add your seasoning -- basically vegetarian oyster sauce (mushroom sauce), soy sauce, a little sugar, salt and pepper and a couple of tablespoons of water and simmer. You can add cornstarch to thicken it up but I didn't have to as I added just 2 tbsp water. (If you add more water -- i.e. to soften up vegetables like carrots and broccoli and others that take a while to cook -- you may want to add some corn starch diluted in water to help thicken the mix).
This stir-fry can also be a one-dish wonder -- i.e if you have no time to prepare several side dishes to go with your rice, just add some chicken or shrimp (if you're non veg) and more varied vegetables (like beans and bean curd sheets) and you're all set.
Healthy and delicious. Oh, and it won't take you more than 15 minutes to prepare. What more can you ask for?
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