# Shrimp and veggie stir fry



## Omnivore (Feb 29, 2020)

We eat a lot of stir fry around here. I probably make some version of it once a week with plenty of leftovers. It's mainly out of necessity to shake down the fridge and use up random veggies and almost empty bottles of Asian condiments. My dad's side of the family is Japanese but I wouldn't say this stir fry is based off any particular cuisine because it has quite a mix of flavors. I don't measure anything but just keep adding a little of the condiments at a time until everything is where I like it.

Here's the cast of characters. Fish sauce, soy sauce, sambal (garlic chili sauce with some acidity), chiu chow oil (not super spicy, more of a warm spice), hoisin sauce (often called Chinese BBQ sauce - you can really taste Chinese five spice in this brand), and Curry powder. On the board we have red and orange peppers, onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, and spinach.







Next we have some thawed out shrimp, green beans, and a corn starch slurry. I like to pull the tail off the shrimp before cooking since sometimes they come off in the pan and that can be a really jarring bite of food!






Started by sauteing the onions in some olive oil and sesame oil, then added the garlic and ginger.






Throw in some carrots






Next add the green beans






Then add peppers and start adding your flavors. Next I added some sake and water. The sake balances out the soy sauce and the water was just to loosen everything up a little bit and make sure there is enough liquid for a sauce when the cornstarch slurry goes in. This is the cheap-o cooking sake I use.






Finally we add the spinach and shrimp which has just been seasoned with salt and pepper. This is the only time I added actual salt since some of the other ingredients are pretty salty.






Lastly I added the cornstarch slurry which really helps the sauce cling to the shrimp and veggies. Sometimes I omit this if I want the whole dish to feel lighter. I killed the heat right after the sauce thickened up since the residual heat would finish cooking the shrimp.






Served with some hot rice and that's a wrap. I really try to incorporate a wide variety of vegetables into our diet (to balance out all the meat we eat lol) and this is just so satisfying. Even my 14 month old eats this! I really like the hoisin because it's a little sweet and really balances the curry powder. Fish sauce add SO much flavor but the end result is not fishy. I also like having two different chili flavors going on. One for heat and the other for warmth. It may seem like quite a lot of ingredients but even just a couple of these flavors combined can make a fantastic stir fry.


----------



## chef jimmyj (Feb 29, 2020)

Very colorful and some great flavors. If there are no allergy issues, you may like to add Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce to your condiment selection. It does not taste like Oysters but like Fish Sauce, is an Umami Bomb! Oyster Sauce is second only to Soy Sauce as the main ingredient in Brown Sauced Chinese food. It's so common that we buy it at Walmart, next to the LKK Hoisin. I'll be making Roast Pork Lo Mein for supper tomorrow with Oyster Sauce. Nice job. BTW, have you compared Red Boat to other Fish Sauces? I use Healthy Boy Brand Thai Fish Sauce but even though Red Boat is twice the price for half the amount, YouTube Chef's rate it highly. Your opinion? Thanks...JJ


----------



## Omnivore (Feb 29, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Very colorful and some great flavors. If there are no allergy issues, you may like to add Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce to your condiment selection. It does not taste like Oysters but like Fish Sauce, is an Umami Bomb! Oyster Sauce is second only to Soy Sauce as the main ingredient in Brown Sauced Chinese food. It's so common that we buy it at Walmart, next to the LKK Hoisin. I'll be making Roast Pork Lo Mein for supper tomorrow with Oyster Sauce. Nice job. BTW, have you compared Red Boat to other Fish Sauces? I use Healthy Boy Brand Thai Fish Sauce but even though Red Boat is twice the price for half the amount, YouTube Chef's rate it highly. Your opinion? Thanks...JJ


Thank you, Chef! I actually haven't cooked much with oyster sauce. I spent much of my younger cooking years thinking I was allergic to shellfish so I never really added it to my arsenal of flavors, but I think a lot of my Asian cooking could benefit from it. I think the LKK brand makes a lot of great products and I like that they are easily accessible. I will definitely pick up a bottle of their oyster and start experimenting! As for Red Boat - I am a big fan. Not die hard like some folks but I do think it's noticably better. They use only wild anchovies and salt so it has pretty clean flavor. I'm not a snob about it but if I make something that is very fish sauce forward like Pok Pok's fish sauce wings, I would use Red Boat.


----------



## Sowsage (Feb 29, 2020)

Looks awesome! Id eat a plate or two of that for sure! Nice job.


----------



## Omnivore (Feb 29, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> Looks awesome! Id eat a plate or two of that for sure! Nice job.


Thank you! We definitely went back for seconds, baby included!


----------



## Steve H (Feb 29, 2020)

Looks very good! I am also a fan of stir fries.


----------



## chef jimmyj (Feb 29, 2020)

Omnivore said:


> Thank you, Chef! I actually haven't cooked much with oyster sauce. I spent much of my younger cooking years thinking I was allergic to shellfish so I never really added it to my arsenal of flavors, but I think a lot of my Asian cooking could benefit from it. I think the LKK brand makes a lot of great products and I like that they are easily accessible. I will definitely pick up a bottle of their oyster and start experimenting! As for Red Boat - I am a big fan. Not die hard like some folks but I do think it's noticably better. They use only wild anchovies and salt so it has pretty clean flavor. I'm not a snob about it but if I make something that is very fish sauce forward like Pok Pok's fish sauce wings, I would use Red Boat.



Oyster Sauce will make a big difference in getting more authentic flavor. IF you think you still have an Oyster Allergy, search or shop for Vegetarian Mushroom Oyster Sauce. Has a somewhat similar flavor but made with Mushrooms. I've not tried it but several Credible Asian Chef's on Youtube highly recommend it...JJ


----------



## Omnivore (Feb 29, 2020)

Steve H said:


> Looks very good! I am also a fan of stir fries.


Thanks Steve! I love that when reheated it's just as good the second time around too.


----------



## Omnivore (Feb 29, 2020)

chef jimmyj said:


> Oyster Sauce will make a big difference in getting more authentic flavor. IF you think you still have an Oyster Allergy, search or shop for Vegetarian Mushroom Oyster Sauce. Has a somewhat similar flavor but made with Mushrooms. I've not tried it but several Credible Asian Chef's on Youtube highly recommend it...JJ


Oh interesting. Thankfully I'm oyster-friendly now (we have great ones out here on the coast) but I'd try that vegetarian one out of curiosity anyway. I have vegetarian friends so sometimes I'll make crispy tofu and throw that into a stir fry. I bet the mushroom sauce would be awesome in that.


----------



## SmokinAl (Mar 1, 2020)

We do stir fry a lot too!
Mostly shrimp, broccoli, sezchaun sauce & noodles.
Yours looks fantastic!
Al


----------



## zwiller (Mar 1, 2020)

BIG LIKE.  Totally agree stir frys help get you more veggies in your diet and that's a good thing.  My family got spoiled eating at a good local joint and we have come to identify and prefer stir frys that have stock as a base.  Pretty sure it is a "cantonese superior stock/shangtang".  Leftovers gel up...  It's a work in progress but I am slowly building up a recipe.  Dreaming one day to rock stir frys on a regular basis.


----------



## xray (Mar 1, 2020)

Looks good! We love doing stir fry here too! If we're trying to be healthy we will use cauliflower rice.

Very Nice! Like!!


----------



## pushok2018 (Mar 1, 2020)

That is one beautiful plate and thank you for sharing! Bookmarked it and will try it soon. Like!


----------



## Omnivore (Mar 1, 2020)

SmokinAl said:


> We do stir fry a lot too!
> Mostly shrimp, broccoli, sezchaun sauce & noodles.
> Yours looks fantastic!
> Al


Thanks Al! Your stir fry sounds really delicious!


----------



## Omnivore (Mar 1, 2020)

zwiller said:


> BIG LIKE.  Totally agree stir frys help get you more veggies in your diet and that's a good thing.  My family got spoiled eating at a good local joint and we have come to identify and prefer stir frys that have stock as a base.  Pretty sure it is a "cantonese superior stock/shangtang".  Leftovers gel up...  It's a work in progress but I am slowly building up a recipe.  Dreaming one day to rock stir frys on a regular basis.


Thank you! I had to Google the superior stock but it sounds awesome. It actually is reminiscent of a ramen base that I occasionally make. Never though to use something like that as a stir fry base but I bet that is incredible.


----------



## Omnivore (Mar 1, 2020)

xray said:


> Looks good! We love doing stir fry here too! If we're trying to be healthy we will use cauliflower rice.
> 
> Very Nice! Like!!


Thanks! I've tried but haven't found a cauliflower rice recipe that I really like. Getting veggies to satisfy the place of a starch is a skill I have yet to acquire!


----------



## Omnivore (Mar 1, 2020)

pushok2018 said:


> That is one beautiful plate and thank you for sharing! Bookmarked it and will try it soon. Like!


Thank you! And you really don't need that many sauces, I just like mixing them sometimes. I like the shrimp because it's so fast.


----------

