Chinese-style Vegetable Stir-fry

If you want to quickly cook and eat something healthy, then stir-frying is ideal. The Chinese have perfected the art of the stir-fry. This interesting vegetable dish is a great way of using up vegetables to make a nutritious, colourful meal.

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion
5cm piece root ginger
3 medium carrots
200g broccoli
1 large courgette
1 pepper (red, yellow or orange)
150g green beans
150g Chinese leaf cabbage
150g button mushrooms
1 x 5ml spoon cornflour OR arrowroot
1 x 15ml spoon water
2 x 15ml spoon soy sauce
2 x 15ml spoon sweet chilli sauce
2 x 15ml spoon sunflower oil
¼ x 5ml spoon dried chilli flakes (optional)
Juice of 1 lime (optional)

Equipment

Weighing scales
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Teaspoon
Grater
Colander
Vegetable peeler
Large plate or tray for the prepared vegetables
Clean, damp cloth
Measuring spoons
Small jug or cup
Wok or very large frying pan
Wooden spoon
Pan stand

Instructions

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion.
2. Use a teaspoon to scrape the peel off the ginger and grate carefully.
3. Wash all the remaining vegetables except the mushrooms.
4. Peel and slice the carrots into strips about 4cm in length.
5. Trim the broccoli stalk, cut the broccoli into small florets and cut the courgette into ½cm slices.
6. Cut the pepper in half and remove the seeds and white pith. Slice into 1cm strips.
7. Chop the ends off the beans (top and tail) and cut them in half.
8. Slice the Chinese leaf cabbage into 3cm slices, removing the bottom of the stalk if necessary.
9. Wipe the mushrooms to remove any earth and then slice them.
10. Put the cornflour into a jug or cup, add the water and mix to a paste. Stir in the soy and sweet chilli
    sauces and mix until smooth. Squeeze the juice from the lime (if using).
11.  Turn the hob on to high. Heat the oil in the wok or frying pan. Add the onions, garlic and ginger
    and stir.
12. Add the carrots and broccoli, turn the heat down and stir-fry for 2 minutes, moving the vegetables
    around the wok with the wooden spoon.
13. Add the courgette, pepper and green beans. Keep stirring to make sure the vegetables do not burn.
    Cook for 4 minutes.
14. Add the mushrooms, cabbage, lime juice and dried chilli flakes (if using). Cook for a further 4 minutes, stirring often.
15. Now pour the soy sauce mixture over the vegetables, stir well and continue to cook for 1 minute. The liquid will thicken slightly as it heats and coat the vegetables.
16. Serve immediately.

Skills used include:
Washing, weighing, measuring, peeling, chopping, grating, squeezing, mixing/combining and stir-frying.

Top Tips

• Prepare everything in advance and make sure that you cut the vegetables into small, neat pieces.

Something to try next time

• Try this recipe with different ingredients. You could use baby sweetcorn, spring onions, celery,
  pak choi (Chinese cabbage), white cabbage, cauliflower, mangetout or sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, canned water chestnuts, runner beans, mushrooms or leeks. Make sure the vegetables are cut up evenly and use similar quantities to those in the recipe. Remember to use a variety of colours and textures.
• Why not add cooked egg noodles to this dish if you are making a large quantity?

Prepare now, eat later

• All the vegetables could be prepared and put into plastic bags or a plastic storage box and kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking. Then the whole dish can be made in 10 minutes.
• Stir-fries are best eaten freshly cooked.