Simple Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

3+ strips Bacon (optional—if you don’t want to use bacon, be sure to add cooking oil to the pan before adding the chicken)

3 Boneless Chicken Breasts/Thighs

½ Large Onion (Diced)

2-3 Carrots (chopped)

½ cup Snow/Sweet Peas

A good amount of shredded Cabbage

Stir-Fry Sauce to taste (preferably Szechwan, but whatever you like will work)

Optional:

1-2 stalks of Celery (chopped)

¼ cup nuts (Peanuts, Walnuts, whatever you like)

Mushrooms (as much as you like)

How to Make:

                Slice the Bacon into small strips about a quarter to half inch wide each, and cut the chicken into about one inch cubes. You then are going to want to heat a Wok, or whatever sort of large wide pan you have. Do not bother oiling it; you are going to cook the bacon first, so there is no real point, as the bacon will release a lot of its heavenly grease, which is exactly what we want. Once you think the bacon is crispy enough, remove it so it does not burn (do not worry as we will add them back later, remember: burnt bacon is inedible, which is unacceptable). Now add in the chicken, and let that just cook for a few minutes until all cubes are a nice brown color (not golden, just not raw on the outside).

                Once the chicken looks nice, add the onions. This will notch up the flavor, as the onions will add their own touch to the bacon and chicken while taking both of those in. Once the onions are looking translucent, add in the carrots. Even with the bacon grease and extra moisture from the other ingredients, the carrots can stick and burn, so you might want to watch them carefully. If you want, this is when you can also add in the celery, mushrooms, or whatever vegetables you like. When you are happy with how the carrots look, add in the cabbage along with some seasoning (pepper for sure, but I also add in some chili flakes and garlic sea salt for a little more flavor) and let it reduce for a while. Once that looks nice and translucent, maybe with a little char, add the bacon back in to let it get some more flavor. Once you stir the bacon back in (plus nuts, if you want them), it is time to add the Stir-Fry sauce. The Szechwan has a bit of a kick to it, so add as much or as little as you like, just make sure you taste it first so you do not destroy the other flavors. I added about a couple tablespoons, and that worked fine with how much I had in my Wok. Once that is done, serve!

Reaction:

                I have always been a bit of a believer that the simplest things can come out the best (the Michelin guide recommends, so…). And I was surprised as to how well this came out--everything that had a lot of flavor retained most of it, while those that did not absorbed a great amount of the levels of flavor. Plus, with the amount of time I let the vegetables reduce down, the cabbage (at least) still had a little crunch to it, which was a nice change in texture. I swear by onions, I love the flavor they bring, and I was a little disappointed as to how much their individual taste was muted. But as I started to look for the flavor, I noticed that it had taken a much more subtle taste throughout the dish, which I was more than happy with.

                The Szechwan sauce was also a nice touch as it added a small little kick on the back of your throat and on your tongue. This was a nice change from the salty, savory taste of the bacon, chicken and onions, adding a little more depth. What I liked most about the amount I added was that it was far from overpowering, as when someone I knew could not take spicy food well tried it and really enjoyed the small kick. I should note that if you like eating something made with a massive amount of spice, make it with a lot of spice, but sometimes a small kick adds just a huge amount of depth. If you want just a little more flavor (like I did) it could not hurt to toast up some sesame seeds and sprinkle them over the dish, giving that toasty, sesame aspect to the dish, which really worked well.

                Overall, I was pretty happy with this little experiment that I really just made up on the fly. And what is best about it is that it can be changed around, added to, some things removed, and it can still work. That is what I enjoy about a stir fry, it is simple, easy, and can taste really good. Just goes to show that simple things can be excellent.