Hellobee

I find many western “Asian” recipes are really heavy on the soy sauce – every dish at PF Chang’s tastes overpoweringly like Kikkoman soy sauce to me. So when recipes call for soy sauce, I cut it in half and I’ve done that here. I have Bragg’s Liquid Aminos on hand as my current soy sauce, but I’m curious to see if Tamari or Shoyu will be all that I think it will be. Toasted sesame oil can be pretty pricey at regular supermarkets, and if you don’t have an Asian supermarket nearby, Trader Joe’s has a bottle for a good price. Make sure to refrigerate it once opened.

This is a great sauce to prepare ahead of time and use for a few dinners.

Maple Mustard Stir Fry Sauce (adapted from Lorna Sass’s Whole Grains for Busy People)

• 4-6 Tbsp
  soy sauce
• 1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
• 6 Tbsp Water
• 6 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 to 1 tsp chile-garlic paste or sambal oelek or crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine all ingredients together in a jar with a lid and shake well. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 3 months. Shake well before using.

With the addition of some rice vinegar and minced fresh ginger, a bit of this sauce would make a great marinade for chicken, too.

To stir fry with the sauce, combine 3 Tbsp of sauce with 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. Add dense vegetables like chard stems, carrots, celery, broccoli, cabbage, cover, and steam until almost tender- about 3 minutes. Then add quick-cooking vegetables (like zucchini and snow peas), cover, and cook until all veggies are tender but still crisp, about 2-3 minutes more. Stir in grains (I like using Sprouted Rice and Quinoa that I throw in a rice cooker), add cooked meat, 1 Tbsp of minced fresh ginger (optional), and add 1/4 to 1/3 cup sauce and serve.