Recipe of the Week

Do you want to know what these four ingredients (plus a bit of sugar and cornstarch) make?

They make an extremely tasty stir-fry sauce. Here is the recipe:

Chicken Stir-Fry

Marinade:

Mix together in a small bowl (big enough to hold the chicken):

1 Tbsp. Aji-Mirin sweet cooking rice seasoning (pictured above far right) ***
1 Tbsp. corn startch
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts--cut into very small cubes

As you cut the chicken add it to the above marinade. Stir well to coat the chicken. Let sit for 1/2 and hour. If you don't have that much time to let the chicken marinade no big deal. I don't always either but I still let the chicken sit in the marinade as long as I can allow.

***My local Albertson's carries this but you may need to go to an oriental market--if you do it is a lot cheaper anyway AND you get a much bigger bottle!

Sauce:

(I make the sauce at the same time as I make the marinade)

2 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. sweet cooking rice seasoning
2 Tbsp. sesame oil (VITAL to this recipe--don't substitute with another oil) **
1Tbsp. red wine vinegar (don't sub this with another vinegar either!)

In an even smaller bowl mix together cornstarch and sugar well before adding other ingredients. Mix well. Set aside.

** You can find sesame oil at a lot of different stores--look in the oriental section. If my Wal-mart carries it there shouldn't be any problem finding it!

Okay, you have your chicken marinading and your yummy sauce made. Now you need to get your veggies ready. Costco sells a pretty good bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables. If I use that I will pour some into a bowl (as much as I think I need--I use about 5 or 6 cups of veggies) and defrost it in the microwave. Lately I've been supplementing the Costco veggies with more carrots and celery (cause those are my favorite). After I cut up the carrots and celery I will microwave them a few minutes so it doesn't take so long to cook. I know--it really isn't a true stir-fry but it's my kitchen and I'll microwave if I want to!

Okay, your chicken is ready, your sauce is ready and your veggies are ready. Time to turn on the heat to a large pan or stir-fry pan. I use a very hot heat--basically at the hottest setting. Once your pan is really hot add a bit of oil. Add the chicken. Stir-fry for a minute or two. Add the sauce. Stir it well so it coats the chicken. Add the veggies. Stir well to coat the veggies. Once you think the veggies are heated through serve right away on cooked rice (you did remember to cook the rice while you were preparing the stir-fry, right?!).

I also like to serve the stir-fry with Costco's frozen egg rolls or their frozen pot stickers.

Here is what you get when you are ready to eat!


This recipe will feed all six of us easily. There may be some leftovers for someone's lunch the next day but there usually isn't much more leftover than that.

Enjoy!

Karen