Because my friend Shawn Coons demanded it, here is my recipe for stir fry. I warned him and I warn you – this recipe is ever-evolving and is much more of an art than a science. I change it almost every time and do it much more by feel and look than by a specific set of rules.

This is really just the basic template and I encourage you to play around with it and modify it to your own tastes.

Ingredients

1 Handful fresh snow peas
1 Red or Orange bell pepper
1 Bunch of green onions
1 Small bag shredded carrots (or just julienne two or three carrots yourself)
1 tablespoon oil. I use a wok oil with some additional asian spices, but any light oil will do here, like canola or vegetable.
Rice. We generally use Minute Rice, just for simplicity’s sake, but any rice will do.

Optional:
Meat of some kind. I usually cut up about a pound of chicken breast, but you could just as easily cut up beef, pork, or even shrimp. For vegetarians, or those who just don’t feel like eating meat at the moment, you can just as easily forget the meat and have a vegetable stir fry, just skip the references to meat.

If you do decide to have meat in your stir fry, you now have the option of marinating the meat. Occasionally, I marinate my chicken for about 30 minutes with Lowry’s Teriyaki Marinade. You can just as easily go without and have a slightly cleaner, less cluttered taste to your dish.

Also, I absolutely love shitake mushrooms in this dish, but Rhonda hates mushrooms. The dish tastes good without them, but if you like mushrooms, I highly recommend throwing some in.

Instructions

1 ) I slice the bell pepper into long strips and dice the green onions, but this is purely a matter or preference. However you decide to cut up your vegetables, do so.

2 ) Add the oil to your wok and heat it to about medium heat.

3 ) Add the peas first, since they take the longest to cook. stir regularly for about fifteen minutes, until they begin to lose their rigidity and become more pliant.

4 ) Add the other vegetable and continue stir regularly (this IS stirfy, after all) for 15-20 more minutes.

5 ) At this point, your peas should be fairly pliant. I usually fish one out and taste it to see if it’s cooked enough, but you can also get a fairly good idea by holding one up with a fork. The pea pod should bend freely without support. If the peas do not seem done enough, cook for about 5-10 more minutes and check again.

6 ) When the peas seem almost done, add your meat (if you’re having meat). Continue the stir-frying for ten more minutes until juices are running clear and the meat is visibly cooked.

7 ) Cook your rice.

8 ) Serve the stir-fry over rice, you should have roughly four servings.

I usually add some teriyaki sauce and soy sauce to my finished stir-fry, Rhonda prefers just soy sauce. Your experience may vary.

So there it is, my basic recipe for stir fry. I’d love to hear what you do to make it fit your own tastes!