Wok Wok Wok

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. I just love saying the word Wok.


Wok wok wok.


ANYWAYS.


I'm glad to see you've made it to Thursday...Friday is so close I can taste it!


I have absolutely NO clue where I got today's Dinner Feature recipe from. I just found a photocopied page of a cookbook with only page numbers, and some sort of spiral binding and no identifying marks. Hmm. So, if you read this and you realize this is your recipe, CLAIM it because it's wonderful!


Thus, with no further ado...


Shrimp and Peas in Wok
(clever title, no?)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp Tamari soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/2 lb (8 oz) fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup green onion, minced
1 bag (1 lb 4 oz) frozen cleaned shrimp, thawed, or 1lb fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined
hot cooked brown rice


Directions:
Combine cornstarch, salt, honey and ginger. Blend in chicken broth, soy sauce, and garlic.


Preheat wok or skillet about 3 minutes. Add oil and continue heating over high heat. Add mushrooms, stir-fry 1 minute. Add peas and onions. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Add shrimp. Cook and stir until shrimp are pink and firm, about 3 minutes.


Stir chicken broth mixture to blend. Add to shrimp mixture and cook and stir until sauce is thickened and clear. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings.


I was in a bit of a picture-taking mood this time around, so I hope you're feeling tolerant.


I buy peas in huge bulk bags because we're a pea-eating family, especially when I'm a vegetable snob and don't really enjoy many frozen or canned veggies, which becomes an issue in the winter when fresh produce isn't peeking out of every corner. It's a problem, and I'm coming to grips with it. So this is me, measuring out my 10 oz of peas.

Frozen shrimp (also purchased in bulk) are not quite as pretty to weigh out.

This is what happens when you drink strong wine while you're cooking (and waiting for your rice to cook). Hmm.

Yummy ingredients. I used baby portobello mushrooms (our grocery store calls them "Baby Bellas", and I also doubled the quantity of green onions.

So, I've always been a weeee bit afraid of heating oil over "high" temperatures. So I turned mine up to about medium and then gradually raised it up. I'm sure it's a cooking no-no, but until I can go to culinary school and learn how to not make things explode or give me severe burns...that's my method.


This looks lovely cooking, doesn't it?

My shrimpies, cleaned, thawed, and ready to go.

For some reason I couldn't get a clear photo of the sauce, but it was icky looking anyway so I think it's for the best.

Simmering down that sauce. By the way, at this point your kitchen is going to smell like heaven. I'm just saying.

Note: most brown rice takes at least 45 minutes to cook, and a stir fry with delicate ingredients like this generally doesn't cook longer than a few minutes, so be sure to plan ahead and get your rice going right away.


Also, because I used lower temperatures, mine took longer than 2 or 3 minutes to cook. I kind of just kept an eye on everything and made sure it wasn't getting too mushy. It takes probably at least 10 minutes (for me anyway) to reduce the sauce, so take that into account when you're doing the intial cook of the veggies.


Final product over rice!

I bet you wish you could taste it!

Verdict:
This will definitely be added to my list of go-to recipes. The ingredients list is a piece of cake - most of it I already had on hand. Scott and I BOTH had two helpings (I know I know, shame on me) and I also had it for lunch the next day. I should note that three people at work commented on how good it smelled being heated in the microwave, if you weren't convinced you should make it already.


Try this recipe. Your taste buds will thank you. (And your tummy too, since it's low-fat! Although not necessarily low-sodium, if we're covering all the health bases.)


Happy Thursday!