This was inspired by the "seafood delight"
I see a lot in Chinese buffets. ("Inspired by"
because the recipe wanders off from that point as opposed
to being a serious effort to emulate the dish.) "Vegetable
& Seafood Stuff" is a fairly flexible recipe,
and those are handy when you want to use up what's
in your fridge rather than going out to the store.
What you need (or what I suggest):
1 cup of broccoli florets and stem stars 1
carrot, cut into thin slices with a vegetable peeler 1
stalk of celery, cut into thin "U"s 1/2
small onion, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 leaf
of cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup
of baby corn 1 medium zucchini squash, cut into
coins 1/2 can of water chestnuts 4 oz of artificial
crab meat, cut into bite-sized pieces vegetable
oil for frying hot water
Other items that I'll try in future batches include
lotus root, bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, shrimp,
and whatever else occurs to me. Add and subtract items,
and tweak amounts, according to your taste.
First, heat up a deep pan to medium high, put in
enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom, and add in
the "hard" (broccoli, carrot) and "flavorous"
(onion, celery) items. Mix around well to give
them a decent oil coating and stir-fry them until the
broccoli turn bright green and the carrot begins to
soften. Then add in the other items and enough hot water
to cover the bottom to a 1/4" depth. Bring this
to a boil, then cover and simmer. Stir it up every 5
minutes, checking the various items (broccoli and squash
especially) for doneness. Drain and serve over rice
or noodles, or by itself.
I've also added cornstarch to the water to thicken
it. However, as I ended up draining the liquid before
serving, I didn't include it in the recipe, but you
might like to try it. I just eyeballed it, stirring
in a bit here and there (maybe a teaspoon total) into
the water after it came to a boil and letting it
thicken while simmering.
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