Indonesian stir fry

When I looked at that meatballs in spicy peanut sauce recipe, it reminded me of a stir fry I used to make: Indonesian stir fry.  My original recipe for that particular dish included lots of garlic and two tablespoons of peanut butter. I searched the web for something to refresh my memory, but no luck. So my recipe on Tuesday went something like this.

• 4 Scallions (large green onions)
• 1 Red pepper
• 1 Yellow pepper
• 1 Orange pepper
• Handful of green beans. If you cup your hands together to make an “O”–about that many.
• About an egg-size piece of ginger (peeled)
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
• Sesame oil
• Soya sauce
• Turkey breast
• Peanut butter
• Chili pepper (I bought a small bottle of chili pepper sauce because I couldn’t find the chili peppers.)
• 250 ml of warm chicken broth. I use Knorr cubes. (I have a story about Knorr I’ll have to write.) Add a teaspoon of soya sauce, a teaspoon of chili pepper sauce, and about two  tbsps of peanut butter. Mix it all up.

Slice the turkey breast into stir-fry strips.  Put in a bowl and season with a round or two of sesame oil and soya sauce. When I say a round or two, I mean once around the bowl. Or twice. However much you think you need.

Add a spoonful or so of chili pepper sauce. To taste. Not too much, but enough so the turkey breast is marinating in something palatably spicy.

Set the marinating turkey strips aside.

Slice the scallions into about 3 cm lengths. Then quarter the lengths.

Slice the peppers in the same fashion-about 3 cm lengths by 1 cm or less.

Same with the green beans.

I chopped up the ginger and the garlic with my chopper. Like the slap chop. Except it’s not a slap chop. It’s just a regular chopper. It might have a Swiss accent, but it essentially works the same.

Heat up a wok and go once around with some oil–just enough to coat the bottom. Toss in the turkey strips.  Stir-fry until the strips are lightly browned. Remove from the pan. If you have help in the kitchen, make sure they have a glass of wine in one hand and discuss, in general, what you think the desired outcome should be. Just so everybody is on the same page. Discuss the general order of cooking. And listen to the person who suggests a figure-eight stirring motion — I think it was the key to our success.

Add another round of oil. Add the veges including the garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute or two to cook. Add the 250 ml of the chicken broth mixture.

Stir. Cook. Stir. Cook.

Add the turkey back into the wok.

Stir. Cook. Stir. Cook.

Pay attention and don’t over cook the veges. It’s nice when they are just the right amount of crunchy.

We opened a bottle of Ludo’s Chateau Neuf de Papes and sat down to eat this concoction over a wild rice mixture. I think it turned out really good. So good, that I didn’t even get a picture–and I should have. I would won a lot of points for colour.