Asian Stirfry in Fractions

Tried a new workflow for stir fry that worked well tonight…

I separately cooked the mushrooms/onions/peppers from the root/stem/stalk veggies that needed softening separate from the leafy greens.  They ideally all need a different  treatment in the wok, and take on different flavors when cooked separately than if cooked together.  With this method, you can optimize for each “fraction”: low and slow reduction to carmelize for the mushrooms/onions/peppers, medium high heat saute just long enough to soften the hard vegetable dice and flash searing the greens.

Once I achieved the optimal flavor for each fraction, I kept in a warm oven in individual serving dishes as I moved to the next and DIDN’T mix at table or plating. Serving small, separate portions of each to personal choice served alongside a stack of unflavored Vietnamese rice noodles allowed the individual to mix the different flavors and textures with each bite. This allowed experimentation as the meal progressed to achieve the perfect taste and noodle ratio that did it just right for the diner’s palette. 

While proceeding through the cooking stages with the same wok, the remaining liquid and pan scrapings from each fraction were moved forward as it progressed to add flavor to the next element. By draining off any buildup from vegetables releasing their liquid before finishing each stage, this allowed for browning instead of just stewing. It also left me with a sauce to flavor the next stage and drain away a final sauce that retained all of the flavor from every fraction along the way. This was drained away from the last and was thick enough to serve for spooning on extra flavor to choice at table.

Probably my best Asian original work to date.

1st stage, mix of five different mushrooms (shitake, oyster, white and brown enoki and white button) marinated with strips of multi-colored roasting peppers and reduced to carmelize with Vidalia onions.

2nd stage was diced home grown broccoli stalks, broccoli stems, carrots and zuchinni.

3rd stage was thin sliced broccoli leaves, napa cabbage and the oat fiber sieved from homemade oat milk as a sauce thickener.

Flavoring starter sauce was homemade dumpling sauce (tamari soy sauce, chinkiang vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, sesame seeds and thin diced scallions) with added fish sauce. This was combined and reduced with pan scrapings and liquid released from the veggies along the way.  Perfect by the end of the third stage gathering flavor from all fractions and served separately along with the Vietnamese rice noodles.