Speedy Lamb Stir Fry – a Love Lamb Challenge recipe

Lamb is a meat I love. I will eat it curried. Why? Well, what beats a slow cooked curry made of chunks of leg of lamb complete with bones full of succulent marrow?! Or maybe roasted, perhaps the most grand of all the roast dinners! It is great minced; koftes, burgers, keema, kebabs, all wonderful! Braised lamb shank is a slow cooked treat for weekends or days spent at home.

But people are turning away from lamb, thinking it is difficult to cook or time consuming. This seems to me to be a terrible shame. There is so much more to lamb than Sunday lunch with mint sauce! It can be quick, fun and awesome!

This speedy lamb stir fry is a quick, simple supper dish where the only real call on your time is the preparation, which is only 10 minutes! The cooking comes in at under 8 minutes. So much faster than ringing your local take away and faster than heating something ready made in the oven. Great when you're busy, great for weeknights!

You need a wok and a saucepan. Otherwise, all you need are plates for the prepared ingredients and a mug for the sauce mixture plus a mug for the egg (which will be beaten).

Lush lamb steaks to make this simple quick dish

If you want more ideas on how to cook lamb and make it tasty but super easy, just visit: www.tastyeasylamb.co.uk

Speedy Lamb Stir Fry

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 small lamb steaks, about 200 grams in total, very thinly sliced, (between 3-5mm) (LIFE HACK TIP: If you find the thin slicing difficult, freeze the lamb for 10-15 minutes and the slicing will be much easier!)

3-5 spring onions, depending on size, sliced into thin diagonals (5-7mm)

6-8 baby corn, depending on size, sliced into thin diagonals (5-7mm)

7-9 asparagus spears, depending on size, cut into 3cm lengths (cut diagonally)

3 cloves garlic, very finely cubed/diced (2-3mm)

4-5 cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and very finely cubed/diced (2-3mm)

1 birds eye red chilli, very finely cubed/diced (2mm, unless you can manage smaller!)

1 star anise

1 egg

125g egg noodles

Sesame oil

Ground nut (peanut) oil (or use sunflower or rapeseed oil if you have a peanut allergy

Handful of fresh coriander leaves

Sesame seeds

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons (45ml) light soy sauce

3 tablespoons Shao Sing rice wine

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

   1.        Prepare the vegetables, meat and aromatics as set out in the ingredients list. You need to do this as the cooking is rapid and needs your attention. 

2.       It will help to put the chilli, garlic and ginger and star anise on a single plate or in a single container.

3.       Cook the noodles according to the instructions; mine involved putting into boiling water for 4 minutes.

4.       Whilst the noodles are cooking, combine the sauce ingredients in a mug, mix well and set aside. Break the egg into another mug, beat with a fork until yolk and white a blended, and set aside.

5.       When the noodles are cooked, drain, run under the cold tap to arrest the cooking process, ensure excess water is shaken off, dress with a small drizzle of groundnut and sesame oil, working through until just coated. Set aside.

6.       Heat some ground nut oil in a pan, around 2-3 tablespoons for my wok, but you need enough to cover the base of your wok, which will vary. Heat until searingly hot, pretty much smoking.  

7.       Toss in the baby corn, stir for less than a minute.

8.       Toss in the spring onions, asparagus, chilli, garlic and ginger, stir fry for a minute. Keep the heat high because the moisture in the vegetables will lower the temperature of the wok and you need to keep the wok as hot as possible. Stirring is essential to prevent the ingredients burning!

9.       Throw in the thinly sliced lamb, the thin slicing will help it cook quickly, evenly and without bringing the temperature of the wok down too much. Stir fry for a minute to two minutes, ensuring the lamb is being constantly moved around the surface of the wok.

10.   Add half of the sauce mixture, mix well and ensure the sauce is boiling. Your wok should be hot enough that you do not need to wait long for this to happen. A matter of seconds.

11.   Now add the dressed noodles and beaten egg. Mix well over the heat.

12.   Once mixed, add the rest of the sauce mix. Allow to bubble for 30 seconds or so, mixing thoroughly as you go.

13.   Add the fresh coriander leaf, fold through the rest of the dish. Remove from the heat immediately.

14.   Serve in a bowl, dressed with the sesame seeds. As you will see I used a mix of white and black sesame seeds.

15.   Enjoy whilst freshly cooked and hot.

Snigdha has written this blog post as an entry for the #LoveLambChallenge competition run by Tasty Easy Lamb (www.tastyeasylamb.co.uk). She has received no incentive for posting this recipe, whether financial or otherwise.

More ways with Char Siu Pork - #3: Stir fry noodles with Char Siu Pork

Some time ago I wrote a couple of recipes using some Char Siu pork (a Chinese preparation of pork which is covered in a spicy, sweet glaze and then roasted). The first can be found here: http://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/2-ways-with-char-siu-pork-1-char-siu.html. The second, here: http://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/2-ways-with-char-siu-pork-2-char-siu.html . Well, I've been back to the Chinese supermarket, and dreamt up some new creations using this wonderfully tasty ingredient, which is really beginning to surprise me with its versatility.

Many of us commonly cook stir fries as a weekday supper. Easy to prepare, quick to cook and easy on the pocket, they fit the post-work meal bill perfectly. I used to be guilty of buying those sachets and jars of Sharwood's or Blue Dragon sauces from Tescos and the like, and was often disappointed by how bland and oversweet they often were. It was not until seeing street chefs in Cambodia and Thailand use a combination of Chinese style condiments that I realised that there is life beyond a jar of sweet and sour sauce. I've not been brave enough to ask any of them for their recipes, but definitely noted that the use of a fresh base of aromatics (ginger, garlic and chili) made the shop bought ingredients sing with vitality.

I used a combination of sugar snap peas, beans, pepper and mushroom here. Partly because they were the veggies I had left in my fridge at home. You will have noted from a previous 'Waste Not, Want Not' post that I don't approve of food wastage. However, you could substitute for mange tout, asparagus, tender stem broccoli, ung choi, or choi sum. More exotic mushrooms than the organic chestnut ones I used would work well. Spring onions would have gone in to the dish if I had them in the house, but they never last very long, being a favourite ingredient for salads. All that you need to do is make sure that whatever veg you put in is no bigger than 2-2½” so that they cook quickly and can be eaten with chopsticks easily.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 Thai red chili, very finely chopped (1-2mm squares)

3 cloves garlic, grated or very finely chopped

1” piece of ginger, peeled then grated or very finely chopped

7-9 sugar snap peas, cut in half

7-9 french fine beans, cut in half

½ red pepper, cut into small batons

3 mushrooms, cut into thin slices

1 head pak choi, cut into small chunks

200g char sui pork, cut into thin slices

2 nests medium egg noodles

2 tbsp groundnut oil

Ingredients all prepared and good to go!

Sauce:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp hoi sin sauce

1-2 tbsp water (enough to loosen up the sauce so it coats the noodles)

Method:

1. Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions. Mine required being boiled for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water to wash away the excess starch. Leave to one side. If it is going to be a while before you cook the stir fry, lightly dress in some extra groundnut oil to prevent them sticking.
2. Meanwhile, blend the sauce ingredients together in a jug until of uniform consistency.
3. Heat the groundnut oil in a wok until hot, but not smoking. If you heat up the oil too highly, your aromatics will burn and stick to the bottom of the wok. Add the aromatics and stir around for 30 seconds. Now add the pak choi and stir for another 1 min - 30 seconds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add the fine beans and stir fry for two minutes. 
   
   
   
   
   
    
5. Now add the mushrooms and peppers. You may need to turn up the heat to keep the wok hot, now that you have quite a few ingredients on the go. You don't want the wok to cool or the veg will start steaming in its own juice rather than stir fry. Stir fry for two minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Add the sugar snaps. Stir fry for one minute.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Add the sliced char siu pork. This will need 1-2 minutes depending on how thinly you have sliced it up. It needs to be thoroughly heated through.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Add the noodles. You will now need to stir through very thoroughly to ensure all of the noodles don't clump together and they absorb the heat. Cook for 1 minute.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Add the sauce and mix up so that it coats all of the meat, veggies and noodles. Cook for 1 minute. Check the meat and noodles are piping hot. 
   
   
   
    
10. Serve immediately.