I am surprised by the number of recipes for Chinese stir-fry
dishes that say "use purchased stir-fry sauce". I thought
stir-fry sauce was pretty easy: soy sauce, garlic, ginger, mirin
and stock, water or sherry. My understanding is that the
thickening agent: corn starch and water is not considered part
of the stir-fry sauce.
Has anyone any favorite recipes?


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Nick wrote on 28 Apr 2007 23:38:09 GMT:

NC> Steve Wertz > wrote:
??>> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:59:01 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
??>> [ . . . ]
??>> Buy a few simple Asian sauces and you'll have plenty of
??>> "stir-fry" sauces that will taste much better than
??>> anything store-bought. Some of the most important things
??>> to buy a
??>>
??>> Oyster Sauce
??>> Chinese or Korean rice wine.
??>> Black bean garlic sauce
??>> Black beans (whole)
??>> Hoy Fung chili garlic paste
??>> [hot] Bean paste
??>> Minor's or McCormick chicken base
??>> Sesame oil
??>> Soy sauce (which I personally never use, except Kecap
??>> Manis)
??>>

I guess I have no real argument with your list! I tend to use
Siracha garlic-chili sauce (the one with picture of the rooster)
and I use enough regular soy sauce that I buy it in gallon cans
(Kikkoman) to refill the cooking and table bottles. I like miso
soup so I usually have miso in the the fridge (it keeps very
well) and also hon-dashi to make the basic soup.

Have you ever eaten Vietnamese Pho soup? A 1:1 mixture of hoisin
and Siracha makes a good dip for the pieces of beef or chicken.
I got this idea by watching people who looked like they might
have come from that part of the world!


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

"Nick Cramer" > wrote in message
...
> Steve Wertz > wrote:
>> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:59:01 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
>> [ . . . ]
>> Buy a few simple Asian sauces and you'll have plenty of
>> "stir-fry" sauces that will taste much better than anything
>> store-bought. Some of the most important things to buy a
>>
>> Oyster Sauce
>> Chinese or Korean rice wine.
>> Black bean garlic sauce
>> Black beans (whole)
>> Hoy Fung chili garlic paste
>> [hot] Bean paste
>> Minor's or McCormick chicken base
>> Sesame oil
>> Soy sauce (which I personally never use, except Kecap Manis)
>>
>> A small $20 investment and you can make dozens of tasty dishes.
>
> James, Steve is spot on with this. By varying which and how much of each
> ingredient you use, you hone the sauce to the dish. I would also add Thai
> Nam Pla (fish sauce) to the list and note that there are many varieties of
> soy sauce, each of which has a different flavor. We mainly use Thin, Black
> (not for stir fry, but sparingly in some noodle dishes) and Gold Mountain
> Soy Sauces. The kids also bought some Hoisin Sauce, but they only mix it
> with dip. Also, the rice wine should be a drinking wine, not a cooking
> wine. Enjoy the adventure!

>
I would add fresh garlic, ginger and sugar to that list
Wayne
Ottawa, ON
Fi~

"Wayne" > wrote:
> "Nick Cramer" > wrote in message
> > Steve Wertz > wrote:
> >> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:59:01 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
> >> [ . . . ]
> >> Buy a few simple Asian sauces and you'll have plenty of
> >> "stir-fry" sauces that will taste much better than anything
> >> store-bought. Some of the most important things to buy a
> >>
> >> Oyster Sauce
> >> Chinese or Korean rice wine.
> >> Black bean garlic sauce
> >> Black beans (whole)
> >> Hoy Fung chili garlic paste
> >> [hot] Bean paste
> >> Minor's or McCormick chicken base
> >> Sesame oil
> >> Soy sauce (which I personally never use, except Kecap Manis)
> >>
> >> A small $20 investment and you can make dozens of tasty dishes.
> >
> > James, Steve is spot on with this. By varying which and how much of
> > each ingredient you use, you hone the sauce to the dish. I would also
> > add Thai Nam Pla (fish sauce) to the list and note that there are many
> > varieties of soy sauce, each of which has a different flavor. We mainly
> > use Thin, Black (not for stir fry, but sparingly in some noodle dishes)
> > and Gold Mountain Soy Sauces. The kids also bought some Hoisin Sauce,
> > but they only mix it with dip. Also, the rice wine should be a drinking
> > wine, not a cooking wine. Enjoy the adventure!
>
> I would add fresh garlic, ginger and sugar to that list

Well, yes. There are many more ingredients that may be used when
stir-frying. Lemongrass, shrimp paste and Kaffir Lime leaves come
immediately to mind, and we have probably two dozen other sauces, Sriracha
being the main one.

--
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