This is the original weekday banger. It requires some solid prep but a real quick cook time. This is based on a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for Beef stir fry with portabella mushrooms subbed in for the beef. You start by chopping up all the veggies then you quickly cook everything and build the sauce. My wife – Gina – requested we start doing some simple stir fries years ago because I was only cooking meat dishes. Her idea – God bless her – was frozen veggies packs from the supermarket so I found a good one with fresh veggies and now here you go. Spend about 20 minutes prepping everything then cook for about 10 minutes and the world is your oyster (sauce).
Ingredients:
- 2 portabella mushrooms, cut into half-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp white sugar
- ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp. garlic-chile or sambal sauce
- ½ tsp corn starch
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1.5 tsp ginger, minced or grated
- Vegetable oil
- 6 oz sugar snap peas, ends trimmed and strings removed
- Bell pepper, seeded and sliced into ¼-inch strips
- 1 tbsp. Water
Start by cutting up all the veggies then putting the mushrooms in a bowl with the soy sauce and half the sugar. Mix it together and put it in the fridge until you’re done. Put the garlic and ginger in a small bowl with 1tbsp of the oil and set it aside. Mix the cornstarch, oyster sauce, chili-garlic/sambal sauce, rest of the sugar, and broth in a bowl then let it kick it for a bit. If it separates, stir it back together again, don’t be an idiot.
Heat the rest of the vegetable oil in a non-stick pan on medium-high until it smokes then throw the mushrooms in for like 2 minutes then add in the peas and peppers. Cook those until they blacken on one side then get it all turned over onto the uncooked side. Let it cook for a couple minutes then throw the water in there and cover for one minute to steam it.
Once it’s done steaming you can take the lid off and clear out some space in the middle. Add the garlic/ginger mix in the middle and SMASH IT until it smells (like 20-30 secs). Mix it in with the rest of the stir fry then add the sauce mix in there and cook it until the sauce cooks down to the consistency you want it. You’re all done! Put it over some rice and call it a day. You’re now banged on a weekday.
