Lemongrass & Sweet Chilli Stir Fry

Serves 4

Cooking time ~ 40 minutes

You will need: Small sauce pan for broth; Medium sauce pan for rice; Wok

Ingredients:

For broth:

1 vegetable stock cube

1.5 cups water

1/8 cup vegetarian "oyster" sause (mushroom sauce - buy at Asian Grocers)

1/4 sweet chilli sauce

1 TBSP sesame oil

Juice of 1 lime

Lemongrass stalk - peeled (5cm piece of large stalk or several smaller ones cut into 5cm lengths)

1 TBSP minced ginger

350g packet plain tofu

For Wok:

1 TBSP sesame oil

1 TBSP minced garlic

3-4 shallots, diced

3-4 cups of vegetable pieces

Optional - fresh coriander

Rice:

2 cups basmati rice (uncooked) + 4 cups water (for cooking via absorption method) or alternatively rice for 4 serves cooked in other style of your choice.

Instructions:

- Dice tofu into 1cm cubes.

- In small saucepan combine stock cube and water and bring to boil to dissolve cube, then add other broth ingredients and mix well, add tofu cubes and simmer for 30 minutes.

- Put rice on to cook.

- Heat Wok and add sesame oil, add garlic and shallots, cook for 1-2 minutes, then scoop tofu pieces out of broth (reserve broth) and brown in pan.

- Add other vegetables and stir fry, when vegetables are still firm but cooked, add broth and stir fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

- Add fresh coriander if using and stir through

- Serve over rice.

Chinese Five Spice Rice

(This isn't actually my picture but for the sake of getting people's taste buds working I had to include one! I will take a photo of the below recipe and replace the photo ASAP!)

Cooking time ~ 40 minutes
Serves ~ 4 serves

This has a lot of ingredients and makes huge serves, but is perfect to keep for leftovers during the week, just reheat in the wok with a tiny amount of hot water stirred through while reheating if it dries out a little too much.

You will need:
1. large Wok with a lid or cover (I use an electric wok) or very large pan with lid.
2. medium saucepan

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups brown rice (brown rice is best for this dish as the nutty flavour is beautiful with the five spice)
• 350g plain tofu - cubed or even crumbled if you prefer (Tempeh can be used too, or leave out tofu altogether is you like))
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic - minced
• 2cm piece ginger - peeled and minced or very finely diced
• 4 shallots (scallions) - cut into 1cm lengths
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage or wombok
• 1 red onion - diced
• 1 small zucchini - diced
• 1 small carrot - diced
• 1/2 small red capsicum - diced
• 1 cup broccoli - in small florets
• 1 cup cauliflower - in small florets
• Sesame or peanut oil
• Light soy sauce
• Rice wine vinegar
• Chinese Five Spice powder
• 270ml tin coconut milk (low fat if you like)
• 1x vegetable stock cube.
• Fresh coriander
  

DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare tofu, garlic, ginger and red onion

2. Put rice on to cook for 20 minutes with 4 cups water and the stock cube.

3. While rice is cooking, in hot wok fry up tofu in 1 tablespoon on the oil (more if your wok is sticky) then when tofu nicely browned add onion, garlic and ginger.

4. Lower heat in wok and chop all veggies.

5. Heat wok to high heat again and add veggies (BUT NOT CABBAGE, add at step 9), stir fry using a little more oil if you need, then de-glaze the wok with a few splashes of the vinegar and soy sauce to lift any stuck bits from the wok. Don't over cook your veggies as they will soften when the rice is added and you don't want them soggy.

6. Give rice a stir and then pour in tin of coconut milk, mix well. Rice should now have been cooking about 20 minutes and be about 3/4 cooked.

7. Add rice and coconut milk mixture to the wok and mix well through the veggie and tofu mix. There should still be enough liquid in the rice to have the rice cook the remainder risotto style. If it's too dry add some hot water.

8. Add soy sauce and Chinese Five Spice to taste, I usually use about 3-4 table spoons soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of Five Spice, but always adjust to taste, as I don't like too much soy sauce, and the stock cube already makes this dish quite salty.

9. Add cabbage now, then cover and let rice finish cooking for 10 minutes approximately. If your rice is cooked and there is still liquid, increase heat and stir for a few minutes to evaporate excess liquid, it should be dryer than risotto, not too soggy, but not dry like fried rice. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Serve in large Asian-style bowls