Making Martha: Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

This was devoured in probably under 20 minutes...

So while this recipe technically falls under 'Making Martha' as it is from one of her cookbooks, it's actually one of the few recipes that doesn't leave out vital steps or assume the home cook had, say, about 2 years in an elite French cooking academie. But that might be because this is from the editors of Martha Stewart Living (read: minions) and so is for us neophytes...

All that being said - its flipping delicious. I was straight up surprised at how yummy this dish is. And so with no further ado here is my take on this dish. (Obviously this is not wholly my recipe but I did add all the detailed steps I used)


Special Equipment:

1. Wok (or large saute pan)
2. Cheese grater (with the small holes)

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 lbs of chicken - trim and cut into strips. I used chicken breasts, but I think next time I'll cut up tenderloins.
2. Salt and Pepper
3. 2 tbsp olive oil
4. 1 large white onion - thinly sliced
5. 1 red pepper - de-seeded sliced into strips
6. 4 cloves of garlic, minced
7. 1 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger (peeled)
8. 3 tbsp soy sauce
9. 3 tbsp rice vinegar
10. 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed w/ 1 tbsp water
11. A head of Butter Lettuce

Directions:

1. Note: Because you are going to be adding ingredients fast, I HIGHLY suggest laying out all your ingredients first.  You won't really have time to go measure and keep the stir fry going because it might burn or overcook.

Most of my ingredients - all prepped.

2. If you only have one cutting board - cut up your veggies first that way you don't contaminate it with chicken. Peel your onion getting rid of all the hard outer layer and slice. You can use a mandolin or do it by hand. Tonight, I couldn't be bothered to use a mandolin, even though its SOO easy to slice with it, for the the simple reason that I had no desire to clean it up.

This is a mandolin. And tonight the laziness of not wanting to clean beat out the laziness of not wanting to cut by hand. It was a close call. 

3. Cut your red pepper into strips and get rid of all the seeds in the inside. I find the easiest way to do this is to get a paring knife and cut the top and bottom off and then slice it down the middle. Cut away the inner flesh and then cut into thin strips.
4. Mince your garlic.
5. Peel your ginger. Use a normal vegetable peeler.

This weird looking creature is unpeeled ginger. Higher end grocery stores should have it. Its kind of expensive so I always dig through the bin and find a tiny one (this cost me 68 cents)

This is peeled ginger.

6. Grate your ginger using the cheese grater. I tried a microplane grater and it was just all kinds of fail. Also grating ginger yield a kind of liquidy pulp. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it sure tastes good still.

I have a lot of graters (don't judge me) this is the one that I used

7. Trim and cut your chicken into small strips. Remove all the fat and gross bits. Then season with salt and pepper - this just means shake a healthy bit of each on there.

Again - raw chicken is hella gross.

8. Measure and set aside all your ingredients by the stove.
9. Get your wok and 1 tbsp olive oil nice and hot (I set it at an 8) the key to good stir fry is the cooking it hot and fast (have fun with the innuendos!). Toss your chicken in and stir and fry it. Cook it until it's white throughout with little bits of gold on the edges. About 6 minutes for me. (Martha says she does it in four- but she's just better than I am)

Stirring the meat around - its not cooked here - see the pink?

10. When its cooked put the chicken in a clean bowl - don't clean the wok.
11. Turn the heat down to 6 and toss in the onions and red peppers. Cook until the peppers are soft and the onions are transparent.

All done!

12. Add your ginger and garlic and cook for about a minute mixing it the whole time. Martha says until its 'fragrant'. So if that helps you- there it is.
13. Add your soy sauce, your rice vinegar, and cornstarch mixture and remove from heat. Throw the cooked chicken all all the juices in your wok and mix it all up!
14. Serve with lettuce and wrap like tacos. Then grab the serving fork and hoard some...because these are going to go fast.

I LOVE feedback - so comments, criticisms, observations? Tell me :) Have some tips to make it better? Please share!