Saucy Stir-Fry

One of my favorite things to make is stir-fry.  It's quick, it's easy, it uses whatever you have in the kitchen (within reason)... What's not to love?  So here's a variation I came up that uses peanut butter and orange marmalade to create a rich, flavorful sauce.  My roommate said it reminded her a bit of orange chicken.

A quick note before we get started.  I am terrible about measuring things (unless I'm baking).  It's funny, because people like that really used to drive me nuts (How do you know how much to add?)  In an effort to avoid those frustrations, I'm putting down approximations.  Adjust them according to taste-- they're pretty flexible.  Also, this particular write-up should easily serve 6 people.

Meet the Cast!

I use chicken breasts for this recipe, and an assortment of veggies.  Onion, carrot and celery are my favorites-- I usually have them in the house because they're useful for all sorts of things!  I used about 4 carrots (cut them into 3/4 inch chunks) and 3 celery sticks (roughly chopped), and probably about 1 1/4 cups of onion (measured after being chopped).  I had 3 large chicken breasts tonight, and cut them across the grain (the short way) into 1/2 inch-thick strips.  I also had 2 large mushrooms which I halved and sliced.

In a large pan (or wok), saute onions and 2 Tbsp minced garlic in oil until the onions are transparent (maybe 5 minutes over medium-high heat), then add the chicken.  Stir-fry until the chicken is no longer pink. (Because there will be further cooking, you can get away with color change observation rather than temperature-checking.)

Add the carrots next, because they are the most heat-tolerant.  Use this time to prep your sauce. 

 It's not going to be the most beautiful thing you've ever laid eyes on-- you're combining things that, due to their chemical make-up, aren't going to mix.  Combine about 3/4 cup of peanut butter (chunky or smooth-- it doesn't matter), 1 cup orange marmalade, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and pepper to taste.  You can also add 1 tsp fish sauce if you have it to give the sauce a little more umami flavor (often described as meatiness).  If you don't have fish sauce, it really isn't necessary. Feel free also to add 2 tsp ground ginger if you have it.

The carrots have now been in the pan for a minute or two, so go ahead and add the celery, then the mushrooms.  (Just keep stirring everything-- there's a reason it's called stir-fry.) If you like, add 1 cup cashews or peanuts, too.  Add the sauce, and let it simmer and thicken.  TASTE TEST IT.  If you want more of a certain flavor, add it.  This would also be the point, if you wanted, to add frozen veggies (I wanted to add green beans, but we were out).

As soon as your sauce has thickened to the consistency you want, you're good to serve.  You can expedite the thickening by adding corn starch dissolved in a bit of cold water.  (Don't skip the dissolving step, or you get this horrible gritty texture.)  You can eat this on its own, if you like, but I prefer it served with rice.