Asian Stir Fry

After receiving two sushi books at Christmas, we figured it was a good time to attempt a few homemade rolls. We decided to start easy with just vegetables in case they didn't turn out as planned. And it was a good thing we did. After reading both books about how to prepare the sushi rice, we were quite intimidated about the first step of the process. Since I'm not really one to follow directions that well (or at all), I decided we could figure it out along the way. We weren't far along before I realized the rice was not sticky enough to roll. So we had a heaping of cooked rice and a ton of vegetables... Stir fry!



Ingredients:
- One and a half cups of rice (we used long grain, the first error in our sushi attempt)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 boneless and skinless chicken breast
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of Gluten Free Soy Sauce*
- Few tablespoons of olive oil
- Cumin, garlic and red pepper flakes
- 4 or 5 sliced mushrooms (small)
- 3 to 4 stalks of chopped celery
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cut asparagus
- 1/4 cup chopped green pepper

* We decided to go lighter on the soy sauce as you can always add it in the end. We ended up not even needing to.

Recipe:
We cooked the rice in a rice cooker per (almost) manufacturer's directions. After allowing the rice to cool roughly 15 minutes in a separate bowl, we added the rice vinegar and salt. The rice sat while we cooked the chicken and vegetables.

We thinly sliced the chicken breast and pan cooked it in a wok over medium heat with olive oil, cumin, garlic and red pepper flakes. When fully cooked, we removed the chicken and put aside.

Next came the vegetables. We added more olive oil, cumin and garlic to the wok and started the sautee with the celery, green pepper and onion. Once they began to soften, we added the asparagus and mushrooms. We allowed time for all the vegetables to soften, adding a little more olive oil as needed.

We then added the rice and soy sauce. We mixed that around until all the rice was covered and then added the cooked chicken. We allowed a few minutes for all the ingredients to fully mix together, removed from the heat and served with spicy cucumber salad (see next post), Sriracha on the side and two glasses of red wine (Pinot Nior complemented nicely). While I love sushi and I am not ready to give up,  failing our first homemade attempt resulted in a great stir fry!