I love making a stir fry at home. We all love Chinese food and our favorite is Hunan Spring in Springfield, NJ. We go there quite often and Sia loves the Chicken and Corn Soup. The food is delicious but it is quite greasy and there is really no way for me to know what all is in the  food. I especially love the sweet and sour or tangy sauces that go with the different meats they serve. Mostly we get Mango Chicken and Shredded Pork in a Garlic Sauce. When I make the dishes at home, the sauces usually include brown sugar or honey for the sweetness and rice vinegar to add the sourness. 
Lately I have been into cooking with apricots and nectarines. Since they are in season now, I see them every where I go. I had seen a stir fry recipe that used nectarines with beef. I read the recipe and envisioned a sauce made out of apricot jam mixed with soy sauce and chili sauce- hmm, yum! I couldn’t wait to make it. I went to Whole Foods to buy some beef suitable for a stir fry and decided to buy a red pepper as well. I love the bright colors in a stir fry- and you eat with your eyes first. I marinated the beef in the afternoon thinking I would cook the dish in the evening. We ended up going out to eat that evening so the beef sat in the fridge overnight. I cooked it the next evening and I have to say, it was extra tasty because of the extra long marination time. I am sure it would be tasty even if it is marinated for a few hours- I think the key is to get the right cut for a stir fry, I used top round and it worked out very well- great beef flavor.

For the sauce I used the apricot jam and paired it with rice vinegar, soy sauce and the chili garlic sauce. That’s all it really needed- well I definitely had to add the ginger and the garlic- you can’t have Chinese food or really any food without them! It was a delicious sauce- great to use as a pan sauce for chicken or a pork tenderloin. 

One of the reasons I love making a stir fry  is that it can be prepped for in advance- I usually cut and marinate everything in the morning; I put the sauce together as well- I even cook the rice in advance. All I have to do in the evening is put the ingredients in the wok or frying pan and add the sauce. A few things to remember when making a stir fry: first- cut everything into the same small size- so it all cooks at the same time and really fast. Second-Saute everything separately- it keeps all the vegetables crisp- and third- have everything ready since the cooking process doesn’t take very long. 

I cooked brown rice with this dish. I buy the basmati brown rice from Trader Joes which is delicious. The thing to remember with brown rice is that it takes almost double the amount of cooking time than white rice. Also, white rice gets double the amount of liquid- for brown rice, I use a little bit more. For example: I used one cup of uncooked rice with three cups of liquid. Since the rice takes longer, more liquid is necessary. 

My daughter loved the stir fry especially with the brown rice. I thought it was absolutely delicious- especially the tangy sauce. We had our usual Malbec Rose with the dinner and it was fabulous as usual!

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