When I saw Ponzu on the shelves of a health food store recently, I was sure it brought good cafe meals to mind. So I purchased a bottle. At home I searched online for ideas and then went with my own variation on a favourite lo mein stirfry. It had a pleasing lightness to it, thanks to the citrus flavours in this Japanese marinade sauce.
Years ago I overdid it on stirfries. For an age, I didn't make them. Then I found a simple lo mein recipe and my stirfy mojo returned. We have them quite often but I really loved this ponzu variation and think it might be another favourite.
While I am very happy to have ponzu sauce in my house, I did choke for a moment upon reading about it online when sites started to tell me it usually has bonito (fish) flakes in it. I had never even thought to check in the house. I rushed to the bottle and checked but was relieved to see that my bottle didn't have any fish in it.
Once I had the sauce sorted, I started to fry the vegies. I use whatever vegies are on hand for my lo mein. Here I have written
what I used but it is totally dependent upon season and availability for
what goes into any good stirfry. Just so long as there is some good variation in colour and texture.
And a pile of comforting slurpy noodles. I try and keep some ready to
eat hokkein noodles in the cupboard for nights when I need dinner
quickly. I also like seasoned Japanese tofu. Some plain tofu or cashews could be fried before starting on the vegies and added later.
It made a really pleasing meal with lots of lovely vegies. There were enough leftovers for one for the next night. E and I had them with some fried dumplings. I mixed up a bit more of the dressing (2 tbsp ponzu, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp maple syrup) and it made a wonderful dipping sauce for the dumplings. I think I am going to enjoy this ponzu sauce.
More stirfry recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Hal's stirfry sauce (gf)
Lo mein (v)
Matthews delicious tofu (gf, v)
Tamarind tempeh with noodles (v)
'Teriyaki' tofu with brown rice and kale (gf, v)
Ponzu Stirfry
Serves 2-3
Sauce:
3 tbsp ponzu
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
Stirfry:
1 tbsp oil
1 onion. chopped
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1-2 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
bunch of asparagus, chopped
handful of snowpeas, diagonally sliced
4-6 button mushrooms, roughly sliced
150g Japanese seasoned tofu
200g pouch of hokkien noodles (ready to use)
Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside. Fry onion in oil for a few minutes. Add carrot, red cabbage and red pepper and fry a few more minutes. Now add remaining ingredients and the sauce. Stir through a few minutes until the sauce is mostly absorbed and all the vegies are a little wilted but not too soft.
On the Stereo:
Thursday's Fortune: Club Hoy
Looks great! I need to jump into meals like this again! Soon!
ReplyDeletePonzu can also be a good component of salad dressing. When I am staying in a temporary apartment, I sometimes use a bottle of Ponzu as all-purpose seasoning: after a couple of weeks, it's tiresome, but a good solution to keeping a small number of items on hand.
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I know I would love this - thanks for the idea. I'll have to seek out a bottle of Ponzu.
ReplyDeleteI love a bit of ponzu in restaurant meals, so maybe I need to invest in a bottle for cooking at home. I'll be sure to double check for the fish - I'm not sure I would have known to look either, but I'll keep my eye out now!
ReplyDeleteWe have been eating loads of stir-fries recently. They are so quick and pretty healthy on the whole. I love the flavours here. I often add a little honey, but maple sounds delicious! x
ReplyDelete