Working for a short while at a Chinese restaurant, I was shocked to discover that some of the most complex looking dishes were actually extremely easy to make and didn't involve lots of foreign ingredients. Fried rice, beef with broccoli, and stirfried vegetables in white sauce all utilized ingredients I can find at my local Walmart these days. My favorite by far is the white sauce, which curiously enough is just chicken broth thickened by corn starch. All you do is stirfry your vegetables in a little oil on high heat...my favorite combo is chinese cabbage, carrot matchsticks, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and baby corn...until the cabbage becomes barely limp (around 2-3 min.) Then add chicken broth until a small pool forms at the bottom of the vegetables, reserving some cold broth. Mix together cornstarch with the reserved broth; the amount varies on how big a batch you're making but if you've ever made gravy you now how to eyeball it. If you're a gravy newbie, I'd start with around a tablespoon to begin. You can alway add more later if it's not enough. Continue to stirfry until veggies are coated with a sumptuous, creamy glaze. I immediately freeze mine in smaller batches without any meat. Then when I defrost, I simply stirfry the meat first, then add the vegetable stirfry mix, and stirfry until hot. My favorite meat "garnish" is shrimp, but chicken is also a good choice. Or you can eat just plain as I did here...with just a squirt or two of sirracha to add a spicy kick.




If making to eat immediately, use the same formula as if frozen. Stirfy the meat first until done, remove from wok or pan, stirfy vegetables, then add meat back in. Do not cook them together as the meat requires more time and you will risk overcooking your veggies or eating undercooked meat. Gross! Also, searing and cooking the meat in the pan first creates beautiful flavor which it then imparts to the veggies afterwards.