Zoom cooking class—a surprise

This past week, I took a zoom cooking class. I wasn’t certain what to expect, but since I’m in the process of designing a class; I thought it would be fun to take one—it was!

The class was taught by a Chef Dale Talde of Goosefeather restaurant in Tarrytown, NY. The menu, also dinner, was shrimp stir fry. Not a complicated dish, some prep, a little chopping, a bit of measuring and then the cooking.

To my surprise I learned a lot.

The ingredients can vary; we used shrimp, but it could have been chicken, beef, ground meat, or tofu. The vegetables are also flexible. That’s what makes it fun. Chef Talde indicated that it was a great way to clean out your refrigerator.

One of the things I learned was the importance of coating the protein with cornstarch. It allows the protein to get crispy while staying moist and helps thicken the sauce. I usually use flour to coat and thicken but the cornstarch was light and it did the job really well.

I am a believer in the power of the sauce and this didn’t disappoint. I was fearful that the ingredients he used were going to be more flavorful than I would have dared combine but I was wrong. The resulting sauce was delicious.

Here is a general outline so you can make your own stir fry.

Ingredients

Select a protein, cut into equal size pieces

shrimp (leave whole)

chicken, beef, tofu (cut into even size pieces) or ground meat

Coat well with cornstarch

Use an assortment of vegetables all cut to about the same size

Here are some suggestions: carrots broccoli mushrooms bell peppers scallions asparagus snow pea pods sliced water chestnuts to add crunch

For flavor, add ginger cut into matchsticks and crushed garlic

Sauce

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a measuring cup ¼ cup soy sauce, adds the salty and savory part of the sauce (use tamari to make it gluten free) 1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional but it adds more flavor to the soy sauce) 2 tablespoons honey to sweeten and soften the flavor. Brown sugar and maple syrup can also be used. 1 tablespoon chili paste, adds spice, add less if you don’t like a lot of spice. (I didn’t find it too spicy.) 1 tablespoon rice vinegar to add acid; you can also use lemon or lime juice. ¼ cup water to dilute

Fresh bean sprouts Fresh herbs such as whole leaf basil, parsley, or cilantro Rice

Directions

Heat a sauté pan until very hot.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil.
Add the protein, cook both sides until almost cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
Let the pan get smoking hot before adding the assorted vegetables and flavoring.
Stir so everything cooks evenly.
Add the protein back into the pan and stir.
Add the sauce, bean sprouts, and your selection of fresh herbs.
Make certain to coat everything with the sauce as you finish cooking.
Serve over rice.

It is well worth giving it try. Let me know if you do and what ingredients you used.

I discovered that video cooking classes are fun and they work. I learned something new, had fun, and had a great meal that I’ll make again.

This post was created prior to our site upgrade. Comments at the time of our upgrade included:

Judy Taussik February 11, 2022

Sounds like fun! Really want to try that restaurant!!

Reply -

It does sound like a fun restaurant. —Adeline

Djredman February 12, 2022

I live on the prairie, no good Asian here except my own. I have aThai sister in law who doesn’t give out too much in tips. I don’t do fried rice at home much; am excited to try this formula, want to empress my hubs, a “wow” would be huge for me. In Texas now, but will test out this weekend. Thank you!!! —Djredman

Reply -

Djredman, I'm delighted you’re excited to try it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, I’ve already made it twice and planning to make it again soon with Thai rice noodles instead of rice. Let me know if you like it. -Adeline

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