I love to re-create restaurant meals at home. I'm usually able to accomplish decent results, with the exception of Asian cuisine. I happen to love Thai and Vietnamese cooking, but I just can't make it taste as good at home.
I made a veggie stir-fry with grilled steak and peanut sauce last week that was really good. It still doesn't compete with a restaurant meal or more authentic dish, but we liked it anyway!
I found
this peanut sauce on pinterest and topped our stir fry with it. It made the dish, definitely. Like the blogger suggests, I improvised with the ingredients I had on hand. I'll give you my version, but feel free to check out the original, for comparison purposes!
I served our stir fry with steamed jasmine rice and grilled flank steak, sliced.
for the veggie stir-fry:
1 red pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
8 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cabbage, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
In a skillet, heat sesame oil over high heat, until shimmering. Saute vegetables briefly, about three to five minutes, stirring occasionally, in order to get a browned (but crisp) color and flavor. Remove from heat and add soy sauce. Cover and set aside for serving
for the flank steak:
Marinate steak at least four hours in Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing. Grill approximately 8 minutes per side or until medium rare. Allow to rest for five minutes before slicing on the bias and serving.
steamed jasmine rice:
Steam according to manufacturers directions.
for the peanut sauce:
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp dried ginger
1 lime, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp hot sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/ cup safflower oil
2 tsp honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth.
**
Quite a few notes:
I think I'd like to use fresh ginger in both the stir fry and the peanut sauce.
This sauce will give you garlic breath, beware!
Fresh cilantro would have been nice on top.
You can totally improvise on the sauce, the veggies used in the stir fry, or meat selection (chicken, pork, or shrimp would taste great as well!)
We used forks, not chopsticks - too impatient!
I loved this meal, but next time I'll make more - Josh and I were both hungry afterwards :)