Vegan Stir Fry

This recipe offers some variety on more conventional vegan/vegetarian recipes and can be created with primarily harvested root vegetables from the garden if they are in season at the time of cooking.

Quantities serve approximately 6 people (one plate per person)

Ingredients:

• 100ml Sunflower Oil
• ~100ml Teriyaki Sauce
• 6-7 cloves of garlic, skins removed
• 3 medium-large ginger thumbs, peeled
• 2 tins of kidney beans (drain the bean brine, maybe save it for another recipe)
• 5g chili flakes
• Vegetable stock (Gemüsebruhe)
• 15ml honey
• 20ml pickled cucumber juice (any pickle juice should be ok)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 10 tbsp water
• 600g rice
• 2 onions
• 600g carrots cut into thin 'pencils'
• 1 large Cauliflower
• 1 V Large leek (chopped small!)
• Pickled cucumbers (optional)

Equipment:

• 1 small saucepan in which to prepare vegetable sauce
• 1 large wok (as large as possible!!)
• 1 large pot (this will hold rice, should be one of the largest pots in the house)
• Food processor (hand mixer or stationary, either is fine)
• Dessert spoons for sampling sauce

Method:

• Add all the garlic, ginger and sugar to the small saucepan. Add 4 tbsp of water and the contents of 1 can of kidney beans, making sure there is no brine being added
• With care, take the hand food processor to the contents of the small saucepan and watch for splatter. If you prefer to use a stationary processor at this point do so and simply transfer the contents back to the small saucepan when finished blending. The consistency should be thick enough that you feel light resistance when stirring with a spoon
• Add the second can of kidney beans, 50ml Teriyaki sauce and the honey then blend again. Give the sauce a taste and see if you have a good harmony of flavour between the garlic, ginger and Terikyaki sauce. Once you do, add the pickle juice and stir the mixture with a spoon
• Chop onions into large slices
• Fill 3/4 of your large saucepan with water, add the onion you just chopped and bring to the boil
• Add the rice to the boiling water and let cook
• Heat the large wok and add 50ml oil. Add the Carrots, Cauliflower & Leek and fry it on as high a heat as possible, with someone constantly turning the vegetables in order to coat them in oil and cook evenly.

N.B: The cooking vegetables should constantly emit a very soft sizzling/frying sound but there should not be any smoke coming from the frying (or it is burning). A lot of oil is needed to get this process going and does not make it taste oily, so don't be shy!

• Once fried for ~10mins (or more importantly until the cauliflower looks golden brown and the carrots look floppy and soft) turn the wok down to a low heat and add the sauce from the small saucepan. Make sure to keep stirring the vegetables around to allow the sauce to integrate nicely. Keep doing this for another 2-3 mins.
• Drain the rice and serve everything. If you would like to you can also serve pickled cucumbers with the dish for a bit of a sour kick addition to the flavour!