About the egg… The easiest way to integrate egg into a stir fry is to beat it, pour it into the wok with the partially cooked vegetables and stir everything until the egg is set and the vegetables are cooked through. I wanted to try another technique.
I cooked the egg ahead as a thin omelette, rolled it up on the cutting board and sliced it into fine strips. The egg strips were tossed with the vegetables during the last minute of cooking which gave them just enough time to soak up some of the sauce yet still retain their shape perfectly.
Now, about the seasonings… Three soy sauces? Yes. Each has a role to play in this dish. Light soy sauce provides the saltiness, dark soy sauce gives the dish a deeper color and sweet soy sauce creates a balance with the saltiness.
To complete the seasonings, oyster sauce was added for a rich umami flavor. Then, there’s Shao Xing rice wine for a mellow sweetness that’s really hard to describe but best experiences. Finally, a little sesame seed oil for aroma and a little nuttiness.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil divided
- 1 large egg beaten
- 4 stalks scallions (white and light green portions only) chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 half-inch knob ginger peeled and minced
- ½ cup julienned carrot
- 1 cup julienned chayote
- 4 large shiitake (caps only) thinly sliced
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 8 bok choy stalks lower halves only; cut into ½-inch slices
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shao Xing rice wine
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seed oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons tapioca starch or corn starch
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a wok or frying pan. Swirl to coat the bottom evenly.
- With the heat set to medium, pour in the egg and swirl to allow to spread into a thin sheet. Cook just until set.
- Using a spatula, roll the egg into a log, slide onto a cutting board and slice into strips less than a quarter of an inch thick. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining cooking oil in the wok or frying pan.
- Saute the scallions, garlic and ginger for half a minute.
- Turn up the heat, add the carrot, chayote and shiitake, and sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Stir fry for a minute.
- Toss in the bok choy stalks and continue stir frying for half a minute.
- Stir together all the ingredients for the sauce and add enough water to make one cup.
- Toss the egg strips with the shiitake and vegetables.
- Pour in the sauce and cook, tossing and stirring lightly, until the sauce is thick and clear.
