Before I get into the recipe, I have to take a moment to applaud my mom. In the 18 years that I lived with my parents, my mom managed to make a home cooked dinner every single weeknight AFTER working a full day. Every. Night. And we always ate relatively early. She would be home by 6 and we ate dinner together around 7. There was always a vegetable dish, some kind of protein, and of course, rice. Oh yea, she even managed to have tong more often than not. How did she do that?
I work from home 4.5 days per week, have a lovely 10 ft. commute every morning AND evening, and can barely manage to cook 3x on a good week. Many thanks to my mom for providing a balanced meal every night. You are very much appreciated.
There's a stir-fry that my mom made often that I just salivate over! It doesn't even have a name. It's just a bunch of bite-sized pieces of ingredients all quickly stir-fried together. The ingredients vary but my favorite variation includes potatoes, preserved vegetables, baked tofu and edamame. This is MY kind of comfort food!
Here's my adaptation of my Mom's Stir Fry. Enjoy!
Mom's Stir-fry
1 potato - thinly diced
1 cup of asparagus - sliced into coins
2 squares of baked tofu - sliced into bite sized pieces (you can find this in the refrigerated section at asian supermarkets. should be very firm and brown on the outside.)
1 cup of edamame
1 cup of corn
1 package of preserved vegetables (these are tricky to find. they come in airtight pouches and are usually near the tofu in the refrigerated section of asian supermarkets.)
fish sauce, soy sauce, and fresh black pepper to taste (no salt, the preserved vegetables are salty enough)
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook until it browns a little. Once the potatoes are tender, remove from skillet and set aside.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the asparagus and saute for a minute. Then add the baked tofu, edamame, corn and preserved vegetables. Stir-fry until heated through. Just before turning off the heat, add the potatoes back to the skillet, heat through, and add some freshly cracked black pepper.
Serve over brown rice or mixed in with quinoa as pictured. Add a drizzle of fish sauce and soy sauce!
You can imagine how creative you can get with this dish. Add meat, carrots, celery, bell peppers, anything really! Just be sure to cut everything into bite-sized pieces so that it cooks quickly and evenly.
