Quick Stir-Fry Sauce

I don't have any photos for this post, or a nice story to go along with it. I'm just trying to get into the habit of updating a little more regularly, plus I wanted to log this before I forget.

The other day I was craving some stir-fried pork and tofu with veggies, and I wanted to pick up this "House of Tsang" spicy Sichuan stir-fry sauce I used to use for a similar dish in college. This stuff really delivered the heat, and had a really nice consistency to it, from what I remember. But I realized I'd have to stop by the store on the way home from work to pick some up. But then I figured I roughly know how to make my own stir-fry sauce and I have a lot of chili-sesame oil, to hell with the store-bought sauce.

So for 1 standard block of firm tofu, 2 large peeled and sliced carrots, and 1 small crown of broccoli, I made my stir-fry sauce out of the following:

- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

- 2 Tbsp rice wine (shao xing)

- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce

- 1 or 1.5 Tbsp hot chili-sesame oil

- 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water

- 2 tsp minced fresh garlic

- 2 tsp grated fresh ginger

- 2 stalks of scallion, finely sliced

1. Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch mixture in a bowl, and whisk it well.

2. In the clean pan on medium-high heat, fry the ginger, garlic, and scallion in 1 or 1.5 Tbsp of cooking oil for about 30 seconds (enough time for it to get fragrant but not burn).

3. Pour the soy sauce mixture from Step 1 into the pan on medium-high heat. Keep stirring while the sauce begins to thicken from the cornstarch.