Time to start in on that mountain of pheasant breasts in the freezer.
I’m always suckered into a stir fry, because it has that reputation of being something whipped up quickly in one pan on high heat. The truth is that it takes a lot of prep, from slicing and dicing all the vegetables and meat, to measuring out the sauce ingredients so they are ready to throw in quickly, to time for marinating, if that’s part of your dish. It’s the recipe that looks good on TV where the chef has minions setting everything up in advance so it can be thrown together in three minutes.
I tried to keep the prep down in this recipe by using only a few main ingredients—pheasant, shiitake mushrooms, and snow peas—and I marinated the pheasant, which gave me the time to mix the sauce ingredients. It turned out well, although my choice of pan didn’t allow the pheasant to brown as I would have liked. I should have used my regular stainless steel cookware, but I gave a large non-stick pan a chance and it just didn’t want to brown anything. Oh well, it only affected the photos.
Pheasant Stir Fry
Marinate sliced pheasant breasts for 15-30 minutes:
8 boneless, skinless pheasant breasts, sliced in 1/4 inch strips (if using chicken, 4 breasts would be plenty)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Grate and set aside to cook with meat:
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
2 large cloves garlic
Prepare sauce and set aside:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
Prepare vegetables:
3/4-1 lb snow peas, cleaned and trimmed
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thinly
1/2 cup chicken stock
Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
- When all the ingredients are prepared, heat a large saute pan or wok over high heat until very hot. Add 2-3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil.
- Add snow peas and mushrooms stirring quickly to prevent sticking. Add 1/4 cup of the chicken stock, stirring until it evaporates, then add the other 1/4 cup and let it evaporate. Remove the vegetables to a plate, leaving the heat on under the pan.
- Add the marinated meat to the pan, with more oil if necessary, stirring to prevent sticking. You can cook the meat in stages if you have a lot to cook, removing it to a plate to cook the rest.
- Add the ginger and garlic to the pan as the meat is cooking.
- When the meat is done, which should only take 2-3 minutes, return the vegetables to the pan and toss with the sauce mixture until it is thickened and glossy.
Serve with rice.
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