Here is a spicy veggie stir-fry side dish featuring asparagus prepared Sichuan-style. The portions here are for 2 servings, but you could double or triple the amounts to serve more people.
Ingredients:
- 10 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 small yellow or red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- A handful of dried red chile peppers such as arbol chiles
- sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 Tbsp peanut oil
- 1 Tbsp chili paste, such as Sambal Olek
- 1/3 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 tsp. cornstarch
Method
- Heat a dry wok or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. The wok or pan will be hot enough when a few drops of water evaporate almost immediately upon hitting the pan.
- Pour in the oil, rotating the wok or pan to get all sides coated evenly.
- Season the oil by tossing in the ginger, chiles and garlic and stir-frying for about 30 seconds, making sure to keep everything moving around to avoid burning.
- Add the asparagus, onion and chili paste to the wok; fry for another 2 minutes, again, keeping everything in motion during the process.
- Add the oyster sauce and cornstarch, continuing to fry for about another minute so the cornstarch thickens the sauce.
- Remove from heat and place onto a serving dish.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.