Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

One thing I am learning in the cooking world is that making your own sauces is not as hard as I originally thought it was AND its also tastes WAYYY better than anything you can find in a bottle (from my experience).  You also cut out all of the extra unnecessary preservatives.  Yes, it does take more time to stir together 3 ingredients than it does to open a bottle, but the money AND taste savings are well worth it.  I hope to be able to find more stir fry sauce recipes and will post them here.  For now, this is one that my kids love (because its sweet) and oh so easy.



Stir Fry Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar


Mix all ingredients and cook with stir fry veggies.  This sauce is thin and sweet.  You can double, triple, etc the amounts as needed.


Recipe Source:  Recipezaar.com
Picture Source: Stir Fry Sauces

Shoyu Chicken

Since I live in Hawaii, I figure I better learn how to make a little local food every once in awhile.  This chicken is a staple here.  Its great because this chicken recipe does not need to be marinated ahead of time from what I hear, but I did, just to be on the safe side.  :)  Many people boil the chicken in the sauce for 30-45 minutes, turning every once in awhile.  I baked the chicken in the oven with the directions below:

Ingredients:

1 5lb box chicken thighs, thawed

1 C shoyu (soy sauce)

1 C sugar

5 cloves garlic

3 half inch chunks ginger (I used dried)

Mix the shoyu and sugar. Add the garlic and chunks of ginger together in a bowl.  Stir it until the sugar dissolves. Mush the ginger and the garlic cloves with the back of a table knife so that the flavor can comes out of them, before you add them to the sauce. 

Put the chicken thighs (defrosted) in a pan that is deep enough that the juices won't boil over the side, and bake the chicken at 350 degrees, covered, for about 1 hour. Check the chicken to see if it is done - it should be just done. Do not over cook the chicken or it will be tough. If the chicken needs a little more time put it back in the oven and check it again in 15 minutes. The chicken should have turned white and there should be no blood near the bone (if you are using thighs that have bones in them). 

Some people use boneless - skinless thighs, some people like thighs with the skin and bone on. It doesn't matter which type you use, but I think thighs are the best thing to use for shoyu chicken. I also think it is good to cook the chicken a little ahead of time so that it can reabsorb the flavor of the sauce after it has cooked. So if I wanted chicken to be ready to eat at 5pm, I'd stick it in the oven at 3pm so that I would have time to cook it a little longer if needed and also so it could cool in the sauce for a while before serving it.

If you like the taste of a thicker sauce you can take the sauce out of the pan, after the chicken has cooked, and thicken it in a sauce pan with some corn starch and then pour the sauce back on the chicken.

Recipe Source: Benita C, my friend

Picture Source: Kuki's Kookbook

Brown Butter Banana Bars

I got this recipe from my friend Rachelle over at To Die For Recipes.  Oh man, they are good.  Not healthy, but wow, this frosting is incredible.  The browned butter gives it a delicious flavor.  My kids said they liked them as much as my Peanut Butter Bars.  Say what?!  They would be great for any occasion as well.  Rachelle says you can halve the recipe, no problem.

Ingredients:

BANANA BARS:

1 1/2 C sugar
1 C sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 C butter, softened
1 3/4 C mashed, ripe bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)


BROWN BUTTER FROSTING:

1/2  C butter
4 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBSP milk
1/4-1/2 tsp salt


1. Heat oven to 330F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan. For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Stir in walnuts. 

2. Spread batter evenly into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately.

4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt and milk. Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting). Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

Side note:  My frosting needed extra milk.  It was pretty thick without it.  I will keep experimenting, as I was letting my daughter help stir in the powdered sugar and it was taking her awhile.  I wonder if this made a difference?

Recipe Source:  To Die For Recipes
Picture Source: Many Makings