Hon Tsai Tai Stir Fry
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
3 tbs sesame oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (use more if you want more heat)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used 11 baby onions)
5 cloves garlic
3 tbs chopped crystallized ginger (regular ginger is ok too, it’s just what I had
on hand)
2 carrots, sliced
3 radishes, sliced
1 1/2 cups mushrooms (I used mixed because that’s what I had on hand,
shitakes would taste great too. If all you have is white button mushrooms, that’
s ok, but mushrooms are a great place to experiment with new flavors.)
2 tsp fish sauce
4 tbs rice wine vinegar
4 tbs gluten-free tamari sauce
8 oz (about 4 cups chopped) Hon Tsai Tai stems, leaves and flours- if you
can’t find this green, substitute any leafy green of your choosing.
In a small saucepan place quinoa and the 2 cups of water. Cover and turn to
medium. When the lid starts to rattle, turn the heat to low and let simmer for
10-15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Keep lid on and pull from
heat so the pan doesn’t burn.
Meanwhile, in a large wok or large saucepan (I used my 7 qt sauce pot
because it’s wide and has deeper sides than a traditional saucepan. Use
whatever you think will work for you.) Add sesame oil and red pepper flakes.
Turn heat to medium and when you smell the oil, about 1 minute) add the
onion and garlic and stir until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
Add sliced carrots and radishes and stir another 2-3 minutes. Add fish sauce,
rice wine vinegar and soy sauce, stir another 2 minutes. While carrots are still
crunchy add mushrooms. Continue stirring until carrots are soft and
mushrooms have thoroughly cooked, about 2-3 minutes more. Just prior to
serving add the Hon Tsai Tai, or greens of your choice. These should be
loosely chopped- remember, they’ll shrink as they cook. Immediately pull from
heat and continue mixing the greens into the stir-fry. The heat from the other
ingredients will wilt the greens. For optimum flavor and nutritional benefit, it’s
important that the greens stay really bright. Serve over quinoa and garnish
with a baby onion stem (scallions or chives are fine too) and a piece of
crystallized ginger. My heat-loving husband also added a few additional red
pepper flakes to his garnish.