Can I Get The Recipe??

"Can I get the recipe?", has to be the greatest single inverse in any kitchen. Let me attempt to clarify what i mean by inverse. For instance; you eat something you really enjoy and you ask your friend, mom, sister,etc for the recipe. This is the easy part and trust me when i say it's quite flattering when it's your recipe being asked for. Remember, this is the easy part. Now, let's put some context to this as an aid in producing a clearer understanding of why writing down the recipe is hard.
Okay, so you've asked for the recipe and i'm going to give it to you in exchange for you telling me how you manage to keep your house clean all week with kids and work, or how you keep your feet so soft, or how you get all of the things done in a day and still have the energy to go out that night. The simple answer is; it's a process.
We all have processes we have fine tuned over the years. The reason we are successful with these is we have found what works for us and what doesn't. Clearly if it didn't work for us, we'd stop doing it. Except laundry! Laundry doesn't work for me, but i can't seem to stop trying. After all  I like clean clothes. So, in order for you to better understand the process i use to create dinners like this, there are a few things you need to have laying about in your kitchen. The bad news is it'll add a few bucks to your grocery budget, but the good news is you'll have it on hand when you want something like this again.
I tend to keep the following, among other things, for just this purpose: sesame seeds, sesame oil (dark), garlic & chili paste, soy sauce, and a piece of fresh ginger in the freezer (in an airtight container or it'll end up smelling like feet. YUK!!!). Oh yeah, and rice of course. I use the cheap rice, or Basmati or Jasmine if i get it from the Asian market. It's much cheaper there than at the grocery store and i usually get a BAG of rice. I keep it in an airtight container and it'll last forever if you are careful. I know some of you prefer using boxed rice because it's easier and that's fine, but for those of you a bit more adventuresome, I'll include a Rice Recipe right now.
HOW TO MAKE RICE THAT DOESN'T COME IN A BOX: Measure out two measures of water and one measure of rice. Bring the water to a good boil and dump in the rice and stir to cook the starch on the outside of the rice. Keep the heat on and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for five minutes. At the end of five minutes, remove from heat and put a lid on it. The rice will be ready in twenty minutes. That's it. Rice the hard way.
I know, you are asking what "measure"????? Trust me when i say it doesn't matter. The only thing you need to keep in mind is the amount you want. The finished product will be, more or less, the volume of three measures. So you could use a measuring cup, a coffee cup, a tea glass, whatever, as long as it's about 1/3 of the amount you want to make.
NOW FOR THE DISH:
You'll need a meat and some veggies. Pretty much the same as if you were doing a normal meal. I'll leave that math up to you.
This is what i used. 4 chicken breasts, a can of water chestnuts, some sugar peas in the hull, regular onion and green onion, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Now i made this in my little wok one plate at a time, but you could do it as a skillet meal no sweat.
Set up your cutting board and cut your chicken into bite sized pieces. Clean the board and knife and do the same for the veggies you intend on using. Put everything into it's own bowl for making one plate at a time or the chicken in one bowl and the veggies in another if you are doing it as a skillet. When everything is ready, reach in your silverware drawer and grab a tablespoon. Toss a table spoon of corn starch in enough water to  make a liquid resembling milk. I have a funny story of just how much it does resemble milk, but i'll spare you, for now. Lastly, you'll need a glass of water just in case.
Make sure you have everything ready and available and this will be really easy.
Put a little Vegetable oil in your skillet and brown up that chicken. When the chicken is about done, throw in a tablespoon (remember the kitchen drawer, this is not a measurement) of the garlic & chili paste. Don't go crazy if you are squeamish about the heat. Get that stirred in so everything is coated nicely and dump your veggies on top and start to stir them top to bottom. (Side Note: if you have carrots or green beans put them in right after the chili paste and before the rest of the veggies as they need a little more time to cook). As everything starts smelling good, take your bottle of soy sauce and sprinkle it over the top of the whole mess. If i had to guess, i'd say a good tablespoon or two or three depending on how saucy you want it. It's going to steam up on you some and so you stir-stir-stir. The sizzle will die down. As the heat returns, you'll start smelling your veggies. When it all starts smelling really good, give your corn starch liquid a quick stir and add a tablespoon or two of that and stir like mad. If it seems like your sauce is too thick or has turned to plastic, add a couple tablespoons of water and stir like made. If it's too thin, add more of the mixture and stir. It's easy to tell when corn starch has cooked, it goes from being opaque to translucent.
At this point you are basically done. Take a plate and put rice on it, put your stir fry on top of that and garnish with green onions or sesame seeds or not. It's all up to you.
If it doesn't turn out the way you like the first time, don't beat yourself up. I'm sure you have a signature dish people love and they love it because you have spent years perfecting the, that's right, process. Every time you make this it will be slightly different and always better than the last.
Okay, so how does this really work?? Pick a protein and a couple of vegetables and a flavoring you'd like to have. You can use shrimp, beef, pork (keep beef and pork thin to cook quickly), chicken, fake crab, tofu (if you are into that whole Xeno-Estrogen thing). Next Pick your veggies, the sky is the limit here and pick your flavoring. garlic, chili, ginger, orange, peanut butter, bean paste, fish sauce, too many to list.
What you'll end up with is a mind staggering number of possibilities from one simple little dish. Another one of the benefits of this is it cooks quickly and the clean up is wholly reasonable. I don't know about you, but there are some nights i don't even want to think about it, but it has to be done. On most other days, i'm still pretty good with In, Done, and Out.
Remember, pick a meat, pick veggies, and pick a flavor. It's just that simple.

Till we talk again, Peace be with You. D