Stir-fry asparagus with chicken and shrimps

Asparagus is in season now. 

Before I came to Germany, I have never even tasted this vegetable before, let alone know how to cook it. However, the Chinese in me loves cooked vegetables and would have that anytime compared to raw salads. 

Don't get me wrong. I love my fresh salads too but it's one of those things that I eat once a week rather than everyday. Sammy ain't a fan of raw salads at this age, so I do try to incorporate more cooked vegetables in our daily meals. 

With this dish, he ate perhaps 50% of the asparagus that I stuffed into his mouth, while throwing out the other half. I think that's not too bad, considering the very strong unique taste of asparagus. 

Hubby, who ain't a fan of vegetables in general, loved this meal and said that it was a fantastic way to get him to eat his greens. 

I myself loved this meal. It was fairly quick to cook plus I loved the fact that I could throw all the ingredients in one wok and mix everything together.

Given that I hardly get to the Asian store these days for fresh produce, I do appreciate having another variety of vegetables to stir-fry. I must add that I'm becomingly increasingly wary of vegetables imported from China these days, due to the increasing food scandals and their notorious practice of drenching their crops in pesticides.  

Yup, so in short, this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Ingredients: -

- 600 grams chicken breast, diced

- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 1 kg green asparagus (cut into smaller pieces, discard the bottom tip)

- 2 peppers (red / green / yellow), diced

- 250 grams shrimps

- 2 tbsp soya sauce

- 2 tsp tau cheo (preserved bean paste)

- sesame oil

- oyster sauce

- egg white from 2 eggs

1. Marinate the diced chicken in soya sauce, tau cheo and sesame oil for 15 minutes

2. Heat up oil in a wok. Stir-fry the diced chicken in oil until 3/4 done.

3. Add in the asparagus, peppers and shrimps. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Add a bit of water and cover the wok. Simmer for a couple of minutes until the vegetables are softened but still al-dente.

5. Season with some oyster sauce and light soya sauce. 

6. Cook some egg whites in the sauce for that "hawker centre" feel. Thicken the sauce with corn starch if need be.

7. Serve warm with rice.

Notes: 

- I separated the sauce and ingredients when I stored them in the fridge overnight. This would help the vegetables to retain their crunchiness the next day.

- This recipe makes about 5 servings.