Veggie Stir Fry/The Last Emperor

No excuse for the lack of posting lately. I would say I'm going to try to be better about it, but that's probably a lie. Maybe some more guest posts coming up soon? Also, I'm starting to grow weary of the same 10 root vegetables I get in my farm share every week. Step up your game, Boston Organics!

This week's recipe is more about the sauce than anything else. These vegetables are great, but you can pretty much use any kind of vegetable in a stir fry (which is why they're so great). Except for beets. Don't use beets in anything. The trick is to add the vegetables that take the longest to cook first and progressively add the rest as they cook. Leafy greens are always wilted down last when the sauce is added. Feel free to experiment with other vegetables and share your experiences!

In other news, I'm going to try this month to watch every film that was nominated for best picture. Typically I see them all without trying this hard, but this year has been a slow one for me as far as new releases go. I have already seen Django Unchained (way underwhelmed) and Silver Linings Playbook (meh), so there will be no posting for those ones. I will try to make some good entries for the remaining films. In the meantime, enjoy this review from a film that won best picture for 1987!

Although I don't know how it beat out this one.

Recipe: Easy Vegetable Stir-Fry

Ingredients

Veggies:

2 onions

1/2 lb carrots

1/2 lb broccoli

1 green bell pepper

1/2 bunch kale

4 cloves garlic

Sauce:

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp chili paste

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp wasabi powder

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Start by mixing all of the ingredients for the sauce together. Stir it up in a small bowl with a whisk or fork and set aside. I threw some cilantro in the sauce too because I had some on hand. Set aside.

It helps to do the stir fry in stages. Get a large pot hot and ready. Start with the onion. Chop and add to the pot. Stir around for a couple of minutes. Repeat this stage with the carrots, broccoli, garlic, and bell pepper, in that order. 

Add the sauce and reduce the heat to medium-low. Slice the Kale into strips. Gradually wilt the kale by folding into the sauce and vegetable mixture. Place a lid on the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat. Serve over rice. I garnished mine with some more cilantro and radishes.

Start by mixing together all of the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.

Stage one: cook the onions for a few minutes. Then add the carrots (oops on the picture).

Then the garlic.

Then the broccoli

Then the bell pepper.

Stir in the sauce.

Slowly stir the kale in. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes on low.

The vegetables should be slightly softened and they will have absorbed the sauce. Yum!

I served mine with some cilantro and watermelon radishes on top of brown rice. All good choices.

Review: The Last Emperor

So I probably could have picked a more authentic or time period-appropriate dish for this film, but I'm not that ambitious. If you really want the full experience, go to a Mongolian restaurant. Or order Chinese take-out. I don't care what you eat, but you should watch this movie because it's good.

Not really sure how authentic this place is either though...

When I first started watching the movie, I couldn't help thinking "Oh, this is just like the Anastasia of China". That's probably politically incorrect or something, but that's where my limited-history-knowledge brain went. The film tells the story of Pu Yi, who was the last man to be made Emperor of China, chosen at the age of 3. We follow his privileged but confined life in the Forbidden City and then watch as he is made into just another common man in the People's Republic of China.

I don't know how historically accurate the film is, but I feel like I learned a lot about China's transition to Communism. I love an older film that can stylistically stand up to today's standards, and I would definitely place Emporer in this category. With a 215 minute runtime, the film is a bit long, but it is paced so well that you don't notice the hours going by. Check it out dudes! I hear it's streaming on Netflix, but the Blu Ray release did it some justice I think.