Amanda Cohen’s Secret-Weapon Stir-Fry Sauce
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ⅔cup cilantro
- ⅔cup parsley
- ⅔cup Thai basil
- 4cups spinach
- 2cloves garlic, peeled
- 2tablespoons peeled and chopped fresh ginger
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
33 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 3 grams protein; 63 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Tear all the stems off the herbs and spinach. (No need to be exact, just rip off most of them.)
- Step 2
Blanch the cilantro, parsley, Thai basil and spinach in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds. As soon as they turn bright green, take them out and drop them into a bowl of ice water.
- Step 3
Take the greens out of the ice bath and shake off excess water (but leave the greens wet). Put them into a blender or small food processor with the garlic and ginger. Blend until you have a smooth, dark green purée. If it’s too thick, add a little water to keep it moving, about 1 tablespoon at a time. Pour purée into an ice cube tray and pop it into the freezer. To use in fried rice, add a few cubes to the pan once the vegetables and any other protein are cooked and the rice is translucent; keep stirring as the cubes melt and coat the rice. Season and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I realize this post is 3 months old, but in case anyone needs the info, you blanch them because you are freezing them. Raw herbs turn black or a very unappetizing dark green when frozen. Blanching and shocking in ice water prevents this, as well as preserving the flavor.
Made this, and found the frozen cubes are a great staple to have on hand. I made the mistake of leaving the long parsley and cilantro stems intact, and they ended up wound around the base of the blender blades -- hard to remove. A bit of warning in the recipe might be helpful, even though the recipe did specify taking the leaves off the stems. With a bag of these cubes and a bag of concentrated meat stock cubes in the freezer -- much is possible! Spray the ice cube tray with non-stick spray.
Since these cubes are intended add flavor to other dishes, it's useful to leave the salt out since you can add the right amount based on the dish you are creating.
In addition, salting the sauce would lower it's freezing point, and possibly prevent it from freezing in a lot of people's freezers.
Thanks for introducing us to a new kitchen staple! Couldn't help but lick the spatula after transferring it to the silicone trays that I use for broths/stocks. I can think of all sorts of ways to use this, including what I just had for dinner — stirred a spoonful into leftover fregola (big Italian couscous) with the remaining spinach, beach mushrooms, and toasted pine nuts, a splash of sherry and a light drizzle of shoyu — or simply spreading a bit on some toasted hearty bread would be yummy.
This is as close as I can get to a reservation at Dirt Candy (who are these psychic table snatchers?) and it does not disappoint! Made as suggested and it’s superb. Had to add more water than I expected. Don’t be shy.
I wanted to add some of the tender stems - so I had to chop the stems finely before blanching so they didn't get caught up in the blender. I used these for stir-fry rice w/veggies/eggs. These cubes really made the dish.
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