Stir-Fry of Tilapia and Mixed Vegetables

This recipe for tilapia fish sneaked up on me. It’s easy to make, and my mom used it to cook the fillets we bought in the sale. It was healthy, tasty, and didn’t take much time.

I didn’t think about it again until it was on the dinner table. From there, I started asking for it, and when I went to college, I asked my mom for the recipe because I missed home-cooked meals a lot.

Since then, it’s become one of my go-to “special” meals at school. Not only is it efficient to get cheap fillets, but the recipe is so easy that I can have plenty of food on the table in about 30 minutes.

Simply use any fish you have on hand. But it’s easiest if they’ve already been cut into fillets. I just made it at home for my blog. Here’s the recipe, just like mom used to make.

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of tilapia, each about 12 ounces; and cut into 2-3-inch pieces.
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 14 cups of Shaoxing
• ½ teaspoon of sesame oil
• 2 spoonful of cornstarch
• white pepper, ground
• 1 cup of roughly chopped dried wood ears (soaked in cold water for 1-2 hours)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 long hot green pepper
• 1 thinly sliced tiny onion
• 2 sliced scallions
• 2 heads of chopped garlic
• 1 piece of ginger
• Vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup pf liquid

Instructions:

1. Soaking the mushrooms is part of the prep time. The active time it takes to get ready is more like 10 minutes. Huzzah! You can wash the wood ear mushrooms ahead of time and keep them in water in the fridge until you’re ready to use them.
2. Put the pieces of tilapia, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, cornstarch, and a few pinches of white pepper in a bowl. Mix it all and let it sit while you chop up the vegetables.
3. Cut the mushrooms, peppers, onion, scallions, and garlic into small pieces. Peel the ginger and cut it up.
4. When everything is ready, put 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok and turn the heat to medium. For 1 minute, fry the ginger. Then put in the garlic and cook for one more minute.
5. Add your sliced onion, turn up the heat to medium-high, and stir-fry for another two to three minutes.
6. Stir-fry for another minute after adding both peppers. Turn up the stove to high and add the wood ears. For another 2 minutes, keep stirring.
7. Add the fish in one layer on top of the vegetables in the wok. Pour 1/3 cup of water into the pan and cover it. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Steam the fish and vegetables for 5 to 6 minutes or until the fish is just about to turn opaque.
8. Take the lid off the wok and turn the heat up to high. Add the scallion and mix everything gently for 2 more minutes. Serve the food!