Thai Hot & Sour Vegetables
We first learned to cook a Hot and Sour Stir Fry in our cooking school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We were in love. The taste was so fresh and vibrant, and it was another opportunity to use kaffir lime leaves.
Kaffir lime leaves bring a signature flavor to this and other traditional Thai dishes like Pad Thai, so we now keep a bag in our fridge and freezer at all times. You can actually use them in a lot of dishes to brighten them up with citrus notes, so we recommend that you start incorporating them into your recipes. We also use chili pastes on a regular basis, and this stir fry makes good use of both of these ingredients.
Traditional Thai chili paste has unique sour components since it includes tamarind paste. However, it typically has some sort of fish sauce or shrimp paste in it. To make our own plant-based version, we mix regular chili paste with tamarind concentrate and have loved the results. If you find a store-bought version of the Thai chili paste, check to see that it doesn’t include fish/ shrimp.
This version is fully plant-based, brings in more veggies, uses brown sugar instead of white sugar/ palm sugar, is a bit more mild (the Thai version is hot hot!) and has some optional ingredient swap-outs. We hope you enjoy it, since this is a quick one to create on the fly during the week.
Ingredients
2 tsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
1 inch thumb ginger galangal is preferred if you can find it
1 thai red chili pepper optional or use a 1 serrano pepper for less heat
8 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk lemongrass optional but recommended for more flavor
1 head broccoli
1 tomato
1 green pepper
6 cremini mushrooms
2 tsp vegan thai chili paste mix 1 tsp chinese chili paste with 1 tsp tamarind concentrate which we did
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt or vegan fish sauce for more umami
1/2 lime
Rice or noodles optional for serving
Instructions
If serving with rice or noodles, prepare those first.
Prep your first few ingredients: Finely chop the garlic. Slice the ginger into thin round slices. Chop your chili pepper. Remove the stem from the middle of the kaffir lime leaves and tear the leaves in half.
Take your stalk of lemongrass and cut off and throw away the hard end of the lemongrass. if you have a jar or a rolling pin, roll across the lemongrass long ways to release the oils and more fragrance from the center. Then, remove the tougher, outer part of the lemongrass and finely chop the inner part of lemongrass.
Set the garlic, ginger, chili pepper, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass aside.
Chop the broccoli into very small florets. Next, chop the tomato and green pepper. Slice the cremini mushrooms. Set aside.
Heat a wok or large skillet on medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of oil. Once hot, add the garlic, ginger, chili pepper, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. Stir fry until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the broccoli, tomato, green pepper and mushrooms to the pan. Coat with the garlic mixture and stir fry until the broccoli is al dente. If you need more oil, add the second teaspoon.
Add in the Thai chili paste (or tamarind/ chili paste mix), brown sugar and salt. Stir well with the veggies for a few minutes, then squeeze the juice from the lime over the top, stir once and remove from heat.
Serve over rice or noodles.
Enjoy!