Long, glossy strips of zucchini tossed with savory minced meat, chili and garlic in a red, spicy sauce. This zucchini stir fry is one of the recipes from our YouTube channel, and once the zucchini is cut, it cooks in a few minutes.
The trick is in how the zucchini is prepared. It’s cut into quarters, the soft seedy center comes out, and the rest is sliced into long strips. Then the strips are salted to pull out their water, rinsed and squeezed by hand. That step is what keeps the stir fry from turning soggy and watery in the wok, and it gives the zucchini a pleasant bite.
The flavor comes from the meat. Minced meat is fried until it releases its juices, then ginger, garlic, small chili peppers and doubanjiang (Chinese chili bean paste) go in with a little cooking wine, until the oil turns red. The zucchini joins it with light soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken essence, and two minutes on high heat finishes it.
It’s a Sichuan-style home dish: spicy, salty and savory. Serve it with plain rice, which soaks up the red sauce.
What you need
- Zucchini, cut into long strips.
- Salt, to draw the water out of the zucchini.
- Oil for the wok.
- Minced meat.
- Ginger, garlic and small chili peppers.
- Doubanjiang (Chinese chili bean paste).
- Cooking wine, a little.
- Light soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken essence (chicken bouillon powder).
Our video doesn’t measure the zucchini, meat or sauces, so we haven’t put numbers on them either. The salt is “an appropriate amount” and the cooking wine is “a little”. The one timing it gives is two minutes on high heat at the end. Doubanjiang, soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken essence are all salty, so taste before adding more.
Zucchini Stir Fry with Minced Meat
Ingredients
Method
- Cut the zucchini into quarters lengthwise, remove the seeds from the center, and slice it into long strips.
- Sprinkle the strips with an appropriate amount of salt to draw out the moisture. Rinse them with clean water, then squeeze out the excess water by hand.
- Heat oil in a wok, add the minced meat and fry until it releases its juices.
- Add ginger, garlic, small chili peppers, doubanjiang (chili bean paste) and a little cooking wine. Stir-fry until the oil turns red.
- Add the zucchini, then light soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken essence.
- Stir-fry on high heat for two minutes, and it’s ready to eat.
Video
Notes
Tips
- Don’t skip the salting. Squeezing the water out of the zucchini is what keeps the dish from going watery.
- Fry the meat first. Let it cook until it releases its juices before the chili paste goes in.
- Wait for the red oil. When the oil turns red, the chili bean paste has cooked out and the flavor is ready for the zucchini.
- Keep the heat high at the end. Two minutes is enough. Longer and the zucchini goes soft.
Questions people ask
What is doubanjiang?
It’s a Chinese chili bean paste made from fermented broad beans and chili, and it’s what gives this dish its red color and deep, salty heat. Look for it in Asian grocery stores.
Why do you salt and squeeze the zucchini?
Zucchini holds a lot of water. Salting draws it out, rinsing removes the extra salt, and squeezing gets rid of the water, so the strips stir-fry instead of stewing.
Is this zucchini stir fry very spicy?
It uses small chili peppers and chili bean paste, so it has real heat. Use fewer chili peppers if you want it milder; that is your own change, not what the video shows.
You might also like
- Chicken and mushroom stir fry with whole garlic, another quick wok dinner from our channel.
- Asian meatball soup with edamame, tender pork meatballs in a clear broth.
- How to make the perfect zucchini noodles, more ways to cook zucchini.
