Chayote Mushroom Chive Stir Fry

31 October 2015

(Makes 6-8)

One of the great things about being where we live is that there are lots of family-oriented activities if you choose to participate. Well we went to our local Family Strength Network Potluck dinner this summer. It has a place for the kids to run wild and free while the adults can have some uninterrupted conversations. Every family would bring a dish to share, which is great since you can have a bunch of different dinners without having to make it all. I decided to bring my Chayote Mushroom Chive Stir-fry and some watermelon to share. It seemed to go over well with the crowd since I only had a couple of scoops leftover.

I’ve mentioned this before but I do have a few tips when it comes to working with chayote. One, peel it with a vegetable peeler while it’s submerged under water or under running water to avoid getting the sticky sap on your hands. Alternatively, you can always wear gloves. Two, use a small spoon to scoop out the seed. And three, place all peeled and chopped chayote in a bowl with enough water to cover to prevent it from browning.

Once everything is prepped, this dish takes almost no time to cook. I used my food processor to shred everything so that only took a split second! I wanted to bring this dish piping hot to the potluck so I prepped everything earlier in the day and made it right before we left. I know there is no meat in this dish but you can easily toss some in if you’d like. As this stir-fry is very subtle in flavor, it would go well with my Carmelized Ginger Chicken in Oyster Sauce or Salt and Pepper Shrimp and of course, rice.

1 tbsp olive oil	1. In a sauté pan, on medium high heat, sweat the garlic in oil until soften. About 1 minute.
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 lbs chayote, peeled, cored and shredded	2. Throw in the chayote, carrots and chives with seasoning and sauté for about 6 minutes until it is cooked through. 3. Plate the vegetables, reserving the juice in the pan.
1 lb carrots, peeled and shredded
1/3 cup Chinese chives, chopped
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp msg (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup fish sauce
8 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly	4. Toss the mushroom in with the remaining juice and sauté on high heat until all juice is absorbed. About 10 minutes. (NOTE: The mushroom is cooked separately to prevent it from discoloring the vegetables.) 5. Place on top of the plates vegetables.
1 egg, beaten, fried and shredded	6. Sprinkle on top of the mushrooms.
Chives, chopped and black pepper (optional)	7. Sprinkle on top as garnish and serve immediately with rice.