Chinese Chop Suey

Ingredients

• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, in matchsticks
• 2 onions, sliced thick
• 1 cup mushrooms, halved
• 1 cup bamboo shoots or cabbage, shredded
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour in 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp oil
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the pan properly hot before anything goes in. This is a stir-fry, not a stew.
2. Onion, carrot, celery — two minutes, tossing. They should still fight back when you bite them.
3. Mushrooms and bamboo shoots, two more minutes.
4. Soy sauce, salt, a lot of pepper. Then the cornflour water.
5. Simmer stirring until the sauce turns clear and coats a spoon — about a minute. Stop there; longer and the vegetables go limp.