Thank you
Before we get into today’s recipe, I want to thank you for the incredible love and kindness you showed after losing Dozer. I’ve spent many hours reading your messages, and they’ve meant more than I can properly express with words.
RecipeTin Eats is, first and foremost, a recipe website, and so I’ll be getting back to regular recipes. But for a while, I’ll keep his spirit alive with an In Memory of Dozer section at the bottom of each post. I started this website with him at my feet, and he was beside me for every recipe until the very end. I feel like I’ve lost my identity without him, but I know clarity will come with time, and sharing small Dozer memories is part of that.
Thank you for embracing him as part of this little corner of the internet we call RecipeTin Eats. I enjoyed sharing his antics with you over the years so very much. – Nagi x
Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry
This Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry is a recipe designed to bring some much needed mood-lifting cheer in my life along with a big veggie hit (also much needed). Quick, easy, highly adaptable to whatever veg you’ve got!
If there was ever a time I needed something big and colourful and cheerful, it’s right now. I never thought I would share a recipe which was so focussed on a visual outcome that I was choosing vegetables based solely on their cooked-colour qualities (the broccoli has too many yellow florets! 😤). But then again, I never thought I would be grieving the loss of Dozer in such a public way.
How far I am from my desk-bound-city-gal days!
Nevertheless, here we are, armed with a bounty of vegetables representing the colours in a rainbow for a big chicken stir fry that is as nourishing and delicious as it is a delight to look at. I hope it brings some cheer into your life too!
Ingredients in Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry
Here’s what you need to make this colourful stir fry.
the Vegetables
The vegetables I’m using below were specifically chosen to achieve a kaleidoscope of colour. But don’t fret if you don’t have everything I’ve shown below, or if they’re out of season / expensive! As with most stir fries, you can make this with virtually any vegetable.
So much colour talk! It’s a first, that’s for sure. Normally it’s all about flavour!
Red and yellow capsicum (bell pepper) – I use half of each to get both red and yellow colour in the stir fry. But it’s ok! You can use just a whole capsicum that’s a single colour, promise you won’t ruin your dinner. 🙂
Red cabbage – Again, chosen for colour! Feel free to substitute with your every day regular green cabbage, or spinach, kale or other similar cook-able leafy greens.
Baby bok choy – I chose these to add some white into the stir fry, from the stems. The leaves end up wilting so much, they don’t actually add much green in, so I get the green from edamame and the sugar snap peas. I like to use baby bok choy (small ones) because they’re so easy to prep for stir fries, just cut the leafy part off the stem and it’s ready to use. For regular size ones, use one large or 2 medium ones (chop the leaves).
Sugar snap peas – For green! I chose sugar snap peas for a bit of lovely sweet crunch. Also, they were cheaper than snow peas which was the other option. 🙂
Edamame – For more green! I loved the green pops it adds into this stir fry, almost like glowing jades. Or emeralds. Err….maybe not. Is there a gemstone that’s kind of greenish yellow?? 🤔 (PS I use frozen shelled edamame. I don’t grow and shell my own. 🙂 )
Green onion – This was more about getting aromatic onion flavour into the stir fry, the easier option to peeling and chopping an onion (you can totally do that instead if you want).
Cashews! Not for colour. Just because I love cashews in my stir fries, and I felt like I deserved it. I use roasted, unsalted cashews here. If you have raw cashews, toast them to cook through before starting the stir fry, then add them back in per the recipe.
the sauce and chicken
The stir fry sauce is intentionally light in colour so it won’t mute the vibrant colours of the vegetables. And while I’ve used chicken, the recipe card has directions for making this with beef or pork instead (tip: tenderise it!).
Chicken – I use boneless thighs which stay nice and juicy in stir fries. If using breast or tenderloin, I recommend tenderising it – directions here (it’s easy, and the results are phenomenal).
Light soy sauce – This provides most of the salt in the sauce. I use light soy sauce because it doesn’t colour the sauce too much – as noted above, I intentionally make the sauce as clear as possible. Any regular or all-purpose soy sauce, or tamari (for gluten-free) can be used as well, though the sauce will be a touch more brown. Do not use dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce / kecap manis as they are too intense. More on which soy sauce to use when here.
Oyster sauce – A staple Asian sauce that adds complexity, flavour and umami all at once. Made from oyster extract that is sweet, salty, thick and pungent, but doesn’t taste oyster-y or fishy at all once cooked. Can be substituted with shellfish free alternative – vegetarian “oyster” sauce, even found at regular grocery stores these days.
Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) – essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Chinese dishes, adds depth of flavour into sauces. Substitute with mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic substitute – substitute the water with low sodium chicken stock/broth.
Sesame oil – We add this into the stir fry at the very end is you get a really lovely hit of sesame flavour (cooking sesame oil dulls the flavour). (PS I always use toasted sesame oil which is the common one here in Australia. It’s brown. Untoasted sesame oil is harder to find. It is yellow and the sesame flavour is not as strong).
Cornflour / cornstarch – This is what thickens the sauce and makes it glossy so it coats the stir fry ingredients beautifully.
White pepper which is the traditional pepper choice in Asian cooking. Substitute with black pepper.
How to make Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry
As with most stir fries, this moves fast once you start cooking (8 minutes). So have everything chopped and ready to toss into the pan!
Sauce – Mix the sauce ingredients in a jug, then set aside. Take note of the order in which I add the sauces, so it’s easy to make a lump-free stir fry sauce! 🙂
Season chicken – Mix the chopped chicken with a bit of Chinese cooking wine to season it with flavour. (It’s salty – did you know that?)
Chicken first – Start by cooking the chicken first. Use a large 30 cm / 12″ non stick pan which will ensure everything sizzles nicely rather than becoming all watery and stewy (not good in stir-fry situations).
Garlic and green onion – When the chicken is mostly cooked, add the garlic and the white part of the green onion. These are aromatics that will flavour the oil and chicken.
Firmer veg – Next, add the capsicum, sugar snap peas, stem of the bok choy, edamame (still frozen is fine) and cashews. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. The vegetables will still be mostly raw at this stage which is fine, they will cook through more in the next steps.
Leafy wilting things – Finally, add the bok choy leaves, cabbage and green part of the green onions. Give them a toss for around 30 seconds until they start to wilt (I find it’s easiest to do this with two spatulas).
Sauce – Give the sauce a quick mix to agitate any cornflour that has settled on the base, then pour it into the pan.
Thicken and sesame oil – Let the sauce simmer for around 1 minute and watch as it magically thickens into a shiny sauce that coats all the vegetables beautifully. Then stir in the sesame oil and your beautiful Rainbow Stir Fry is ready to serve!
Oh, in case I haven’t convinced you yet – full impact image of the rainbow of colours! How can you resist making this. 😊
Hope you get a chance to try this. And remember, no stressing if you don’t have all the vegetables I use! The recipe card includes a guide on how to make this with whatever vegetables you’ve got.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce (can sub with vegetarian oyster sauce)
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce (Note 2)
- Pinch white pepper (or black pepper)
Chicken:
- 350g/ 12 oz boneless chicken thighs , each cut in half then into 1 cm /0.4″ strips (Note 3 for breast)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 2)
- Pinch white pepper
Rainbow stir fry (Note 4 for veg substitutions):
- 2 tbsp peanut oil , or vegetable or canola oil
- 4 garlic cloves , finely minced with a knife
- 3 green onion stems , cut into 4 cm / 2″ lengths, white part separated from green part (or 1/2 onion sliced)
- 1 cup sugar snap peas or small snow peas , strings removed (Note 5)
- 1/2 each red and yellow capsicum (bell pepper), deseeded, cut into 1 cm /0.4" strips
- 3 baby bok choy , leaves cut off stems, big stems cut lengthways – or any other Asian greens
- 3/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews (or almonds)
- 3/4 cup frozen edamame beans – use frozen (ie. shelled)
- 1 1/2 cups purple cabbage , cut into 5 x 1 cm /0.4″ strips – or any other type of cabbage, baby spinach etc
- 2 tbsp sesame oil (for finishing)
Serving:
- White rice – or any other rice of choice
Instructions
ABBREVIATED:
- Cook chicken until mostly cooked, add garlic and white part of green onion towards end. Add first: capsicum, bok choy stems, cashews and edamame (1 min). Then bok choy leaves, cabbage and green part of green onion (30 seconds). Add sauce, thicken, then finish with sesame oil. Serve!
FULL INSTRUCTIONS:
- Sauce – In a jug, mix cornflour with a splash of the water until dissolved. Mix in everything else except the remaining water until dissolved. Then add remaining water.
- Chicken – Toss chicken with Chinese cooking wine and pepper.
- Cook – Heat the oil in a large 30 cm / 12" non stick skillet over high heat (Note 6 on cooking vessel). Add chicken then stir constantly until mostly cooked, about 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and the white part of green onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add the capsicum, sugar snap peas, bok choy stem, cashews and frozen edamame. Cook 1 minute.
- Add bok choy leaves, cabbage and green part of green onions. Toss with two spatulas until slightly wilted (~30 seconds).
- Sauce – Add the sauce, stir and let it simmer until it becomes glossy and thickens so it coats everything beautifully, about 1 minute.
- Sesame oil – Add sesame oil, toss through, then serve over rice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
In memory of Dozer
It’s been almost two weeks since I said goodbye to Dozer. It feels like a lot has happened, but also as though time has stood still.
Firstly, I am doing ok. I am still terribly sad, my heart still hurts from missing him (there is literally no other way to describe the pangs), and I still cry every day. But I am not falling apart. I am back at work and getting into routine again.
But – it is not my intention to use this section of the post to pine for Dozer. I want to use this new In Memory Of section for more positive and heart-warming things. Like – a Dozer tat!!! Come on…you knew I would……
My grandmother is rolling over in her grave. This is the first tattoo (that we know of) in our entire extended family. In Japan, it is considered taboo to have a tattoo. Only the yakuza (mafia) has tattoos!! my grandmother declared sternly (mind you, she also said the same about sunglasses, and would refuse to walk beside me if I dared to wear mine 😎).
And in other news – there have been flowers for Dozer left outside RTM (our food bank), beside the life-size sticker of him on the window. My team didn’t tell me about this until I came back to work this week, and of course this triggered a flood of tears as I was so touched.
There were also the friendship bracelets made by readers which were posted way back in early December but only found their way to me in February. I opened the package when I got home after that fateful day and I sobbed so hard when I saw them. Barely a day has gone by since without wearing them, I don’t care that I’m not a 14 year old! 🥰 Thank you Christine, Monique and Harriet, I will treasure them!
And, astonishingly, the passing of Dozer was in the press (like here and here and here). At the time, every article that popped up had me in a flood of tears (to be fair though, for the first few days, pretty much everything would make me cry – from that possum running across the fence that Dozer would’ve gone nuts over, to the sprinklers on the lawn that Dozer used to play with).
But then afterwards, my family and I laughed with disbelief and shook our heads that my goofy, adorable, cute-but-not-very-smart fur ball had somehow become headline news, just by being his lovable, food-obsessed self. ❤️
I have much more to share in the coming weeks, including something positive and uplifting in memory of Dozer, but for today I will stop here. Thank you for reading! – N x
I love you Dozer. I miss you every single day. I hope you are splashing in the surf, and having steak and cheese for dinner every single night. Love – your mum. xx
I made this for dinner tonight as we were in dire need of a veggie fix. It’s so good!! My husband even liked the edamame, after initially picking one out to ask what it was 🤣 Thank you for this fantastic healthy rainbow recipe!
Dear Nagi,
First off, please know that your well-being and memories of Dozer remain present in my heart and thoughts; you are both loved by many.
I finally got to making your wonderful Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry! It was a delightful symphony of colour, texture, and flavour!
For some reason, B/S chicken thighs were a challenge to find so I ended up ‘velveting’ some B/S chicken breasts, and the result was perfect. I usually use cornflower for the solution, but I employed your suggestion of bi-carbonate of soda, and was very pleased at the result.
I also had never used edamame before, but had wanted to, so they were a very nice treat too.
All in all another lovely offering from you and the team at RTE . . . “Thank you”, Nagi!
Your resolve to carry on “for us” in the midst of your grief is so brave and admirable, Nagi.
And, as other folks have referenced, I could not help but harken thoughts of wee Dozer, crossing that Rainbow Bridge, patiently waiting to be reunited with his beloved Mistress one far away day. What a beautiful reunion to look forward to! 💞
Please continue to look after yourself, Nagi, and know you have a legion of supporters of which I am but one.
With Much Love and Hugs from A Lass in The Canadian Prairies.
A.🦄
I made this last week and it was fantastic. I did make more sauce than was called for, as I usually do. The vegetables I used were different as well. I used mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, green onion, regular onion, snow peas, red cabbage, carrots, peas, bok choy, and bean sprouts. I tripled the recipe and sent it as lunches for my boyfriend over the week. We both loved it and will make it pretty frequently
When I initially saw the post about Dozer my heart dropped and I wept. So many of us know what it is like to lose a pet. But Dozer belonged to us all. Such a funny and quirky guy who brought joy to all your fans. Thank you for sharing him with us. It is an honor to be part of the journey. Love to you Nagi.
Just cooked Rainbow stir fry chicken. Excellent, easy & full of flavour. Will certainly cook again. I felt really good cooking so many veggies in one meal! I had added green cabbage, yellow zucchini, green beans plus all veggies in recipe. Thank you so much. I do try many of your recipes with great success.
Love all your photos of Dozer. He was a very lucky boy having such a devoted ” Mum” Beautiful boy.
Citrine is yellowish green!😄
Hi Nagi.
I read this laughing and tears rolling down at the same time. You are hilarious. Dozer for sure is partly responsible for this. But good to see that you are aware of where you are at this point. I continue following your recipes and everything and I mean everything that comes with them – everything happy and sad😻😻
Nagi (and Dozer), the rainbow chicken recipe looks amazing, but I have to admit on this occasion I quickly scrolled down to read about Dozer. A very special memory. Take care of yourself.
Cooked in Dozer’s honour and it was delicious! So pretty! Thank you Nagi. Sending hugs from one fur Mum to another xx
just getting through my emails of the last week Phew. here we are
firstly the recipe looks amazing and the name of rainbow very apt with Dozers leaving this world
I love that Dozer will still be a spot in your newsletters and look forward to reading this section I m sure there will be many memories here for me as you go backer pictures, stories, memories of his 14 years Haven’t quite followed you for that entire time but been a long while.
Take care for you it’s ok to not be ok & let your inner circle know if it’s one of those days. I would never think anything less of you. What you gave Dozer & what he gave you was very special and that can’t be underestimated as you move through this period of adjusting without him being right there at your feet. You wear your hear on your sleeve and now dozer is that heart on your sleeve. warmest wishes & hugs for when you need them
This was so good and came together easily. Thought of Dozer while I cooked. 💙
Oh so beautiful and delicious! Made this the day you posted it and everyone loved it. Thank you Nagi for still sharing while your heart was broken.
Hi Nagi, thank you for this recipe. I can imagine how hard it must have been to write. Can you please confirm at what point should the peas be added? Sorry if I’ve missed it, but reread it multiple times. Thank you
Nagi,I am still sending love and hugs. Dozer was so much fun to read about and see the pictures and adventures you shared with him and us. I know it’s a hole in your heart that can never be filled except for the beautiful memories of him you will carry there. I am so glad you shared him with us all these years and hope you continue to share memories of him as you want to or need to. I am sure none of us will ever tire seeing them. Such a sweet boy and he always made me smile. Love the tattoo and I think it’s wonderful that you got it!
Looking forward to trying this one.. I don’t comment usually but I just wanted to say thank you for all these recipes over the years since.
Ive been here since i was a teenager learning to cook and I’m turning 30 this year.. time flies 🫣
Im sorry about Dozer it’s really hard to lose a pet. He was a special little guy for all us viewers too
Thank you Nagi for another great recipe. Can’t wait to make it. Have always enjoyed seeing the adventures of Dozer and yourself. He will be very much missed. It is such a hard time when you lose your fur babies. Take comfort in the fact Dozer had a wonderful life with a Mum who adored him so much. You have a beautiful guardian angel with you. Live the tattoo. I am sure your grandmother would forgive you this one. Look forward to many more of your recipes. They are always my go to recipes and I always get compliments from family and friends when I serve them up. Take care Nagi. 💔🙏😘
Another incredible stir fry Nagi, thank you! Did mine with broccolini, Pak choy, edamame and the spring onion – it was a green goddess stir fry and we loved it.
I am cooking this recipe tonight. My daughter couldn’t use the defrosted chicken. So my go to is always recipe tin eats. Caught this rainbow chicken recipe in memory of Dozer and wanted to do this to commemorate him. It was meant to be. Take care Nagi.
I was so upset to hear of Dozer’s passing. You would think it was my dog and I thought about it all day. Told my husband “Dozer has gone” and he was also upset. We love dogs. Making the rainbow starry as we speak.
You are not alone Nagi, I cry every time I read your comments on Dozer. Wanted to tell you that I bought a book from a Vietnam descended, born in the USA her story was very nice, the recipes I could do none. As Panamanian we are used to Chinese cooking and loved every day, bought your two books but still prefer making foods from your tineats and see your videos. So happy to see you back. In memory of Dozer send you a big hug.
Sending big hugs on the loss of your best friend Dozer. I was meant to cook this for my aunt and uncle but my little boy was sick so my aunt shopped and cooked and it was absolutely delicious. The rainbow of vegies really was beautiful and the edamame and cashews added interesting texture and crunch. Grief is not linear and joy and sadness can be felt in the same moment. 💗
Hi Nagi, so good to see you back. I made your rainbow stirfry and was shedding a tear or two when thinking of your beloved Dozer. Thank you for sharing your fondest memories of him with us and he really was so special. You were the best mum he could have asked for. I don’t do tattoos either but I must say I wholeheartedly approve of your one. I know Dozer is forever imprinted in your heart and I continue to pray for your healing and peace. Thank you for being such a wonderful ray of sunshine in our lives. xxx