Chinese wok vegetables sweet and sour and spicy

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 75 g soy shreds, coarse
• 1 red bell pepper(s)
• 1 bell pepper(s), yellow
• 1 bell pepper(s), green
• 250 g mushrooms
• 1 carrot(s)
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small jar of bamboo shoots
• 1 can/n pineapple slices or 1 fresh pineapple
• Peanut oil or rice oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup or brown sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup or tomato paste
• 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp Sambal Oelek or other spiciness e.g. chili
• possibly five-spice powder
• possibly salt
• possibly lemon zest or lemongrass powder, approx. 1 small tsp

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Vegetarian or vegan

First, mix together the ingredients for the sauce. Place the soybean strips in a bowl, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of sauce, and pour over 100 ml of boiling water. Stir and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Peel and dice the carrot, wash the bell peppers, and slice into thin strips. Halve or third the mushrooms. Roughly dice the onion. Peel the garlic clove. Drain the pineapple slices and reserve the juice. Cut the pineapple slices into small pieces. Drain the bamboo shoots. Now add the rice oil or peanut oil (don’t skimp on it) to the wok and heat. First, stir-fry the soybean strips, followed by the onions and carrots in the wok for 2 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables, except for the pineapple, and stir-fry everything until the vegetables reach the desired color and consistency; we like them crunchy, but not raw. Add the pineapple and the sauce, reduce the heat slightly, and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. If there’s no liquid left, add a splash of water. It goes well with basmati rice.