Joanne’s Story with FoodCraft and Her Tasty Cashew Stir Fry Recipe!

This week, we would like to share a personal story of our valued customer, Joanne Martin.

Born in Canada, Joanna was transplanted to Hong Kong about 30 years ago. She lives in a village in the New Territories, and has been teaching yoga and pilates in the past 20 years.

She found FoodCraft when it suddenly dawned on her that someone somewhere must teach the basics of sourdough bread, as she had been trying to perfect the bread for a year before finding us. And after a few short hours of lessons, her bread is now the talk of the village!

‘‘Visiting the shop, I was amazed at the variety of products and knew I had found my new go to grocery store and the place where my questions would be answered,’’ Joanne said. ‘‘My number one question was, how do you make vegetables taste good and on top of that make it a satisfying meal for the family? I am not getting any younger and my doctor has suggested that I should lose some weight to help my numbers. I had always been trying to discover the secret to a vegetarian meal that was tasty and satisfying.’’ Joanne has therefore also attended our regular Japanese cooking class and learnt about vegetarian alternatives to meat. And here she is sharing with us one of her husband’s favourite recipes, cashew stir fry! 

Ingredients -
Sauce
3 oz water 
2 oz raw cashew butter 
2 oz coconut aminos 
2 oz maple syrup
1 oz apple cider vinegar
½ oz lime juice 
½ oz sesame oil 
¼ tsp dried red chilli flakes

Sauté
6 green onions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced, divided
½ oz sesame oil 
4 oz zucchini, in half moons (¼ in.)
4 oz broccoli florets, in pieces
4 oz carrots, sliced, in rounds (¼ in.)
4 oz bell peppers, in strips (¼ in.)
3 oz raw cashews, unsalted 
1 package soba noodles to serve or steamed rice

Preparation -
Sauce

1. Place water, raw cashew butter, coconut aminos, maple syrup, vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil and red chilli flakes into a mixing bowl.
2. Cook for 3 minutes at 160°F and stir often.
3. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Sauté

1. Place green onions (white part only) and sesame oil into a mixing bowl and chop finely. 
2. Sauté 3 min or until onions are soft.  
3. Add zucchini, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers and half the reserved sauce. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. 
4. Add cashews and cook for 2 minutes. 
5. Serve hot with cooked noodles or rice, remaining sauce on the side and garnish with sliced green onion tops.

Hint from Joanne :
‘Aside from the fresh vegetables, all the ingredients can be found at FoodCraft. We discovered that the cashew butter is good on fresh sourdough bread and really yummy in this recipe!’