Variable Stir Fry Sauce (Sauce)(permalink)

Spices:
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic (fresh minced/crushed preferred, powdered okay too)
ginger


Liquids:
Soy Sauce
Peanut oil
sake
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice


Other Flavors: Peanut Butter
Miso Paste
Honey
Hoisin Sauce


Pick a flavor you want - sweet, salty, savory, and go with it. Don't use all of these at once - mix and match! I'd say, generally you want to use all of the spices, always soy sauce, always just a little bit of the peanut oil for flavor. Don't mix the peanut butter with the miso paste, or with the OJ or lemon juice. The miso paste is really good with citrusy juices, though.
Once you've got something, stick your finger in and taste it!! If it is horrible, throw it out and try again. Once you've done it a few times, you'll get a feel for what is good and what isn't, and it will become simple.

Use this sauce as a marinade for whatever meat you are stir frying. Then, add it to the meats and veggies and cook it in. Make sure you heat it thoroughly after adding, to kill any germs or bacteria from having soaked the meat in it!!!

For a thick sauce, add corn starch. If you have already been cooking the sauce a bit and it is warm, mix the corn starch with cold water before adding so it doesn't make lumps.