Happy Family Stir Fry is a Chinese-inspired dish that is a mashup of meat, seafood and vegetables tossed in a flavourful light brown gravy. The combination of proteins can be a little weird but we assure you it works!

The stir fry is usually served with white jasmine rice but you can also have it with crispy fried noodles (birds nest noodles). This is a very easy dish that you can make for dinner and take to work for lunch the next day.

Happy Family Stir Fry

This easy stir fry is a popular Chinese restaurant dish that you sometimes see on menus as combination stir fry.

It’s usually made with beef, chicken and seafood, however our version is made with just chicken and seafood since the cost of beef in Australia has dramatically increased. Even the cheap cuts aren’t cheap anymore!

Use Up Your Leftovers

This is a very versatile recipe that is great for using up cooked and uncooked vegetables.

If you’re using vegetables that are already cooked then add them in at the end just to warm them through. Leftover boiled or steamed vegetables like broccoli, carrots, green beans and snow peas are perfect.

Ingredients

Protein

• Chicken – We use thigh fillets since there is no need to tenderise. This saves time and effort!
• Other protein options include beef, pork and lamb.

• Seafood – We use prawns and squid in this recipe. I generally use frozen seafood since we always have them in the freezer.
• Other seafood options – scallops and seafood sticks.

Aromatics – ginger, garlic, onions and spring onions

• Vegetables – I like to use carrots, broccoli, baby corn, shiitake mushrooms in the stir fry.
• Other vegetable options – Asian greens, straw mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, green beans, snow peas, capsicum and bamboo shoots.

Sauce

• Chinese sauces – oyster sauce, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine
• Seasoning – salt, pepper and chicken bouillon powder
• Stock – store bought liquid chicken stock

Making Happy Family Stir Fry

The key to making this stir fry is to have everything prepped and ready before cooking:

• The vegetables need to be washed and cut thinly.
• The protein needs to be washed and prepped (shelled and/or cut into pieces).

Lastly make sure you have the sauce and cornstarch mixture combined and ready in two separate bowls.

Cooking the Stir Fry

Once everything is prepped and there is nothing left to do but cook, fire up the wok / fry pan over high heat.

Cooking the Proteins

• Heat the fry pan / wok up and add 1 tbsp of oil. Once the oil is hot fry the chicken with a pinch of salt. Once cooked set aside in a bowl until needed.

• Add another tbsp of oil to the wok / fry pan. Add the prawns and squid with a pinch of salt and fry until cooked. Once done, put aside in the same bowl as the chicken until needed.

Cooking the Vegetables

• Add 1 tbsp of oil and add the ginger and spring onions. Fry until fragrant.

• Add the broccoli, carrots and baby corn with a tablespoon of water. Cook for a few minutes.

• Add the shitake mushrooms, onions and garlic. Toss the vegetables around in the wok for a minute.

Combining it all together

• Add the proteins back into the wok / fry pan.

• Pour the sauce over the top and thicken it with the corn starch mixture.
• Taste check and adjust to your liking.

Serving the Happy Family Stir Fry

1. Jasmine rice – This is the easiest way to serve this recipe
2. Crispy fried noodles (birds nest) – Have the noodles on a plate and pour the stir fry over the top. Make sure you pour enough gravy to soak the noodles.

Other Stir Fry Dishes You’ll Love

• Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry
• Chicken and Rice Noodle Stir Fry
• Chicken and Soy Sauce Noodle Stir Fry
• Pasta Stir Fry – Cheap and Easy
• Easy Chicken and Hokkien Noodle Stir Fry

If you guys do make this recipe, please tag us at #scruffandsteph on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. We would love to see your creations!

We hope you have enjoyed our happy family stir fry recipe!

Scruff & Steph