🌈 Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry 🌈

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.

Ingredients for Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry

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