Stir-frying is an active cooking method, with the ingredients being moved around in the wok continuously. So when making a seafood stir-fry, I tend to use the more durable seafood types such as prawns, scallops and calamari pieces (rings or strips).

Stir-frying is arguably best done in a wok and generally the higher temperature that you can get, then the better the end product.

500g preen prawns, peeled and deveined

250g scallops (roe optional)

250g calamari pieces (rings or strips)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 green shallots, sliced into 2cm pieces

1 red capsicum, deseeded, cut into small cubes

1 bunch baby broccoli, cut into thirds

1 tin bamboo shoots, drained

The baby broccoli and bamboo shoot components of the seafood stir-fry can be altered to suit your taste. You could substitute either water chestnuts or baby corn for the bamboo shoots and either pak choy or spinach for the baby broccoli.

4 cloves garlic, grated very finely

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine

1

The ingredients for the stir fry - seafood, marinade ingredients and vegetables.

2

Combine the marinade ingredients of garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and Chinese cooking wine in a large glass bowl. Add the seafood to the marinade and mix together thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, at the most two hours. Stir the seafood and marinade a couple of times during the marinading time.

3

Heat the vegetable oil in the wok over a high heat. Add the marinated seafood to the hot oil. Stir-fry the seafood for a few minutes until the prawns have just turned a pinkish colour. Remove the cooked seafood from the wok and place to one side in a glass bowl.

4

Keeping the heat in the wok on high, add the vegetables to the wok and stir -ry for a couple of minutes only.

5

Return the seafood to the wok and combine with the cooked vegetables.

6

Your seafood stir-fry is now ready to serve with a little cooked rice on the side.