Happy Family

Happy Family is a popular Chinese stir-fry dish with colorful vegetables (broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, mushroom, carrots, etc.), meats (beef, pork/BBQ Pork and chicken) and seafood (shrimp, lobster/crab meat and scallops) cooked in a simple brown sauce.

3 tablespoons oil
1 cup cut onion, green and red bell peppers
2 cups mixed vegetables
(broccoli florets, sliced carrot and trimmed sugar snap peas/snow peas)
1 1/2 cups canned vegetables (straw mushroom, bamboo shoot sliced, young baby corn and water chestnut sliced)
1 cup meat, sliced (pork/BBQ pork, chicken breast, and beef)
1/2 cup mixed seafood (peeled and cleaned shrimp, lobster meat/crab meat and sea scallops)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Marinade:

1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dry sherry wine, or any Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Brown Sauce:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce*
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
3 dash of ground white pepper
2 tablespoon dry sherry wine, or any Chinese cooking wine
1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth mixed with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
Salt and sugar to taste

*Sweet soy sauce, also called kecap manis or ketjap manis, is essentially soy sauce with added sugar—typically palm sugar, although some importers specify simply “sugar” on the labels— and it is sweet, viscous, and nothing like the stuff you’ll find at the local Japanese sushi spot. Kecap manis is, in fact, almost more reminiscent of hoisin sauce, that Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant standby. Tamari has a similar flavor profile but is slightly less sweet. The best substitute if using in a dish would be regular soy sauce and palm sugar in equal amounts without cooking it down, to give both the salty and sweetness.

Marinade meat and seafood with a little salt, pepper, sugar, cornstarch and a dash of cooking wine. Set aside. In a bowl, mix all the seasoning ingredients for the Brown Sauce and set aside.

In a wok, heat 2 tablespoon oil to smoky hot, stir-fry onions and peppers until lightly charred, add in minced garlic, briskly stir-fry until fragrant, toss in the broccoli florets, carrots, and continue stir-frying for about 2 minutes, dash a little salt and pepper, mix well and dish up. Set aside.

Lightly clean up wok with damp paper towel. Heat up wok with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, stir-fry shrimp, lobster/crab meat for 1 minute, toss in sliced beef and pork/BBQ pork and continue to stir-fry for another 1 minute, or until lightly browned.

Toss in the mixed canned vegetables, stir well, add in the Brown Sauce seasoning, pour in the chicken broth and continue to stir-fry until vegetables are tender enough to your liking, meat and seafood is thoroughly cooked. Adjust salt, sugar, or other flavorings as per taste. Dish up and serve with hot steamed rice.