Vegetable Stir-Fry with Red Pepper, Bamboo Shoots, and Chestnut Mushrooms

Made with brown basmati rice, cooked for 25 minutes to half an hour in boiling water with turmeric, powdered ginger, and some Chinese five spice. Plus finely chopped scotch bonnet chilli (one half only! Remove all the seeds) and a little sunflower oil to prevent sticking.

The vegetables were: three cloves of garlic, diced, two dessert spoonfuls of bamboo shoots, preserved in oil, chopped chestnut mushrooms, half a stick of celery, chopped, two spring onions, diced, half a dozen green beans, chopped, and a quarter each of red and yellow pepper, chopped. If you have any liquor left over from a jar of grilled peppers, marinade the vegetables in that for an hour before cooking.

Rinse the rice and drain. Allow to cool. Then add the rice and the chopped vegetables to a wok with some preheated sunflower oil at a medium to high heat, depending on how you like to cook a stir-fry. Stir frequently for about four to five minutes (judge the result by eye).

Serve on a spiral of dark soy sauce. Also good with some egg noodles. Delicious!