pretzel beer stir-fry

If you want to use up leftover veggies, rice, protein sources, and beer, make a stir-fry- it's just like Chinese takeout without the takeout part! In this recipe, the beer is pretzel-flavored! 

Here's the method to my madness when thinking of this recipe: I bought a 6-pack of pretzel-flavored beer and I'm going to use it in the following types of recipes in the near future: 

• meatloaf
• ice cream
• pancakes
• stew
• ???
• ???

Normally, I'd use a bottle of beer in a beer bread recipe, but I realized you can get pretzel bread in most supermarkets these days, so making a pretzel beer bread would kind of be pointless. I had some black rice in the pantry that I needed to use so I searched for a beer rice recipe- lo and behold, it actually exists! 

What else goes with rice in a stir-fry? An assortment of veggies, some sort of sauce, and a protein source(doesn't have to be meat). At one point I was going to marinate some cod that I have in the freezer in some sort of beer marinade, but that requires thawing the filet out overnight before marinating for some period of time. That's a pain in the rear, so I used frankfurters- my dad loves hot dogs. Frankfurters kind of fits this stir-fry because the first two foods that come to one's mind when they think of baseball season are pretzels and hot dogs. 

I had fermented black bean paste that I was going to use in the sauce, but every recipe that used it that I found called for only 1-2 tbsp. since it's so strong and I have a 6 tbsp bag. Normally I'd use the paste and save the rest as a topping for my morning grits(or cream of wheat, or buckwheat, or oatmeal). But here's the rub: I've never tried black bean paste before so I don't even know if I'm going to like the stuff. Besides, I had some soy sauce and honey on me and that was an easier option to make the sauce. 

As for the black bean paste, I think I'll use it with some ramen that I have(not for a video though). 

It turns out pretzel sticks soften when they're placed in the fridge overnight and reheated in the microwave. But, at least to me, that's OK, because pretzels can also be soft as well! 

I initially thought frozen vegetables couldn't be cooked without a microwave but this stir-fry has proved me wrong in the best way possible! 

This recipe has beer in it in more ways than one, so my dad didn't try this recipe. 

You will need: 

Makes 4 servings 

For the cooking equipment: 

A large saucepot with lid
A small saucepot
A wooden spoon
A frying pan
A spatula

For the beer rice: 

1 cup uncooked rice that's NOT INSTANT(I used black rice since that's what I had)
15 oz. seafood stock(but any type of stock will do)
3/4 cup pretzel beer
1/2 cup melted butter
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of onion powder

For the sauce: 

1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup pretzel beer
1/2 cup honey
Pinch of garlic powder

For the stir-fry:

Sesame seed oil for frying
10 oz. mix of frozen carrots, snow peas, broccoli, and water chestnuts
4 chopped up, cooked frankfurters(or any type of protein)

Pretzel sticks for garnish

To make the beer rice: 

1. Put all beer rice ingredients into a large saucepot. Mix all the ingredients up. Bring saucepot to a boil on stovetop. 
2. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover saucepot with lid. Let the rice simmer for 30-40 minutes or until all the liquid has fully dissolved(this took me 45 minutes). 

To make the sauce: 

1. Put all sauce ingredients into a small saucepot. Mix all the ingredients up. Put the burner on medium-high heat.
2. Stir the sauce as it's cooking, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. If the sauce starts to rise up suddenly due to the beer, TURN THE BURNER OFF IMMEDIATELY! Then keep stirring until it's coated the back of a wooden spoon. 

To stir-fry: 

1. Pour sesame seed oil into a frying pan and spread the oil throughout the pan. Heat the oil up by turning the burner on. 
2. Once the oil is heated up, put the frozen vegetables into the frying pan. Or if your pan is kind of small like mine was, do two batches and just place 5 oz. for each batch. Cook the veggies by moving them and turning them over within the pan for 4 minutes. 
3. Add the chopped, cooked frankfurters(or protein source) after 4 minutes. If you're making 2 batches, place 2 chopped up franks in each batch. Move everything and turn them over within the pan for an additional minute. 

Plating: 

1. Place rice on a plate, then the stir-fry components on top of the rice, and lastly a little bit of the sauce. Garnish with pretzel sticks. Bon appetit! 

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