Judy's Stir-fry

Ingredients

 * ½ cup lite soy sauce (or regular or watered down regular)
 * 2 tbsp mirin (Japanese wine) or any red wine preferably sweet
 * 3 tsp sugar
 * ¼ tsp garlic powder (only powder will stir in well)
 * 1 tbsp corn starch

Veggies

 * mushrooms
 * any kind of onion or scallion (green onion) or shallot
 * napa (chinese) cabbage
 * carrots
 * zucchini
 * red or yellow or green bell peppers
 * yams cut into matchsticks
 * celery
 * jícama (don't overcook, leave crunchy)
 * snow peas
 * asparagus

Optional

 * ½ tsp ginger (or more)
 * ¼ tsp (or more) red pepper flakes

Directions

 * 1) Combine sauce ingredients in a jar or bowl, mix well and set aside.
 * 2) Stir fry 3 cups of any veggies, using a wok or non-stick fry pan on med-hi heat.
 * 3) Make sure to the cut the harder veggies (carrots?) smaller/thinner than the softer ones (mushrooms, cabbage?), stir fry the harder ones first, then add the softer ones last, so that all veggies are just crisp tender at the same time.
 * 4) I start with about ½ a cup of veggie broth by the side of the stove and add a tablespoon at a time as needed to keep a little liquid in the wok.
 * 5) Do not add so much that the veggies are sitting in the broth.
 * 6) Always keep stirring or moving veggies around with a spatula so that they do not sit in the liquid (that"s why they call it stir-fry!) some veggies I recommend: mushrooms, any kind of onion or scallion (green onion) or shallot, napa (Chinese) cabbage, carrots, zucchini, red or yellow or green bell peppers, yams cut into matchsticks, celery, jícama (don't overcook, leave crunchy) snow peas, asparagus.
 * 7) When veggies are ready, stir or shake sauce well to keep corn starch well-mixed in, and pour over the veggies in the pan (if you have a wok, always introduce new liquids by pouring them down the sides of the pan so that they can pick up heat on the way down and begin steaming immediately).
 * 8) Continue to keep veggies moving around the pan by stirring with a spatula.
 * 9) The corn starch will cause the sauce to thicken within a minute or so and will give it a sheen as if there is oil in it.
 * 10) Serve over rice or noodles immediately.