Oooh, Tahitian Stir-Fry

I am not sure why this is called Tahitian Stir-Fry. I sadly know nothing about Tahiti, other than it's tropical and pineapples are tropical, and this recipe features pineapples. What I know for sure is that I've never met anyone who didn't taste this dish and love it.

 

I first experienced this Tahitian Stir-Fry back in college when my nearby aunt and uncle would make this for their small children and visiting niece (who loved her family, but may or may not have been angling for someone to take her underage self to the liquor store, it was college after all). They discovered the recipe on the back of a Dole pineapple can, I discovered that cornstarch added thickness to sauce.

This became a family favorite over the years as I moved away from college, back to the rest of my family in California. Over time however, the recipe was lost. At one point I know I was able to track it down to the Dole or Uncle Ben's website--laugh all you want foodie friends, I care not where from this deliciousness originated--but have not been able to track it down to one of these sites lately. I recently decided I needed to resurrect it and introduce it to my very, very, extremely, ridiculously picky 6-year old. I wanted to make sure I was making precisely the recipe everyone fell in love with. Trust me, I love to cook off recipe. I consider recipes loose guidelines or mere suggestions, but for this one, I wanted it to taste exactly like I remembered and did not want to be tempted to mix it up with Siriracha or something equally exciting. My goal was to get my 6-year old to eat, and I know this is kid slam dunk.

Let's take a moment to understand the pickiness with which I am dealing. He essentially survives off of chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, turkey lunch meat, Pringles, bacon, ham steaks and cinnamon sugar toast. Yes, I know what you're thinking. But he eats so little I take what I can get. Don't worry, he likes pancakes and waffles too. As well as peanut butter cups, rice and beans, and corn. I am actually feeling more impressed with this list by the moment. But see what I mean? He needs some new options in there. My newest technique is to convince him he liked a food when he was 2 years old. It seems to work. I was able to locate a version of the recipe which he tried and loved so much he forgot about the $2 bribe I offered to encourage him to taste.

I mention I discovered a version of the recipe because this recipe missed one of my favorite steps from the original--substituting a portion of the water used to cook the rice with reserved pineapple juice. It's so good. And critical to this recipe. And fun just when you want a slightly sweet sticky rice. But the angel who posted this recipe to Tastebook did me a huge favor, the flavors are spot-on. Here is the recipe in the way I prepared it (because clearly I am a big fat liar about wanting the precise recipe, I did make a few changes).

ingredients

1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks
1.5 cups uncooked rice
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
3/4 cup each chopped red and green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger (optional, I threw this in because I love fresh ginger, had it on hand, and couldn't help myself)

 directions

1.)  Drain juice from can of pineapple. Reserve juice. 
2.)  Take 1/2 cup from reserved juice and combine with 1.5 cups water. Add to rice in rice cooker. Turn rice cooker on and let it go while you prepare everything else.
3.) Combine soy sauce, remaining pineapple juice, black pepper, cornstarch, and sugar in small bowl and set aside.
4.) Cook and stir chicken and garlic in hot oil over medium high heat in large non-stick skillet until chicken is lightly browned and no longer pink in the center.
5.) Add zucchini, bell peppers and fresh ginger to skillet and cook until vegetables are tender; ~3 min. Add soy mixture and cook until heated through and sauce is thickened.
6.) I feel like this is an optional step, but traditionally the recipe would call for you to stir in pineapple and serve over rice. But for all I like the flavor of pineapple in this recipe, I find the pineapple chunks unpleasant--particularly when one believes she is biting into a piece of chicken only to discover it's pineapple. So I leave this up to you, many people love pineapples. Just not this girl.