A simple and tasty carrot stir fry with soy sauce and sesame oil. It makes a delicious side dish and goes great in a bento. Kids also happen to love this dish!
I have a baby. And like many moms, I've spent so much time figuring out how to get him to eat more vegetables. That's how this recipe came first about.
It was developed for my baby but then all the adults loved it so much, now I just make it in big batches for everyone!
And really, what's not to love. Shredded carrots, stir fried until sweet and tender. They're simply seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce. I top it with more sesame seeds because I love sesame seeds in all shapes and forms, but that is totally optional.
Serve the carrots as a side dish with dinner or lunch. Add it to a bento box. Mix it with rice to form onigri. Top a bowl of rice with Pocket Eggs (or Soy Sauce Eggs) and a spoonful of carrots on the side. There are endless ways to enjoy this dish!
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Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Carrot
- Sesame oil - Make sure to use roasted sesame oil (the kind you find at most Asian markets).
- Soy sauce - Use any soy sauce you have available. We often default to Kikkoman or Aloha soy sauce.
- Roasted white sesame seeds - This is optional but delicious. We used sesame seeds (black and white) in many recipes so always have this ingredient available in the pantry.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's get cooking:
Prepare the carrot.
Peel and then shred the carrot.
Pro Tip: use a box grater to shred the carrots, it makes the process quick and easy.
Stir fry the carrot.
In a medium size pan over medium heat, add the sesame oil. Once the oil is warm, add the shredded carrots. Gently stir fry the carrots for a few minutes until the carrots have softened.
Season and serve.
Season with soy sauce and mix everything evenly. Remove from heat. Top the carrots with the sesame seeds (optional).
Eat and enjoy! This makes a very tasty side dish.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few ideas that we like to do:
- Black sesame seeds - white sesame seeds seem to be the default, but if you have black sesame seeds, use them! You can even top the dish with a mix of black and white sesame seeds, so pretty.
- Spicy - sprinkle a little shichimi togarashi on top just before serving. There's so many different brands to try from the everyday to the fancy.
- Green onions - add finely sliced green onions to the pan just before you finish cooking. Gently stir to mix.
Enjoy!
Equipment
Use a box grater to shred the carrots. You can use a box grater for a million different recipes, so this is definitely a good and useful buy.
Storage
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Store in a sealed container.
Reheat the carrots in the:
- microwave (15 second increments).
- tovetop over medium-low heat (I prefer the stovetop method).
Top Tip
Make sure to use roasted sesame oil. Growing up in Hawaii the default sesame oil at the market is roasted sesame oil so we never had to specify the word roasted.
But when I lived on the mainland, I saw unroasted sesame oil at the supermarket (where it's labeled just as sesame oil).
Roasted sesame oil is darker in color and much more flavorful ^_^
FAQ
Yes, this is a super simple recipe that can be easily doubled or even tripled. Feel free to also play around with the amounts of sesame oil and soy sauce that you want to use. Think of this recipe more as general guidelines as opposed to strict instructions.
Correct! That's why we stir fry the carrots at medium heat. Roasted sesame oil can easily burn so make sure not to cook this on high heat.
You can do either! The difference between shredded and grated is just a matter of size and we've done it both ways. Shredded is bigger/longer. Grated is very tiny. Or you can even do something in between.
Carrot Stir Fry Recipe
Carrot Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 large carrot
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon roasted white sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Peel and then shred the carrot. I like to use a box grater to shred the carrots, it makes the process quick and easy.
- In a medium size pan over medium heat, add the sesame oil. Once the oil is warm, add in the shredded carrots. Gently stir fry for a few minutes until the carrots have softened.
- Season with soy sauce and mix evenly. Remove from heat. Top the carrots with the sesame seeds (optional). Eat and enjoy! This makes a very tasty side dish.
Nutrition
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Mahalo for Reading!