Ginger-Habanero Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

When strong enough, ginger can give a burn much like horseradish. The glaze in this dish combines that wonderful short-term burning with the longer-lasting heat of the world-famous habanero chile. The sweetness from the carrots and honey is a nice counter to the initial spicy blast.

Ingredients:
- Carrots
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/4-1/3 cup honey (depending on how sweet your carrots are)
- 1 medium hand of ginger
- 2 habaneros
- black sesame seeds (optional)

Step 1:

The sauce needs to simmer for a while, so start that first. Pour the OJ, wine, and honey into a small saucepan.

Step 2:

Cut up your ginger into pieces about 1 cm thick.

Step 3:

Don surgical gloves and, if necessary, biohazard suit. Cut habaneros into 1 cm chunks as well.

Step 4:

Put the ginger and habaneros in the saucepan with the OJ mixture. Simmer while we prep the carrots.

Step 5:

Peel as many carrots as you want to use. I went with four.

Step 6:

Cut on a heavy bias.

Step 7:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a cast iron wok.

Step 8:

Pour some peanut (or other high smoke point) oil into the wok. Split a thumb-sized piece of ginger and put it in the oil, then crank up the heat.

Woks require pretty much the highest heat you can manage. I'll stop short of Saint Alton's admonition to get yourself a propane-powered jet engine to cook on, but as long as you keep an eye on the wok, the more heat the better

Step 9:

Let the ginger fry until it's nicely browned. This will infuse the oil with ginger, adding another dimension of flavor to the finished dish.

While the ginger fries, make a slurry from one tablespoon corn starch and two tablespoons water. Add it to your sauce, stirring constantly for a minute or two. Now you can let it steep for a while, or immediately drain through a sieve.

Step 10:

Once the ginger is nice and toasty, yank it and let the oil get to nearly-smoking. Then start stir-frying your carrots.

Cook for several minutes, until the thinnest pieces start to burn slightly.

Step 11:

Remove to a bowl for saucing. You could also allow the carrots to cool, as they make an excellent cold salad as well.

Step 12:

Note: that glaze is POTENT and should be used with appropriate caution.

Plate your Ginger-Habanero Glazed Carrots, garnish with black sesame seeds.