You won't believe how fast this stir fry recipe comes together! (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 rules of stir-frying? ›

Food & Dining

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

Stir-frying is an ideal quick method of cooking meat as the thin strips cook in only a few minutes. It is only necessary to use a very small amount of oil (1tbsp) when stir-frying.

Stir-Frying Basics. Skip the takeout — it's just as fast (and fresher) to cook this simple one-pan meal at home. Stir-frying is best done with bite-sized pieces of food and lots of added flavors from aromatics (garlic, ginger, scallion) and Asian condiments (soy, hoisin, chili paste, etc.).

According to Food & Wine, ketchup is the ultimate way to take the flavor of homemade stir fry up a level, thanks to its sweet and sour flavor profile. It just might be the easiest cooking hack to elevate your home cooking to that of your favorite take-out.

So many different oils, the good news is you can stick with what you know – canola is great! The best oils for stir frys are the oils with the higher smoke points. These tend to be the “thinner” oils such as peanut, grapeseed or canola.

Using the Wrong Oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable oil or peanut oil, to prevent burning. Olive oil, for instance, might not be suitable for high-heat stir-frying. Adding Too Much Sauce: While sauce adds flavor, using too much can make the stir-fry soggy.

Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.

Stir-fry onions first, then add hard vegetables such as carrot and broccoli. Quick-cooking vegetables, such as snow peas, leafy greens and bean sprouts, should be added towards the end of cooking. If using vegies that have a combination of both textures, such as gai laan, add the stems first and the leaves later.

Damp vegetables drop the temperature of your wok or skillet and can turn your stir-fry into a soupy braise. Pat vegetables dry or run leafy greens through a salad spinner until dry to the touch. Otherwise, they will steam and braise in the pan and lose their crispness.

Is stir-fry Chinese or Japanese? ›

Stir frying (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo; Wade–Giles: ch'ao³; Cantonese Yale: cháau) is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West.

Start with the hard vegetables like carrots and broccoli. Stir and scoop vegetables to the side to make room for more. Then add the softer vegetables, like sliced mushrooms and zucchini. Pour in some stock or water and always keep the veggies moving in the pan.

Sautéing is incredibly similar to stir-frying, except you use a little more fat and the process can take a little longer. As stir-frying is fast and at high heat, sautéing can take a little more time, and require a lower heat to allow for slow and even cooking.

You can make stir-fry without a wok by substituting a deep, large skillet. However, the wok has one major advantage: The gentle, sloping sides of the pan allow you to cook in stages. The sides serve as a resting place to get ingredients up and out of the hot spot (at the bottom of the pan) so nothing gets overcooked.

A great stir-fry typically consists of four important components: protein, vegetables, aromatics, and sauce. Standard stir-fry starts with one pound of protein and two pounds of vegetables, and a basic stir-fry sauce (recipe below). You can add aromatics or herbs to change the flavor profile of your dish.

The principle behind making a stir fry is to cook your ingredients quickly in a small amount of very hot oil. To keep frying it as fast as possible, it's important to properly prepare all your ingredients. So before you turn up the heat, we recommend you: Marinade any meat, fish or tofu in your choice of sauce.