Stir-fry is a Chinese cooking technique that involves cooking food over high heat in a wok—similar to the French technique sauté. Constantly tossing the ingredients allows the food to become crispy without getting scorched.
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.
The key to making a really good stir-fry is using a very high cooking temperature so the food will cook quickly. Since stir-frying involves high heat, it's important to choose an oil that has a high smoke point. If you don't, the oil will burn and the whole dish will be ruined.
If you add too many ingredients at once, they will overlap and steam, rather than sauté, making them rubbery or soggy. "Cook each ingredient separately," advises Martinez. Not only does this ensure that you won't pile too much in the pan at once, but it will also account for different cooking times.
Soy sauce, sesame oil, a bit of vinegar, or store-bought stir-fry sauces are easy to add to the dish and most stir-fry recipes will include a suggested mixture of liquid. If you don't really have a sauce planned, a bit of bottled soy sauce and some diced garlic or ginger will make a nice basic stir-fry sauce.
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.
Put a small amount of oil (1-2 tablespoons) in your wok. You won't typically need much oil - you're stir frying, not deep frying. At this point, you'll also want to add any seasoning and/or spices you're using in your dish.
Longest cooking first, than quickest cooking. I'd do: broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, bok choy stems, onions, garlic, ginger, bok choy leaves. Onions, then ginger and garlic- then put this in a dish, wipe out the wok, and start fresh. Do this to eat ingredient in turn.
Meat first, then vegetables – If you want meat or seafood in your stir fry, cook it first then scoop it out onto a separate plate before cooking the vegetables. You'll add the meat back in at the end. 5. Don't crowd the pan – If you have too much in your pan, the vegetables will steam instead of staying crisp.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok, then fry the chilli and garlic for 1 min. Add the veg and toss to coat in the oil. Fry for 2-3 mins, then add the soy and chilli sauce, mixing well. Cook for 2-3 mins more until the veg are tender.
A proper sauce for stir-fries combines something salty—soy sauce, usually, though fish sauce also works—with something a little bit sweet. Mirin, sweet Japanese rice wine, contributes a wonderful fermented flavor, but if you don't have any, substitute a teaspoon of honey or sugar combined with two teaspoons of water.
All foods give off some steam when cooking, so it's important to leave the lid off the pan during frying so the steam evaporates rather than collecting on the lid and dripping back into the hot oil.
Nuts and seeds. Peanuts might already be regular stir-fry toppers, but it's time to expand your nutty horizons. Add in almonds, cashews, or sesame seeds for crunch and richness. If you add the nuts into your wok with all of the other ingredients, they'll soften as they absorb the sauce, which can be nice.
Stir Fry Sauce with 3 Ingredients
All you need for bold flavor is soy sauce, sesame oil, and corn starch. Full amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card, but keep reading this post for important tips and tricks.
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 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.