You can never go wrong with simply serving your stir fry over a bed of rice. Plain white rice or brown rice are both an easy and good option. Or try one of these fried rice sides that are as good as at a Chinese restaurant!
In addition to being quick and easy, stir-frying is also healthy. It results in tender-crisp vegetables that retain more nutrients than if they were boiled. And since stir-frying requires only a small amount of oil, the fat content is low.
Vegetables are perfect examples of low-energy-dense foods thanks to the amount of water and fiber they contain. Water and fiber add bulk without extra calories. Stir-fry dishes made with lots of vegetables create a low-energy-dense meal that can help you lose weight while eating enough to feel full.
Always serve the stir-fried dish immediately, since the bite-sized pieces cool down quickly. I always cook rice when I'm making stir fry, because it complements the meal and gives your veggies and meat a nice bed to sit on. But, if you have no rice available, you will be just fine without it.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Sear meat first.
If the vegetables in the stir-fry cook fast, you can add the protein after cooking the aromatics (like garlic and ginger) and add the vegetables right after. This can also yield a cleaner dish, since you won't end up with any burned bits in the dish.
Fried rice can be very unhealthy dish given that it is a very carb and fat heavy dish from the rice and heavy oil usage, and not enough protein content -- an average restaurant serving of fried rice is about 800 calories.
There are a few different seasonings that make fried rice taste just right. The most important sauces to add are soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce in fried rice. All three add unique flavors to rice, but it can be easy to go overboard. Make sure you add small amounts of each and regularly taste the rice.
Chinese cooks normally use soybean oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil, all of which have a high smoke point. Peanut oil usually has a pleasant nutty flavor and is suitable not only for stir-frying but also for deep-frying. Canola oil, which has a high smoke point but a neutral flavor, is also a good choice.
Bite-size: Traditional stir fry is eaten with chopsticks, so ingredients are meant to be cut into bite-size pieces.
Your ingredients should cook fast, but to ensure that everything is cooked evenly, stir constantly (hence the name). It's important to move the food in and out of the centre of the pan quickly.