Stir-Fry Tips & Tricks
Discussion
Hi,
Big lover of the easy to do stir-fry however I always feel the urge to add something extra i.e. drop a couple of chillies in there etc.
Anyone have any tips?
At the moment I am using a little veg oil, then sometimes use a splash of dark soy sauce, then sling some fresh egg noodles in and a pre-packed veg stir-fry then wack a sauce in normally hoi-sin or sweet chilli.
Big lover of the easy to do stir-fry however I always feel the urge to add something extra i.e. drop a couple of chillies in there etc.
Anyone have any tips?
At the moment I am using a little veg oil, then sometimes use a splash of dark soy sauce, then sling some fresh egg noodles in and a pre-packed veg stir-fry then wack a sauce in normally hoi-sin or sweet chilli.
Wadeski said:
Stir frying is kind of my big love in cooking, so I have played around quite a lot. One thing that I think we (non-chinese just having a crack at chinese cooking) get wrong is that we assume wok cooking = stir frying = chinese food. In fact, stir frying in different ways can give you very very different results.
When I first started stir frying I would fry up aromatics (garlic, ginger etc), then chuck in meat and veg, add flavourings (e.g. soy sauce, rice wine) and keep stirring till all cooked. This tasted good, but the problem is you tend to end up with a soggy result as the water in teh veg and meat comes out resulting in the food poaching rather than frying in the oil. Also, it makes it hard to properly cook the meat without some of the vegetables losing their texture.
here are some of the tips I've figured out, they might or might not work for you but they work for me
1) Prepare everything first - stir frying is frequently QUICK and HOT - if you turn the heat down to stop something burning while you chop and ingredient, the end result wont be right (usually soggy).
2) use the right type of frying for the right ingredients. Most of the time when I stir fry meat, it goes in three stages - cook meat, prepare the flavour base, then add the liquid. Here's an example:
cook meat: dip chicken pieces in a soy and egg batter, deep fry (in batches, in an inch of oil)
prepare flavour base: wipe the wok, add a tablespoon of fresh oil, and stir fry ginger, garlic, chillies, and chilli bean sauce
add liquid: add a sauce of stock, soy, black beans, black rice vinegar, sesame oil and corn starch
finally, add the cooked chicken back to the pan to soak up the sauce. This way the sauce has time to simmer and develop flavours, and the meat is not overdone and gets a really sticky coating rather than a thin liquid.
In comparison, vegetables are generally stir fried extremely quickly at high heat (one minute tops!) then served immediately. examples:
get a small amount of oil smoking hot in a wok and add ginger and garlic. it should start to colour in 10 seconds, so immediately add torn iceberg lettuce and stir for 30 seconds. shake over soy sauce and serve immediately so it does not wilt!
3) Dont try too cook everything all at once - plan the cooking times. When you order in a chinese restaurant you tend to order quite a few dishes and mix them up on your plate - you can do this at home if you have followed tip one and two above, due to the speed of cooking! So you can prepare a nice rich simmered dish like Red Braised Pork or Ma Po Tofu, then wipe the wok clean and quickly fry your vegetables in less than a minute. Two very different textures and tastes on the table, not much more effort, rather than a "worst of both worlds" compromise.
4) Chinese food is as much about the cutting as the cooking. Cutting with or against the grain, into dice, strips, angled slices, etc all affect the flavour and texture. I still struggle to get this right, so its my aim this year to get this right. I probably need to take a knife-work course.
5) As mentioned above, deep fry then stir fry is a fantastic approach. It makes sure the meat is cooked first, and the crispy coating soaks up your sauce like a sponge. Try stir frying deep fried chicken, aubergine, squid, prawns, pork, tofu....
dont be put off deep frying in a wok. do it in small batches, in one or two inches of oil. take out the food as soon as the "bubbles" around it are less fierce - if you leave it in at this point the food will start to absorb the oil and be greasy. The bubbles around the food are the water escaping, and this pressure actually protects the food from the oil. A big tip to reduce how much the oil spits (which can be scary) is to make sure the food isnt wet when you put it in - for example, with aubergine, after you cut into slices, cover with salt to dry it out the wipe the salt off. It will spit much less.
6) Secret ingredients that really make a difference:
- chilli bean sauce (add it after ginger and garlic as the "flavour base" step)
- real fermented black beans (ban black bean sauce forever, try them and you will see why!)
- chiankiang black vinegar (sugar and vinegar makes a better sweet and sour than the HK-style sweet glop you get in takeways)
- corn starch (mixed 2:1 with water) 2 tablespoons of this will turn your sauce into a thick, rich coating from a thin liquid.
- sugar! a teaspoon of it really helps a lot of stir fry dishes, especially ones with vinegar and soy.
Thanks that is a really helpful post. I shall try your suggestions and see what results I achieve. What Wok do you use? I need a new one...When I first started stir frying I would fry up aromatics (garlic, ginger etc), then chuck in meat and veg, add flavourings (e.g. soy sauce, rice wine) and keep stirring till all cooked. This tasted good, but the problem is you tend to end up with a soggy result as the water in teh veg and meat comes out resulting in the food poaching rather than frying in the oil. Also, it makes it hard to properly cook the meat without some of the vegetables losing their texture.
here are some of the tips I've figured out, they might or might not work for you but they work for me
1) Prepare everything first - stir frying is frequently QUICK and HOT - if you turn the heat down to stop something burning while you chop and ingredient, the end result wont be right (usually soggy).
2) use the right type of frying for the right ingredients. Most of the time when I stir fry meat, it goes in three stages - cook meat, prepare the flavour base, then add the liquid. Here's an example:
cook meat: dip chicken pieces in a soy and egg batter, deep fry (in batches, in an inch of oil)
prepare flavour base: wipe the wok, add a tablespoon of fresh oil, and stir fry ginger, garlic, chillies, and chilli bean sauce
add liquid: add a sauce of stock, soy, black beans, black rice vinegar, sesame oil and corn starch
finally, add the cooked chicken back to the pan to soak up the sauce. This way the sauce has time to simmer and develop flavours, and the meat is not overdone and gets a really sticky coating rather than a thin liquid.
In comparison, vegetables are generally stir fried extremely quickly at high heat (one minute tops!) then served immediately. examples:
get a small amount of oil smoking hot in a wok and add ginger and garlic. it should start to colour in 10 seconds, so immediately add torn iceberg lettuce and stir for 30 seconds. shake over soy sauce and serve immediately so it does not wilt!
3) Dont try too cook everything all at once - plan the cooking times. When you order in a chinese restaurant you tend to order quite a few dishes and mix them up on your plate - you can do this at home if you have followed tip one and two above, due to the speed of cooking! So you can prepare a nice rich simmered dish like Red Braised Pork or Ma Po Tofu, then wipe the wok clean and quickly fry your vegetables in less than a minute. Two very different textures and tastes on the table, not much more effort, rather than a "worst of both worlds" compromise.
4) Chinese food is as much about the cutting as the cooking. Cutting with or against the grain, into dice, strips, angled slices, etc all affect the flavour and texture. I still struggle to get this right, so its my aim this year to get this right. I probably need to take a knife-work course.
5) As mentioned above, deep fry then stir fry is a fantastic approach. It makes sure the meat is cooked first, and the crispy coating soaks up your sauce like a sponge. Try stir frying deep fried chicken, aubergine, squid, prawns, pork, tofu....
dont be put off deep frying in a wok. do it in small batches, in one or two inches of oil. take out the food as soon as the "bubbles" around it are less fierce - if you leave it in at this point the food will start to absorb the oil and be greasy. The bubbles around the food are the water escaping, and this pressure actually protects the food from the oil. A big tip to reduce how much the oil spits (which can be scary) is to make sure the food isnt wet when you put it in - for example, with aubergine, after you cut into slices, cover with salt to dry it out the wipe the salt off. It will spit much less.
6) Secret ingredients that really make a difference:
- chilli bean sauce (add it after ginger and garlic as the "flavour base" step)
- real fermented black beans (ban black bean sauce forever, try them and you will see why!)
- chiankiang black vinegar (sugar and vinegar makes a better sweet and sour than the HK-style sweet glop you get in takeways)
- corn starch (mixed 2:1 with water) 2 tablespoons of this will turn your sauce into a thick, rich coating from a thin liquid.
- sugar! a teaspoon of it really helps a lot of stir fry dishes, especially ones with vinegar and soy.
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