Stir Fry for Dummies (the dummy is me - help!)

Cafe Society
21

And baby powder is made of babies! :eek:

The wonderful secret of stir-frying is that it can encompass anything you want. Don’t think of it as Chinese.

Any sauce can be used as a base. Have a steak sauce or barbecue sauce you like? Use it. I buy very thin-sliced sirloin and add it to Yuengling lager sauce.

Yes, steak and chicken work just fine in woks. The only requirements are the same as for every other ingredient. Slice thin or narrow. Don’t try to get a fat, thick piece of anything done inside and out. Vegetables, too. Supermarkets sell pre-sliced packages of stir-fry veggies. Look at them as a guide as to maximum thickness. Foodies will tell you to slice your own, and that’s fine. But most packages of individual vegetables are way too huge just for my wife and me. Getting a mix of small amounts of varied vegetables works better for us.

Cooking on an electric stove defeats the point of a wok, so the best compromise is to get one that has the best possible heat conduction. (After many less-than-satisfactory cheaper woks, I finally splurged and got a Swiss Diamond.) Let the sides get good and hot (the old test of sprinkling a couple of drops of water on the oil to see if they spatter is useful) and then spread the cooking mixture around in one layer so that everything is in direct contact with the surface. Then proceed to use a wooden spatula to move them around and flip them over. That’s easier to do on a wok than on a frying pan, where the food may wind up going over the edge.

22

My go-to stir fry sauce is: equal parts white wine and chicken stock; white paper; soy sauce; sesame oil. Sometimes some corn starch if I want it to thicken.

But then I add different stuff if I want. Chile paste or hoisin sauce or whatever. Just experiment and find what you like. There are no rules, sheeple!! :slight_smile:

23

But see, I need rules. I am not “sheeple.” I’m an idiot when it comes to cooking. I’d be the kid sitting in the back of the room eating paste in the cooking school (and probably enjoying it more than most of what they were cooking up front!) I cook by following a recipe like a science experiment.

I don’t want to expand my horizons (at least not yet). I just want to learn how to make some simple, non-weird stir-fry without messing it up or burning down the kitchen.

Small words, remember? :smiley:

24

I found Martin Yan of the PBS Yan Can Cook, the best teacher for learning how to stir fry.
Here is his stir fry sauce:
2⁄3 cup soy sauce
1⁄2 cup chicken broth
1⁄3 cup rice wine
3 1⁄2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1⁄4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1⁄4 cup water.
Make that sauce, marinate your cut up meat in it for 15-3 minutes. Then put some oil in a hot frying pan and cook your veggies for a couple minutes. Add the meat and the sauce and stir fry for two to three more minutes.
Serve with rice

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Jeepers, people, I was trying to make it simple, as the OP requested. No you don’t put plum sauce on plums, but I’m betting the OP was smart enough to figure out that difference since she’s a poster here, doncha think?

I freely admit that when I was new to Oriental cooking, when I looked at duck sauce, I was just a bit queasy to think that there was smushed up duck or duck ‘juice’ in that bottle. I was happy to hear that it was much the same as buffalo wing sauce - no buffalos, no chickens, no wings, just sauce to put on chicken wings.

I did have to pull out my bottle of oyster sauce and check the ingredient list. No oyster, oyster product, oyster juice, or even oyster mushrooms mentioned on mine.

26

Then you probably have some vegetarian version of oyster sauce. What brand is it? That’s not a typical oyster sauce by definition. Oyster sauce is definitely made of oysters (or contains “oyster essence” or whatnot), just like fish sauce is made of fish, and its properties are somewhat similar to that of the properties of fish sauce, with the oysters bringing the umami to the dish. Oyster sauce, though, does have other flavorings in it, whereas fish sauce is usually just fermented fish, salt, and not much else. The Lee Kum Lee brand with the panda logo is okay and not too strong (and fairly ubiquitous at the stores I shop at), but their premium version is particularly good, if you can find it, and much brinier and oyster-ier, if you enjoy stronger, more concentrated flavors.

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I think stillownedbysetters has a great method. Here’s how I taught my son to make stirfry:

INGREDIENTS
[ul]
[li]Oil (peanut is best but corn or canola is fine)[/li][li]Garlic and/or ginger, as much or as little as you want, finely chopped (optional, but adds flavor)[/li][li]Meat, cut in small pieces (sliced if pork or beef, bite-sized bits for poultry), and/or tofu cubes. Pro-tip: meat is easier to slice if it is slightly frozen.[/li][li]Vegetables, cut into smallish pieces. Bell peppers, zucchini, cabbage, baby corn, carrots, broccoli, string beans, snow peas - whatever you like, except potatoes or tomatoes.[/li][li]A glass with three or more flavors in it, choosing from: soy sauce, hoisin sauce, 1-3 tsp sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, 1-2 tsp chili oil (if you like spicy), black bean sauce, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar (if you use more than about a tablspoon, balance with added sugar), mirin: basically anything you like from the “oriental” section of your grocery. You should have at least 1/2 cup of “sloshy” liquid - if you have a thick paste, add some water or broth and stir it up.[/li][li]A glass with some cool water or broth in it, into which you stir 1-2 spoonfuls of cornstarch[/li][/ul]

METHOD
[ol]
[li]Look at your meat and vegetables and figure out what will cook the fastest. Small thin slices, watery veggies like zucchini, and tofu need the least time. Large pieces of slightly frozen chicken or thick-cut dry veggies like carrot coins will need the longest time.[/li][li]Pour some oil into the wok and heat to medium high - when you smell the oil or see it start to shimmer, it’s ready. Add the garlic and/or ginger and stir for a moment. [/li][li]Add the meat and vegetables, starting with the stuff that takes the longest to cook and adding the next ingredient after 30 seconds or so. Stir it around so everything cooks evenly.[/li][li]When things seem on their way to done (meat is no longer pink; vegetables are softening), pour in the sloshy flavoring. Let cook a while (put the lid on if you want, for 3-4 minutes).[/li][li]Stir in the cornstarch liquid to thicken. Cornstarch settles out, so you’ll need to stir it up just before you add it. Put the heat on medium high and stir a bit until the sauce is as thick as you like (if it is too soppy, just add more cornstarch).[/li][li]Taste - if it isn’t flavorful enough, add some salt, sesame oil and/or chili oil.[/li][/ol]

That’s it. You can make beef and zucchini with ginger, or garlicky tofu with broccoli, or any combo you want.

28

Easy chicken stir fry:

Cut your chicken breasts into relatively uniform strips or pieces, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch or so. Around bite-sized, basically. Heat your cooking vessel, add a couple tablespoons of oil, and plunk the chicken in. Keep things moving. Cook until nothing looks raw anymore, but not fully-cooked either (white outsides, basically). Move the chicken into a bowl and loosely cover with foil.

Now, put in your mixed veggies (can be anything, but I like a mix of red bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, and water chestnuts) with a tiny bit more oil and heat. Don’t forget to stir stir stir. When the veggies are warmed through but not soft, pour the “chicken water” into the sink (the chicken will have lost some moisture while it was resting, and you don’t want it back in your fry) and put the semi-cooked chicken back into the cooking vessel.

Add the sauce, which is: one and one-third cups soy sauce, one-third cup corn syrup, two tablespoons cornstarch, and a quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper, premixed well to make the cornstarch disappear. Heat until the sauce boils for about 30 seconds, then back off the heat. Serve over or alongside white rice.

If you make a big batch, increase the amount of sauce accordingly.

29

Here is my favorite stir fry recipe. You can always add some chicken if you like. You can even substitue the tofu with some chicken. Good luck.

I have made this dish many times and I found there is no need at all to dry the tofu. The author goes to outrageous lengths to prepare the tofu and I have found it is all just completely unnecessary. But it’s entirely up to you.

I hope you will enjoy this.

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Tofu That Tastes Good: Stir Fry
I remember the first time I tried tofu. It was raw in a whole grain wrap along with some mustard and veggies and I honestly couldn’t finish it. And when it comes to food I’m a trooper. I’ll finish just about anything as I hate wasting food. But, tofu did not strike my fancy from the start and it’s never really been my favorite, even in my hardcore vegetarian days.

But, that all changed recently during a trip to San Antonio when I ate the best tofu of my life. It was in a veggie stir fry over coconut brown rice at a restaurant called Green Vegetarian Cuisine. If you’re ever in the area you must stop by and try this dish. Your view of tofu will be forever changed – promise.

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Ingredients - STIR FRY

1 14-ounce (396 g) package firm or extra firm tofu
2 cups (200 g) roughly chopped green beans
1 cup (128 g) diced carrots or red pepper
2 Tbsp (30 ml) toasted sesame oil for sautéing (or sub peanut or coconut)

Ingredients - SAUCE

1/4 cup (60 ml) low-sodium soy sauce (make sure it’s gluten free if G-Free)
1 Tbsp (6 g) fresh grated ginger
2 Tbsp (27 g) organic brown sugar
1 Tbsp (15 ml) agave, maple syrup (or honey if not vegan)
1 Tbsp (7 g) cornstarch

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See the web site for the details.

30

Wow! I posted my recipe before reading the other posts.

If I was you, I would def try that Martin Yan recipe. It looks to me like that is the best and most versatile.

But you can save mine. You may feel like trying it someday.

31

I prefer black paper. It gives it more of a zip.

32

Remember to cut your vegetables like carrots and celery at an angle so each piece has more surface area. The extra browning will increase the flavor.

33

Well, I’m happy to report that I took a shot at stir-fry last night, and it was a success!

I followed the advice here and also from a site I found online for beginner stir-fryers, and put together something with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, sprouts, and noodles. It turned out pretty well, and the spouse liked it too.

I didn’t realize how much the oil gets all over everything, though. I was glad the spouse and I have an agreement that I cook and he cleans up the kitchen after! :slight_smile:

34

As a time (and money) saver I buy my veggies from the salad bar. I can buy just what I want and it’s pre-sliced. I sometimes buy a package of snowpeas to round it out.

Good to hear it went well. I’ll be making stir-fry tonight!

35

If your ouster sauce has no oyster in it, you’re buying the cheap imitation stuff. real oyster sauce does indeed have oyster extract. Personally I recommend the Lee Kum Kee Premium brand:

It’s generally drizzled on top of green vegetables (gai lan, yue choi, bok choi, etc.)