What is the best way to stir fry vegetables?

Question

I love to stir fry, but am I doing it right? I usually put a tablespoon of oil in the pan, heat it up and the cook the veggies with a little teriyaki sauce.
I am looking for other ways to stir fry and other sauces. Any favorites out there?
Good veggies to stir fry?

Answer 1

I cook Thai foods all the times and I stir fry vegetable a lot. Thai foods are mixtures of Chinese and Indian although the Thais won’t accept it. To stir fry, first you prepare all the ingredients. Chop up your vegetables; add in one or two clove of fine chopped garlic, a little salt and pepper. If you have soybean sauce (the one with a little light brown in colour and with bean still in it) put them in, otherwise try to locate the Thai fish soy sauce, otherwise Chinese white soy sauce is OK. All you ingredients should be on one plate.

Then, heat up your pan, better yet use a Wok. Heat it up for a minute. If you have the high flame stove, turn it on highest. Then, pour in about 2-3 table spoon-full of vegetable oil. Roll the oil to coat all cooking area of the pan, until the pan started to give white smoke. Be very careful, as this is extremely hot. Carefully pour all your ingredients into the Wok. At this point things may splashed over, so be careful. The Wok should go up in flame depending on how long you keep the empty Wok on heat.

Stir fry you ingredients with frame of fire still in the Wok for 30 seconds at which point the frame should be gone. If you want the finishing being dry, just serve it, otherwise add half a cup of water or soup into the Wok, stir a little and serve. You should have a really nice fry vegetable with smell of BBQ on it. The catch is it’ high in cholesterol.

Answer 2

the Wok must be almost glowing before you add ANYTHING to it otherwise you won't get "the flavor of the wok". high-carbon steel woks are the best for stir-fry (they are also the cheapest). once the wok is hot add about 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the wok, it will smoke, then immediatly add the vegetables about 1 1/2 cups at a time while stirring constantly. unless you have a commercial grade stove do this over a large pile of coals on the bar-b-q or a large outdoor burner like the ones that come with a turkey deep fryer. you must have an incredible amount of heat pumping out onto the wok for it to stay hot enough for a good stir-fry. basically any vegie is great for stir-fry. for a sauce mix a little cornstarch with cold water and add that in after you have added any other liquid you will be using, then just let the residual heat finish the sauce, if you over heat (boil) cornstarch it will get watery again. you will want to wait to make your sauce until the veggies are almost done cooking, about 30 seconds.

If you don't let the wok preheat and you add anything other than oil while you are cooking the veggies or meat, you are not stir-frying, you are cooking the veggies in some other fashion. if you add the oil before the wok is fully preheated you will start adding the veggies too soon and then you will not have stir-fry, you will have sautee. if you add liquid too soon in the process you will have boiled veggies, not stir-fry. If you add the veggies too fast, you will cool the wok and have sautee. the whole process is about very high, dry heat. anything else is not stir-fry.

also, once you start you cannot stop so you must have ALL of your prep done before anything goes into the wok. think of it as a rollercoaster ride. until the train starts moving (you add the first thing into the wok) you can get off and wait some more, but once it starts moving you are committted until it is over. with a properly heated wok if you walk away your food will burn. if the wok is cool enough that you can safely walk away from it to do more prep work you are not stir-frying.

Answer 3

Don't add your teriyaki sauce until the veggies are finished cooking, or they will just sit there adn steam.

Use a screaming hot pan for stir-fry. As hot as you can get it. Add oil to hot pan, then drop in veggies. Broccoli and carrots take longer to cook than onions, bean sprouts, or snow peas, so add those first. Keep them moving.

I like in stir-frys: brocc, carrots, onion (spanish & green), corn kernels or baby corn, bell pepper, bok choy, cabbage, a bit of celery, mushrooms, and fresh green beans.

Answer 4

try cutting the veggies into thin strips or small pieces, that way they don't require such a long cooking time

also you could parboil (boil for a few minutes to soften them up) before cooking to reduce the time

Veggies I like to stir fry, bell peppers of all colours, bean sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots (diced or slices), and that's about it. You could add pieces of zucchini etc but I don't like zucchini. Ewww!

Answer 5

Oil in the wok. Heat it up. Add some garlic and spices. Throw your washed vegie into it. Add some water. Add oyster sauce or whatever sauce you like. Stir it around. Wait for the water to boil. Hmm! I'm getting hungry telling you.

Answer 6

Sounds about right - most veg stir fry well - and you can use any sauce that takes your fancy. Have a look in the chinese sauce section of the supermarket.

Answer 7

as a stir fry is basically a Chinese type dish .theres so many options open to you as a lot of Chinese food is vegetarian mostly Buddhist in origin so there should be no problem for flavours . sesame oil plum sauce hoisin sauce black bean yellow bean as for soy sauce have you tried the different ones that you can buy theres light dark sweet and of course as well as Chinese soy sauce you all so have Japanese Thai Malay just to mention a few .all so japan has a lot to offer as well as the rest of asia to choose from so many options to choose from

Answer 8

I really cant' add much more as what has already been.
One thing I never rush my stir fry veggies in case they burn.

I don't put in as much oil as you ,I find too oily.

Hope you find what a you are looking for you aer spoiled for choice as there ae a good recipes there for you.

Answer 9

I usually add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the pan wait till it smokes then add my veg such as bean sprouts, water chestnuts, peas, brocolli, carrot and mange toute. About 3-4 minutes is long enough to cook them and they still retrain there bright colours and crunchy texture.

Answer 10

Stir-Fry Tips


1. Make sure you have all the ingredients you need ahead of time.

2. Make sure all the food is cut according to directions before you start. Never try to prepare food while stir-frying.

3. For even cooking, cut all the ingredients the same size.

4. If not following a recipe, cut all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces.

5. Pre-heat the wok on medium-high to high heat for at least a minute before adding oil. (You may want to skip this step if you have a nonstick pan - it can damage the coating.)

6. Add the oil (up to 2 to 3 tablespoons depending on the dish; peanut, canola or other vegetable oils are good) drizzling it so that it coats both the sides and the bottom of the wok. The oil heats faster this way.

7. Before adding other ingredients, season the oil by cooking a few pieces of garlic and ginger. (Note: you may want to reduce the heat at this point to keep them from burning).

8. If the recipe calls for meat and vegetables, cook the meat first and then set it aside. Add the meat back when the vegetables are almost cooked. This ensures that the meat is not overcooked, and that the meat and vegetables retain their individual flavors.

9. Meat is normally stir-fried on high heat to seal in the juices (individual recipes can differ).

10. Never add more than a cup of meat at a time to the wok. Lay the meat out flat to cook.

11. Remove the meat from the wok when it changes color - for example the redness in the beef is gone. At this point the meat is approximately 80 percent cooked.

12. Stir-fry vegetables according to density, with the densest vegetables being stir-fried first and for the longest time. Denser vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and eggplant require more cooking time than green leafy vegetables such as bok choy.

13. If you're uncertain about the order in which to stir-fry vegetables, the simplest solution is to stir-fry them separately, one at a time.

14. If possible, wash the vegetables ahead of time to ensure that they have drained and are not too wet.

15. Alternately, if the vegetables are too dry, try adding a few drops of water while stir-frying.

16. When stir-frying meat, wait a few seconds before tossing so that it has a chance to brown; when stir-frying vegetables, begin moving them immediately.

17. When adding sauce to vegetables and/or meat, form a "well" in the middle by pushing the ingredients up the sides of the wok. Add the sauce in the middle and stir to thicken before combining with the other ingredients.

18. Once the dish is completed, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

19. Serve the stir-fried dish immediately.

20. Finally, a few words about cooking temperatures. Some recipes give instructions on whether to cook a dish at high, medium-high, or medium heat, but others don't. In Chinese Home Cooking, Helen Chen suggests starting to cook at medium-high heat and then adjusting the temperature up or down as needed on your model of stove. Another option is to have a second burner set on medium heat that you can quickly move the wok to if you feel the food is cooking too fast.


Honey Beef With Sesame Seeds
Beef is marinated in a honey and soy mixture, stir-fried with oyster sauce and topped with sesame seeds. If desired, toast the sesame seeds before serving.

Serves 2 to 4
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound flank steak
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 stalk celery
Marinade:
4 teaspoons liquid honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 green onion, chopped
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Sauce:
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Other:
1 clove garlic
2 slices ginger
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water
3 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
PREPARATION:
Wash and drain the vegetables. Remove the stems and seeds from the bell peppers and cut into thin strips. Rinse and thoroughly drain the mung bean sprouts. String the celery and cut on the diagonal into thin strips.
Cut the flank steak across the grain into thin strips.
Combine with the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the steak for 15 minutes.
Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the heated wok. When the oil is ready, add the beef. Brown briefly, then stir-fry until nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok. Clean out the wok if necessary.
Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry briefly until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the green pepper and the celery. Stir-fry briefly, and add the red pepper.
Push the vegetables up to the sides of the wok. Add the sauce in the middle of the wok. Heat briefly, then add the cornstarch and water slurry, stirring to thicken.
Add the steak back into the wok. Add the mung bean sprouts. Mix everything together. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds before serving. Serves 2 or 4 (as part of a multicourse meal).