Walk Through The Stir-Fry Process In 8 Easy Steps

Summer is a great time for a great stir-fry, a fast and simple method of preparing a great meal in a short amount of time, using the plentiful fresh ingredients of summertime! In fact, when I returned from my honeymoon a few days ago, a beef and vegetable stir-fry was the first thing I cooked. It was easy, fast, and tasted great!

Stir-frying is an easy method enjoyed by newbie cooks and seasoned chefs alike. However, as with anything else in the kitchen, it does take time to get the hang of the stir-frying process.

Here are the basic 8 stir-fry steps to take that will help make the process go smoothly.

Chopped Ingredients (Photo credit: ramnath bhat)

1.  Prepare ingredients first
Because stir-frying is such a quick cooking process you need to take the time to prepare your ingredients before you heat the wok and oil. Wash and prepare the protein you’ll be using in the recipe. Then wash and chop any vegetables you’ll be using. You should also measure out any oils you need, etc. Note: cut your ingredients in sizes that match other ingredients of equal density. This will help make sure everything cooks evenly.  

2.  Marinate
To guarantee great flavor for the meat or other protein, create a simple marinade. Try this basic recipe: 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, whisked together in a glass bowl. Add the meat to this marinade and let sit for several minutes, then drain and stir-fry. This marinade has ingredients with intense flavors, so overnight marinating would not be advised.

3.  Make sure your wok is hot
For the stir-fry cooking to work best, the wok has to be exceptionally hot. While there isn’t a rule, it seems that medium-high heat works well for stir-frying. You should allow the wok to heat for about one minute before adding any oil to it. Test for proper heat by dropping one drop of water in the wok before you add the oil. If the drop of water sizzles and evaporates quickly, the wok is hot enough.

4.  Add oil
After your wok heats up properly, you can add the oil. Stir-frying doesn’t require a lot of oil, generally anywhere from 1 to 3 tablespoons is sufficient. Once the oil is added it needs to be swirled around the wok and allowed to heat thoroughly before adding any ingredients.

5.  Work quickly
This tip goes along with preparing ingredients first. Once your oil has heated up, time is of the essence. You need to be able to work quickly, which is why it’s important to have your ingredients prepared ahead of time. 

6.  Cook in batches
Don't add all the ingredients at once. Instead, cook in batches, This will ensure all the ingredients are cooked evenly and thoroughly. At the end, before serving, you'll have a chance to combine everything in the wok once more to reheat before serving.

Chicken and almonds stir fry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

7.  Return cooked ingredients to the wok
Because you remove the ingredients as you cook them, you'll want to put them back in the wok just before serving to reheat and bring all the flavors together. This is done while the wok is still hot, then the ingredients are quickly stirred around to reheat. Some recipes may call for a thickened sauce to be created, which may require lowering the heat and putting a lid on the wok for a few minutes.

8.  Serve
You can serve a stir-fry dish right out of the wok as is because it’s a full meal deal already. Or, you may wish to serve your creation over some Jasmine rice or Chinese noodles. A touch of toasted sesame seeds or other crunchy topping is also nice.

While we can't guarantee that every stir-fry recipe you make will turn out perfectly, these tips will help make sure that the protein is cooked properly, the vegetables aren’t soggy, and that the ingredients don’t stick to the wok – all things that help make a successful  stir-fry.

Be sure to check back later this week for some tasty and simple stir-fry recipes!

A Beginners Guide to Chinese Cooking

If you've ever thought how nice it would be to cook Chinese food at home, but had no idea where to start, you may want to check out a cookbook by Ken Hom. Ken is the the USA-born chef of Cantonese parents, and is well-known for making Chinese cooking accessible to beginning cooks all over the world.

Ken presents Chinese cuisine in such an easily-understandable way, demonstrating techniques and suggesting alternative ingredients should the originals not be available in your local supermarket. The book which heads the series, Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery, may well become your Bible of Chinese cooking!

To help you on your way to cooking Chinese food at home, I’m going to briefly describe the basic equipment, ingredients and techniques which you need to know so that you can produce some simple and tasty dishes. I hope you enjoy the article and that it inspires you to get cooking!

Equipment

Prepared Wok (Photo credit: FotoosVanRobin)Although there are many implements and pieces of equipment you can buy to start cooking your own Chinese food, you really only need a good knife or two and a wok. Woks come in all shapes and sizes, they can be non-stick, flat-bottomed, they can even be electric these days but I still prefer my old carbon steel wok with it’s rounded bottom and one wooden handle. This is a Pau wok. These are readily available in Chinese supermarkets and are much less expensive than other varieties.

There is one important task though, before you will be ready to cook with such a wok and that is to season it.

Seasoning Instructions: 

• First, you will need to scrub it with a cream cleaner to remove any residues of machine oil and dry it carefully. 
• Put the wok over low heat. 
• Rub the inside of the wok with two tablespoons of cooking oil using a kitchen towel. 
• Let the wok heat slowly for 10 to 15 minutes then wipe the inside with paper towels. The paper will come away black. 
• Carry on coating, heating and cleaning off until the kitchen towel comes away clean. Your wok is now ready to use. 
• After use, wash ONLY in water without detergent and dry thoroughly over a low heat. You may also apply a little oil if you wish. This should prevent the wok from rusting but if it does develop rust, just scrub and season again.

As well as the wok, you will need a wok stand, particularly if you have an electric stove. This keeps the wok stable if you are using it for braising or deep frying.

You will also need something to stir with – any spatula or slotted spoon will do – metal for an un-coated metal wok and plastic or wooden for a non-stick wok.

Ingredients

Before you rush out and buy up the whole Chinese section at the supermarket, bear in mind that some ingredients don’t keep well if left unused. Just select something simple from your chosen cookbook and buy the things that you need for that - then you can expand your selection as you progress through different dishes.

Some common store-cupboard ingredients that you will almost certainly need are dark and light soy sauce, some sort of cooking oil and sesame oil, cornflour/cornstarch, and rice wine or sherry.

Techniques

Stir-Frying

Image via WikipediaThe most well known Chinese cooking technique is stir-frying. This is where your wok comes into its own as it’s shape and size (at least 14 inches diameter with deep sides) is ideal for quick cooking. The secret to successful stir-frying is to have all your ingredients ready in advance.

Meat should be cut according to the recipe but normally in thin strips. Vegetables likewise but in any event should be of similar shapes and sizes to ensure even cooking. Long thin vegetables such as spring onions, carrots or asparagus are often cut on the diagonal so that more surface area is exposed for quicker cooking. Measure out sauce ingredients - check the recipe - if they are all added to the dish at the same time, you can put them all in one small bowl. If cornstarch is included, don’t forget to give it a good stir before adding to the other food.

Once you have everything prepared, heat your wok until it is very hot then add oil and using your chosen stirring implement ensure that the oil is evenly distributed over the surface of the wok. Before you add your ingredients, the wok should be so hot that it is almost smoking - this will prevent the food from being greasy. The exception to this is if you are flavoring your oil with garlic, chilli, spring onions, ginger or salt - these will burn if the oil is too hot.

Now add your other ingredients in the order stated in the recipe and toss them over the surface of the wok ensuring that nothing rests in one place for too long and moving the food from the center of the wok to the sides. I suggest that you wear an apron or other protective clothing for this operation as the food often spits due to the high temperature it is cooked at.

Deep Frying

You can use your wok for deep frying but be very careful that it is safely balanced on its stand. Under no circumstances leave it unattended. Deep frying in a wok uses less oil than a deep fryer or saucepan but you may find these safer and easier to use.

Image via WikipediaWhen deep frying, make sure that the oil is hot enough before adding ingredients or the food will end up very greasy. Test it by dropping in a small piece of prepared food or a cube of bread. If the oil bubbles up around what you dropped in then it’s hot enough.

Make sure that food to be deep fried is dried thoroughly on kitchen paper or drained of its marinade before cooking otherwise it will spit.

Shallow Frying

This is the same as the Western technique. Fry food on one side, then the other and drain off any excess oil before adding sauce ingredients. A normal frying pan is fine for this.

Steaming

Steaming is widely used in Chinese cookery. You can use a bamboo steamer in a wok, a heat-proof plate placed on a rack in a wok or other large pan or you can use a normal European steamer.

If using a bamboo steamer or plate in a wok, bring about 2 inches of water to a simmer. Put your rack into the wok (if the bamboo steamer is big enough and will sit on the sides of the wok without being in the water, you don’t need a rack) and balance your plate or steamer of food on it. Put the lid on your steamer or wok and check occasionally to see if the water needs topping up (use water which is already hot).

Whichever method you use, make sure that the food is above the water level and isn’t getting wet.

Braising

As with Western cooking, braising is used for tougher cuts of meat and involves gentle cooking of meat and/or vegetables in flavored stock. Red-braising is the technique where food is braised in a dark liquid such as soy sauce which gives the food a red/brown color. This type of braising sauce can be frozen and re-used.

Hopefully this article gives you a good overview for getting started with Chinese cooking. I've also included a couple of resources to check out below, including Ken Hom's book. And be sure to check back later this week when we will get into a bit of regional Chinese cuisine, and also share a tasty recipe!

Chinese Cooking Resources: