What is a Stir-fry?
A stir-fry, for those not from the cooking world, is a method of cooking rather than a dish itself. First originated in China as far as the time of the Han dynasty, during 206 B.C to 220 A.D. In this method, fresh vegetables and meat are stirred and tossed around in a special cooking utensil called Wok, with some hot oil and a sauce.
They are usually easy to cook and can be very healthy and easy on your budget. Even the ingredients are not anything particular, any remaining vegetables, meat, and even leftovers can make a delicious experience. Here is what need to know before your first Stir-fry.
Buying a Wok
As mentioned above a Wok is a must-have kitchen utensil since it can be used to do mostly everything. Such as Stir-frying, Steaming, Pan-frying, Deep frying, Poaching, Boiling, Stewing, Making a soup, roasting nuts, Braising, and Searing. This magic took is a deep round-bottomed cooking pot, created first in China.
Another part of Wok is its spatula called chǎn or a ladle called biāo. They are necessary and are much safer to use with the Wok, since their handle is longer, to protect your hands from high heat. Since its invention Wok has been in use all around the world, especially in Chinese cuisine and eat-out restaurants. Here is a link to help you know how to use one.
Preparing everything beforehand
Now is the time to act like the cameras are going to roll for you. Since making a Stir-fry is a continuous and fast process, you will not have time to cut or measure anything in between cooking. So you must prepare everything beforehand.
One of the rookie mistakes is to put all of the vegetables at the same time, this is wrong, since some may take more time to cook than others. Such as, carrots and potatoes are hard and will take more time to cook than cabbage or spinach. Furthermore, make sure your vegetables are the same size when cutting them.
About oil, which is also a really important component of making a Stir-fry. Since you want everything to cook fast, you would need an oil with a high smoke point, which is around 400 F/204.44 C. These oils are suited to be cooked at high temperature and include Canola oil, Peanut oil, Sunflower oil, and many more.
As far as meat is concerned, you don’t need things expensive and not even fresh. Best for a Stir-fry is the leftovers in your and scraps in your freezer. Cut them into strips or chunks, and just toss them in with the rest of the deal. But if you insist on using fresh meat, so recommended to fry it up beforehand as well. Take them out and once the vegetable has cooked properly, then add them back into the Wok near the end.
Cooking to perfection
When cooking a Stir-fry, generally the meat or any protein goes in first. Let the outside crisp up or brown for a few minutes. You can add a little stock or sweet red wine to make sure it does not stick to the pan. And if you are using seafood, then it's recommended that you use firm fishes or prawn, or any kind for that matter, so it doesn’t break easily. Furthermore, you can cook the seafood or steam it separately. You can leave the meat in if you are adding just one batch of vegetables, if more, you can take out the meat, or seafood and add it back near the end.
One more point to add is the use of the aromatic, which can be put in before or after the meat. These include garlic, gochujang, Pak Choy, chile pepper, black peppercorn, ginger, rosemary, and other herbs. Since they are used to infused oil with their smell and taste. Especially in Thai recipes and Korean recipes for Stir-fry. There are recommended to add before the meat or before the softer vegetables.
While cooking vegetables, it is best to make sure there is a little browning on them to bring the there flavors. But as mentioned above, you need to be careful of what vegetable goes in first. Once the meat is taken out, heat a few more tablespoons of oil and put in harder vegetables first, like carrots, potatoes, onions, or cauliflower. Once cooked and soften, you add the softer vegetables like spinach, bell peppers, cabbage, or broccoli.
As a final garnish, their serval options. You can add a variety of nuts, the popular options being roasted peanut or Cashew nut. As they can add on protein and give a crunchy texture. Likewise, you can also add, herbs like coriander, mint, basil, dill, or spring onions. Additionally, you can even give them a separate Stir-fry, for more flavor
Time to add the sauce or any liquid that you prefer. You can water, stock, milk, soy sauce, or fish sauce, which is usually added to stop the ingredients from sticking or if the Stir-fry is too dry. Of course, if you are premade sauce for the store then you add as much as instructed on the bag or how much is mentioned in a recipe if you following one. You mustn’t put too much and end up creating a soggy mess.
The best option for the side of Stir-fry
Their many options to go with for what you want as a side with Stir-fry. There are oodles of noodles, rice, wheat bread, and a good spoon. If you want to cook them into the dish itself you can, can there are a specific type of noodle and rice which are cooked directly into the Stir-fry.
On the other hand, rice is greatly regarded as the best pairing with Stir-fry, usually being sushi rice or jasmine rice. Roti or flatbread is also viable options to add to the side. Likewise, you pick up pickled vegetables, kimchi, coleslaw, rice, or a hot sauce.
The best thing about Stir-fry is that you don't need to follow a recipe once you have learned the basics. Try out your pairing, play around a bit and discover what tastes best for you.
Must try out for beginners
Sweet and Sour Chicken
A common stable, once that you must have seen of a Chinese restaurant menu or heard of over the internet. You can make the sweet and sour sauce on your own, you can buy it from the store and add vegetables, meat, and rice or noodles to your liking.
Pad Thai
Is another common Stir-fry dish, made from rice noodles, scrambled eggs, beans, chicken or shrimp or tofu, and peanut. All are added into the Wok and with Pad Thai sauce and stirred and tossed together until all the ingredient is cooked.
Chow Mein
One of the more traditional options. It is a simple combination of vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu. The sauce is made from soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and cornstarch. This is indeed the most simple recipe you can make and eat with rice or noodles.
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