Stirfries

olaola

I cook a lot of different foods - but have never attempted a stirfry!
I'm always afraid it will turn out mushy and burnty.

Has anyone any tips/recipes?

Cheers

slumped

My own recipe is yummy -

Red Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Red Onion
Peas (frozen - cook in microwave first before adding)
Mushrooms

I find there is enough liquid in the mushrooms to do all the veg together (no oil required - you do need a non-stick wok)

Using chicken, I add in some garlic, tabasco sauce, worcestershire sauce, parlsey, a liberal amount of low salt soy sauce and cook chicken through. Add in veg and about 3 mins before its finished add in a pack of Amoy noodles.

Add soy sauce if getting sticky but if at right temp it should be fine.

Sorry for not giving exact amounts but I tend to cook to taste!

S

olaola

yum yum... sounds good!

How hot is the wok before you start to fry?

rockbeer

To do a decent stir fry the way they turn out in Asian restaurants you need serious heat, the more the better. Go and have a look at the mad rocket-launcher style burners they use at the stir fry place in the epicurean... You can get by without, but it'll never turn out quite the same.

Try to cut the veg in varying sizes so it will all cook at the same rate e.g., to simplify, cut carrots smaller and peppers bigger so they're ready at the same time.

Also, never turn down the heat - if things start to burn, just lift the wok off the heat for a few seconds until it cools off a bit.

Best thing to do is just crank the heat up and give it a go... nothing ventured and all that.

olaola

Cheers for d'tips!

We have gas, so getting it super-hot shouldn't be a problem.
Dunno why I never really tried this before.

As far as flavours are concerned - what should I be using?
Soy
Sesame oil
Garlic
Ginger...

rockbeer

IMHO, all the above are good. Soy is the classic seasoning of course, but use a good one (authentic sugar-free Japanese like Kikkoman works for me, I don't like those sweet sugary chinese ones at all).

Sesame oil is good drizzled over afterwards, fantastic nutty flavour. I wouldn't advise trying to fry in it though - use ghee, you can get it hotter than veg oil before it hits smoking point.

I like to add loads of garlic, chilli, schezuan (sp?) pepper, toasted cumin/mustard/coriander seeds, fresh coriander at the end...

Another good one is to make a sauce in the pan after the veg is cooked - add in some chilli, tomato puree, soy, rice or wine vinegar, sprinkle of sugar or honey, some hot water from the kettle and stir it around for a few seconds - instant sweet & sour.

Good luck - I'm getting hungry now. Should never visit food and drink before lunch.

rubadub

If you are unsure how long stuff takes then cook separately. This also stops excess water in the pan which can lead to a mush. So put onions in, really hot, dump on a plate while done, have a few plates handy. Then put the next thing in. Some prefer to always do meat separately in a big stir fry since you can be sure it is cooked (if you dump it all in at once there is a chance some meat never hits the pan at all.)

Once you get used to how long things take you can cut to size as mentioned, or cook in bigger lots the next time. I cook in 2-3 lots now, meat first, then veg, then dump it all back in with noodles.

Try some cashew nuts in there too, really nice. I have one of those black "magic" nonstick sheets. Just stick it in the wok and it forms a bowl, this way it never sticks and if it does start to burn you lift the sheet out by the 4 corners and it stops cooking immediately since it has no contact with the pan.

olaola

Where have stir-fries been all my life!
It was yum-tastic!

Cooked the chicken first, took it out. Did veg and plopped it all back in in the end with the sauces.
Worked a treat. The 'New Land' down the road will be losing two customers

Cheers guys.

rediguana

A lot of good advice so far.

Just to reiterate Rubadub's point... When I'm making a stir-fry, I cook most things separately. I keep the oven warm and then sear (eg) prawns and chicken (a great match) in crushed garlic on a very hot pan, stirring all the time. This goes in the oven once it's cooked. Next I'll fry vegetables that can take a little time (carrots, broccoli). Again, these go in the oven. Finally I might throw in quick-cooking veg like cherry tomatoes, mushrooms (spinach?) to briefly flash-fry. At the last minute, the meat (in all its gorgeous juices) and the the other veg goes in and I splash Tamari sauce over everything. At this point, I may add crushed cashews, cubed pineapple or mango, or even sesame seeds. Seeds / Nuts are a good way to vary the texture, while the sweetness of the fruit is a nice counterpoint to the savoury meat and sauce.

For aesthetic reasons, I squash white basmati rice into a bowl, then turn it upside down on a plate and remove the bowl (sandcastle-style) to leave a perfectly-formed dome of rice. The stirfry stuff goes beside it in a nice bowl so that you can nurture the illusion that you're eating in Diep or Saba, even if it very definitely is you who will be lumbered with the dishes.

rediguana

olaola wrote:

Where have stir-fries been all my life!
It was yum-tastic!

Cooked the chicken first, took it out. Did veg and plopped it all back in in the end with the sauces.
Worked a treat. The 'New Land' down the road will be losing two customers

Cheers guys.

Oops. Just read that you did it last night.

r3nu4l

rediguana wrote:

For aesthetic reasons, I squash white basmati rice into a bowl, then turn it upside down on a plate and remove the bowl (sandcastle-style) to leave a perfectly-formed dome of rice. The stirfry stuff goes beside it in a nice bowl so that you can nurture the illusion that you're eating in Diep or Saba, even if it very definitely is you who will be lumbered with the dishes.

Guess what I'll be doing over the weekend.

I find that having some asparagus in a stir-fry is very nice as well as some sweet baby corns (not corn on the cob!). To cook the baby corns quickly it's better to cut them length ways and then into smaller pieces rather than leave them whole. The asparagus can be chopped into small sticks too.

The red onions are a must really, far tastier and better for you than the regular cooking onion. They also add nice colour to the meal for the artistic amongst us^^^

Cardinal

There's almost an endless amount of veg you can throw into a stir fry. Pak choi is great. I like to cut the leaves off the stalks and throw them both in. Try to avoid very larger outer stalks as they can be very stringy.

I'd definately second asparagus and red onion too. Don't be afraid to use tofu as a meat substitute, or in conjunction with your meat. It's pretty flavourless by itself, but it soaks up the flavour of everything around it really well. If you've made a well seasoned stir-fry, tofu really makes it in my opinion.

I prefer to have noodles with my stir-fry than rice. I usually boil it seperately and flavour it with seasame oil just before serving. Some times it's nice to throw the noodles into the wok toward the end of cooking to soak up all the flavour too.

rediguana

If you normally have wine with your stir-fry, maybe hold off on the asparagus.

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/food/wine/article/0,20633,697558,00.html

olaola

I have a good chinese wholesale shop around the corner from the house I have to raid now! With all my new stirfrying inspiration.
I couldn't find any pak choi last night in Tesco - I'll see if these guys have it.

The nuts and fruit sound great too. I have to say, while it was tasty it wasn't very saucy. And I thought if I added more of the sauces in it would just be overpowering. What would you add to get a bit more liquid into it?

rediguana

Oyster Sauce? Bit salty, but nice.

You could also turn your stiry-fry into a curry. I proceed as per my previous post. But in a separate saucepan, I mix curry paste with coconut milk, honey, brown sugar and nam pla (fish sauce). Then I pour it into the pan of veg / meat. Allow to simmer two mins. E voila.

ruprect

olaola wrote:

What would you add to get a bit more liquid into it?

Chicken stock, and cornflour for thickening, but go easy on it, put a tiny bit of stock on the flour and gradually mix it so it is not all lumpy. Also dust the chicken in cornflour & pepper before frying, gets a lovely coating.

rediguana

Haha. Ruprect - from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"? Classic.