stir frying vs frying

ash2008

Hi

this is something ive never understood - why is frying considered unhealthy but stir-fries are good? Some people say its cos stir frying is quicker, but it doesnt take that long to fry a bit of fish or an egg?

jam_mac_jam

Its the amount of oil, you use a tiny amount of oil stir frying in comparison to the amount that you use frying. Also a lot of food you are going to eat fried is ****e food like sausages obviously I know you can fry good food as well but in general. I dont think a fried egg will kill you, however deep frying is much worse, again its the amount of oil it absorbs.

EileenG

I've never got that either. And of course, you've got lots of chefs etc going on about something being "pan fried" as if that was different.

I use a heavy non-stick pan which could dry fry eggs if you wanted.

Deep frying is bad, but I can't see the problem with a good pan and a suitable oil, or none at all.

cafecolour

Ugh. I worked in a pub here where they basically deep fried the eggs for breakfast. They basically filled the frying pan to the top with oil and dropped the egg in - like a poached egg in oil. It kept a consistent shape for the egg, but it was disgusting.

Anyway, as said above, its about oil absorption.

I'd say a stir-fry originally meant a chinese stir fry - ie something done in a wok. Woks get very hot so you only use a tiny bit of oil, and things don't actually be cooked that long in it, so veg would still be crispy and have a lot of vitamins still remaining.

Now it has a pretty generic meaning (and a lot of the chinese restaurants have gotten as greasy as the rest of them), and people often use way too much oil. The healthiest way for veg is raw or lightly steamed (with a little oil drizzled on after for instance). But that gets boring all the time.

Frying with that fry-lite spray isn't that bad is it? I love chicken and I usually fry it in that...
If that's an absolute disaster I suppose I could boil it

rubadub

In my mind the stir fry is done quickly and the foods retain the water, so there is only a thin layer of oil on the outside and the inside is really steamed. "fried chicken" in my mind is deep fried, or done in a pan with loads of oil so much that it drives off the water and replaces it with oil. I shred up chicken and put it in a saucepan to fry it in a little oil on a high heat, once browned I put in a a tablespoon or 2 of water and cover it, this steams it and keeps it nice and moist while still having a nice looking outside.

bluewolf wrote: »

Frying with that fry-lite spray isn't that bad is it?

Its expensive, I think you can buy reusable oil sprayers, or maybe some brands can be opened afterwards but I think some brands are a mix of oil water and some other processed thickener, so they might not be as good as just using a little normal oil. You can just wipe your pan with some oil with a heat proof pastry brush. I use "magic sheets" which are nonstick reusable sheets, I put them in a wok. I had a post about them here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=50351364

El_Dangeroso

My main issue with deep frying would be that the heating of any fat causes it to oxidise - not a good thing.

Pan frying in oil quickly minimises oxidation, but deep frying tends to be done in the same oil which is heated at a very high temp over a longer time. For cost purposes the same oil is reused again and again becoming more denatured each time.

McDonalds used to use beef tallow in the 1970's which is more stable and less prone to oxidation than vegetable oil (still not great tbh but miles better). The government made them switch to trans fats which were thought to be healthier at the time and we all know the rest of that story.

rubadub

rubadub wrote: »

"fried chicken" in my mind is deep fried, or done in a pan with loads of oil so much that it drives off the water and replaces it with oil. I shred up chicken and put it in a saucepan to fry it in a little oil on a high heat, once browned I put in a a tablespoon or 2 of water and cover it, this steams it and keeps it nice and moist while still having a nice looking outside.

Yeah I just give it a few sprays on the pan, dice the chicken and let it cook for a while. Frying pan gets a bit dry but the chicken is lovely

Its expensive,

Do you think so? I only remember it being a few euro and I've got SO much use out of it, chicken, sausages, eggs, stirfry type stuff, I think I've had it months even though I'm always using it

thanks for the tip in the rest
I was wondering if it was unhealthy or anything but there's not that much of it...
I'll carry on then