How to Stir Fry
Chinese cuisine relies on simple, flavorful ingredients cooked in simple yet flavorful ways. Stir-fry is a quick, easy way to cook vegetables, meat, and seafood to preserve their texture and flavor. Here are some tips to help you cook the perfect stir-fry.
Stir-Frying Tools
The perfect stir-fry begins with the right tools. While you can cook a good stir-fry with any pan or stove, the best stir-fry is made with tools designed to cook it:
Wok. The wok is a curved pan made either from cast iron or carbon steel. The design of a hand-hammered wok makes it possible for the heat to be distributed in the correct way to cook stir-fried dishes properly. A round-bottomed wok is usually better than flat-bottomed ones for stir-frying.
Spatula. Stir-fry ingredients are moved in the pan in such a way that they are cooked properly. Moving the wok itself is one way to cook stir-fry, although a spatula also helps in pushing the food around the pan, and keeping cooking temperatures even.
Stove. An electric stove may be convenient, but nothing beats the flavors and textures created by a powerful and heat-efficient gas stove. Most Chinese cooks use a stove specifically built to accommodate the curvature of a wok, although you can buy a wok rack to install in your conventional stove.
Preparing Ingredients
The way you prepare the ingredients for a stir-fry can bring out a lot of flavor in the final dish. Here are some important reminders when preparing ingredients for a stir-fry:
Slicing. Stir-fry ingredients should be sliced thinly and evenly. Strips and julienne are often used in stir-fry ingredients, particularly for vegetables. Even slicing ensure that the ingredients cook at the same time without getting soggy or overcooked.
Flavoring. Many Chinese sauces are packed with flavor to bring out and complement the natural taste of stir-fried dishes. Sauces used for stir-fried dishes include soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili garlic sauce.
Cooking Stir-Fry
Chinese cooks often refer to wok hei, or the “essence” of the wok, that is the quality of excellent stir-fried dishes. Caramelization and texture is achieved by using a very hot wok (around 200 degrees Celsius), steady temperatures, and the proper cooking technique.
Oil. Olive oil and lard are not often used in stir-fried dishes because they burn easily, and do not contain the flavors needed to impart wok hei. Peanut oil and sesame oil are often used in stir-fried dishes because of their high smoke point.
Cooking time. Stir-fry must be cooked quickly to preserve the texture of the dish, and to prevent the flavor from the solid ingredients from being completely imparted to the soup, or being lost and transformed in the cooking process.
Motion. Proper stir-fry is cooked by tossing. The curvature and indentations of the wok make it possible to have different temperatures