Stir fry tips and recipes

[Dry Rot]

I'd like to get into some serious stir frying and would appreciate your tips and recipes.

I have a good wok but my previous attempts have been ordinary (hence the request for tips too).

I'm particularly interested in stir fries with noodles (ie use one pot/wok and don't have to make rice) but don't overly like hokkien noodles.

Look forward to your tips and recipes.

Thanks.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

I'd like to get into some serious stir frying and would appreciate your tips and recipes.

I have a good wok but my previous attempts have been ordinary (hence the request for tips too).

I'm particularly interested in stir fries with noodles (ie use one pot/wok and don't have to make rice) but don't overly like hokkien noodles.

Look forward to your tips and recipes.

Thanks.

I had a look at a few receipes for stirfries, and sorry to say this none of them are really that good.
You are better off going with meat that you like, the veggies that you like and the noodles that you like.
Get yourself an electric wok which is better than the old wok that you have got. You don't have to keep on oiling it all the time.
You need to get yourself a wok that is non-stick so that it doesn't stuff up your meal

 

[cammo84]

OK I'm an amateur but over the last few years I have cooked my fair share of stir-fry and I've picked up a few techniques I like to use...

- Read a few recipes of things that you know you like so it gives you an idea of what ingredients are used to get the flavours you like.

- Use a little bit of Chinese cooking wine or sherry in your sauces, seems to add that authentic taste to it. Just a tablespoon is enough. I just use the cheapest dry sherry I can find.

- Get your flavouring ingredients (sauces, etc) from an Asian grocery, a lot of the supermarket ones are dulled down for Aussie palettes, I think.

- Get everything ready before you start cooking, this includes mixing up your liquid ingredients in a bowl or jug. Sometimes things like oyster sauce and sweet chilli don't exactly want to gush out of the bottle. This also makes sure you're putting in the desired amounts. It all happens very fast so you don't wanna be messing around getting ingredients ready while you're already cooking.

- Cut your veggies into sizes that will enable them to all be cooked in the same length time, ie. carrots fairly thin, mushrooms a bit thicker, etc.

- If you're cooking with meat, cook the meat first and then put it to the side. Add the cooked meat and it's juices in right near the end. This is so you don't overcook it.

- If you think the sauce is looking a bit thin while you're cooking, add in a mix of 1-2tsp corn flour and 100ml of COLD water. Stir it well and then chuck it in, this thickens the sauce up in no time.

- Cook it hot and fast, and keep stirring at all times.

- For the noodles, just follow the instructions on the pack to prepare them and then stir them through at the end.

- If you like it hot, grow a couple of chilli plants in your backyard. I have a jalapeno for the milder heat, and a Thai birdseye chilli when I want it hot. The birdseye plant currently has about 150 chillis on it and it cost $3 from Bunnings. I plant mine out in sept-dec and have chillis on the plants from jan-july, although you could probably plant this month if you have a sunny backyard. Very convenient and cheap. They're dead easy to grow in a pot, but if you have any questions I'm a horticulturalist and happy to give you some pointers.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

^^ That.

Pre-prepare. If you take your eye off the wok while cooking, your not cooking fast enough.

Know the order of things you are cooking, know your times, and be structured.

Two minutes of planning time (and 10 minutes of preparation) can be the difference between an amazing dish, and something that might as well have come from a packet sauce.

Always have a little extra oyster/soy/fish/etc sauce than what you need ready.

Start with a basic sauce you like, and then each time you make it try a new ingredient in there. The great thing about stir-fry's is they are so quick and easy, and the only limit is quite literally your imagination.

 

[Macca19]

Not much else to add really, but if you dont like hokkien noodles (I dont either), then rice noodles is the way to go.

 

[Lach72]

Get yourself a big-ass wok burner.
One with an inner and outer ring.

I've just got a new one with the normal big outer ring and the inner ring shoots four big jets of gas up and around the sides.

Seriously awesome. Your stomach starts to burn after a while.

Previously could only do a good stir fry if I was doing it for 2 people max, otherwise things stewed rather than fry.
Also, the thing I've noticed is if you have a little chicken stock to add near the end it lightend it up and gives the little bit of extra juice without stewing too.
You'll only need 1/4 cup at most.

 

[Bunnie]

Cashew nuts. Unless you are allergic, right at the end add a handful of cashew nuts. Adds a crunch to any dish. Yummo.

If stirfrying beef or lamb, half freeze it (or half defrost it if using from frozen) then slice whilst half frozen. You can then get it paper thin like in the restaurants. That way you get the meat stir fried, not boiled in it's own juices.

Chop everything first, line it up in little bowls (just like on the cooking shows) and THEN start. Makes all the difference as stir fry is meant to be light and slightly undercooked (not soggy as that is called stew)

fresh ginger and fresh garlic way way WAY superior to dried

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

Freezing/Thawing - DESTROYS meats. Breaks down the tissue structure, changes the texture. There are better ways than others, but if you can possibly avoid it, buy/cook fresh.

Get yourself a good knife. Even a 'package' knife will let you ribbon-cut (no idea if that's the right terminology - just what I call it) the first few times.

It's all about sharp knives when it comes to meat.

 

[Damp Squarie]

For a SweetMarinade:

tsp garlic
tsp ginger
1/2 tsp chilli
1/4 cup soy
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sweet sherry
tbsp honey dissolved in 1/8 cup of hot water
1/2 cup oil


Marinade for 2 hours in a ziplock sandwich bag in the fridge.

If you like chicken, forget the breasts thigh meat is far tastier being off the bone.

 

[krisholio14]

Cook the meat seperately beforehand, and set it aside, then add it towards the end when the veggies are done.

Always do the bigger veggies first (broccoli, cauliflower those types of things)

Keep your sauce basic at first. A mixture of Oyster sauce, Hoisin Sauce, soy or kecap manis, and some sesame oil is a good place to start. The amounts for the first three can vary to your taste, but never EVER use more than a couple of drops of sesame oil or it will overpower the stir fry. Or, you can always just throw in a very basic mixture of sweet chili and soy. As already suggested, you can't go wrong with a little fresh ginger and garlic as well.

Don't be afraid to embellish with some more interesting things, like mint leaves, lemongrass, crushed peanuts, sambal olek (if you like it HOT) or tamarind.

 

[Macca19]

I tend to like to use a good fillet of steak like a good quality porterhouse, sear it, cook it in the oven till medium rare, cut it up then add it at the end.

In terms of a sauce, a good basic sauce to start up with:

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 cup stock
1/2 tsp palm sugar

Add in shallots, spring onion, garlic, chilli, mushroom, peas, capsicum, carrot, beants, broccoli....cant lose!

 

[Bunnie]

Freezing/Thawing - DESTROYS meats. Breaks down the tissue structure, changes the texture. There are better ways than others, but if you can possibly avoid it, buy/cook fresh.

Get yourself a good knife. Even a 'package' knife will let you ribbon-cut (no idea if that's the right terminology - just what I call it) the first few times.

It's all about sharp knives when it comes to meat.

True that freezing does change the texture of meat by breaking down the tissue structure, BUT if you are on a budget then this aids those using cheaper cuts of meat. Fresh is always best, nicer cuts of meat are nearly always better but sometimes neither is practical for a busy family.

 

[Macca19]

Correct. I for one cant be arsed going to the supermarket every single day just to buy meat.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

who buys their meat from a SUPERMARKET?

The quality is invariably terrible. The only time I'll buy meat from there is if I'm putting on a bbq for a large group (10+)...even then my Butcher is only $5-$10 dearer, and much better quality.

 

[Farcanal]

who buys their meat from a SUPERMARKET?

The quality is invariably terrible. The only time I'll buy meat from there is if I'm putting on a bbq for a large group (10+)...even then my Butcher is only $5-$10 dearer, and much better quality.

I prefer meat from a supermarket as i can inspect every cut i buy,
rather than buy from a butcher where the best cuts are laid on top and
the crap you buy is dug from the bottom. Burnt too many times from crappy butchers selling inferior product. Most butchers in the retail giants do not last if the product they sell is not up to scratch, as long as you don't buy the gas flushed stuff.

 

[krisholio14]

I tend to like to use a good fillet of steak like a good quality porterhouse, sear it, cook it in the oven till medium rare, cut it up then add it at the end.

In terms of a sauce, a good basic sauce to start up with:

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 cup stock
1/2 tsp palm sugar

Add in shallots, spring onion, garlic, chilli, mushroom, peas, capsicum, carrot, beants, broccoli....cant lose!

I prefer to substitute the palm sugar by using kecap manis instead of the usual soy.

 

[Macca19]

who buys their meat from a SUPERMARKET?

The quality is invariably terrible. The only time I'll buy meat from there is if I'm putting on a bbq for a large group (10+)...even then my Butcher is only $5-$10 dearer, and much better quality.

I buy my meat from a butcher. The butcher is inside a shopping centre. Said the wrong thing. My point still stands though, i cant be arsed going to buy meat every day and cant say I know anybody that does. Usually have a big meat purchase once a fortnight or so, get a little bit of a discount because of the amount, freeze it, then eat it over the next 2-3 weeks. My old butcher in Adelaide used to have seriously good specials on great cuts of meat on a semi-regular basis (like awesome Fillet Steak cut to your choice of thickness for sometimes $10 a kilo less than standard). Makes sense to stock up on good deals when you can.

As for supermarket meat, I guess it depends where you go. The supermarket meat where I live now is better than the supermarket meat when I lived in Adelaide. Butchers were much better quality and cheaper. What I do find though is that supermarket meat is of a consistent average quality week in week out whereas sometimes the butchers up here can waver in quality from excellent to poor.

 

[Dry Rot]

Not much else to add really, but if you dont like hokkien noodles (I dont either), then rice noodles is the way to go.

Thanks for all the great tips here from everybody.

Re rice noodles, which ones are appropriate? I have a friend I cook for who can't eat wheat.

Re suggested sauces above, do you chuck them all in at the start? I would have thought that would affect the frying process which I thought was just oil and heat.

 

[krisholio14]

Thanks for all the great tips here from everybody.

Re rice noodles, which ones are appropriate? I have a friend I cook for who can't eat wheat.

Re suggested sauces above, do you chuck them all in at the start? I would have thought that would affect the frying process which I thought was just oil and heat.

I usually put half in with the meat as i'm cooking it, and the other half in right at the end.

If you put it in too early it tends to make your veggies go brown and soggy

 

[Macca19]

Just check the packet but I doubt any would have wheat. Rice Vermicelli goes well with some dishes.

Dont add all the sauce at the start. Pre mix it in a bowl. Add it in a couple of minutes before its done.

 

[Dry Rot]

Just check the packet but I doubt any would have wheat. Rice Vermicelli goes well with some dishes.

Are they the hard thin ones?

IIRC the wheat noodles get soaked in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then chucked in. Ideally I'd like to find some rice noodle equivalents, about half the diameter of hokkein noodles.

 

[Macca19]

Thats the vermicelli.

You might be after sen jaan which are used in Pad Thai, flat rice noodles (look lime slightly thinner linguini)

 

[Dry Rot]

Thats the vermicelli.

You might be after sen jaan which are used in Pad Thai, flat rice noodles (look lime slightly thinner linguini)

Thanks. Presume you need to soak the vermicilli?

Any preferred brands re the sauces?

 

[cammo84]

Thanks. Presume you need to soak the vermicilli?

Any preferred brands re the sauces?

You soak them in water that has just been boiled, I think. I don't use rice noodles much so someone may correct me.

Sauces, just don't buy them from the supermarket. Asian grocery have plenty of brands to choose and most are good.

 

[stitchface]

I have come accustomed to replacing my noodles with bean sprouts (and lots of em)

Its more for low carb than no wheat but it is yummy as and helps everything kinda stay together as well as suck up all the juices. You can buy them from or in a can.