Stir frying is such an easy cooking method as long as you are prepared for the quickness of the process.  It’s called stir fry for a reason: keep those ingredients moving in the pan! 

1.          Mise en place with all vegetables and proteins of a uniform size to ensure even cooking

2.          Wok or deep skillet at high heat

3.          Oil heated before adding ingredients

4.          Constantly tossing and moving ingredients in pan

5.          Typically cooking vegetables and proteins separately

6.          Adding additional oil after each component is cooked

7.          A final tossing together of everything to combine the components               

Mise en place (the process of having everything ready and at your fingertips) has never been more important than when stir frying.  You will not have the time to clean, trim or chop vegetables so do everything ahead of time.  I know I am sometimes tempted to skip this step because of the extra dishes involved but it is a necessity.  TIP:  Chop everything and assign it a different spot on your cutting board to eliminate this dastardly problem.

Most stir frys call for a sauce to be added to the recipe at some point.  This should be part of your mise in place so it is a seamless pour to complete the dish.  

Larger vegetables like broccoli, onions, carrots, and peppers take longer to cook than smaller vegetables like peas or bean sprouts.  Leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage or lettuce just need to wilt down from the heat in the pan.   It is important to cut like vegetables into uniform pieces so that they all cook at the same time. 

Surprisingly, and depending on the cut, proteins will take less time to cook than you might originally anticipate.  A flank steak cut into 1/4″ strips will only take about 3 minutes.  Shrimp and bay scallops about the same.  Chicken will require a bit more time to ensure it is cooked all of the way through.  As with the vegetables, it is important to ensure that all proteins are cut in uniform sizes. 

If using a starch like noodles in the stir fry, it is typically cooked ahead and tossed in at the last second to coat the noodles with the other flavors in the wok. 

A wok is the best cooking vessel because it allows you to pull the ingredients up the side and let them slide back down into the concentrated heat, but please don’t rush out to buy one.  A large skillet will suffice.   I use both at home and in classes and there has nary been a  complaint about the food coming from the skillet!  As far as utensils, a wooden spoon, spatula or spider will all work just fine to toss your stir fry.  

Stir frying requires quick cooking at a high heat so it is best to use an oil which has a high burn or smoke point.   I typically opt for regular old run of the mill vegetable oil.  Canola works fine as well.   This is not the time to use a pricey extra virgin or walnut oil!

Add the oil to the pan and make sure it is hot before adding any of your stir fry ingredients.  Do not add foods to cold oil as the oil will simply be absorbed by the food resulting in a greasy final product.

For the majority of stir fries, I find it easier to cook the major components separately.  It takes the guesswork out of the process and also ensures that one component isn’t cooked to death while another isn’t cooked enough.  If a stir fry has only a couple of quick ingredients, this step can be eliminated but if you are cooking vegetables, a protein and a starch the one at a time method is the one to employ.

Constant tossing and stirring of the components results in quick, efficient cooking.  As most of the components are in bite sized pieces, this tossing and stirring allows the ingredients to cook quickly. 

Make sure to add oil each time you remove a component and add a second or third as the majority of the oil will be transferred to the holding vessel.  Make sure you give the oil a few seconds to heat up and add the next component.

The final step will be to combine the previous components and toss everything together.  

Stir frys are great ways to use up bits and pieces of vegetables in your crisper.  They can be vegetarian stir frys or you can add a bit of protein.  Stir frys are also economical because they require less proteins than a normal meat and potatoes dish.  The combinations and possibilities are endless.  A little advance prep work and you should be able to come up with countless variations in less than 30 minutes.  That’s the doable and delicious way.

Give this Stir Fried Beef, Broccoli and Yams a try.

If I left any tips out of this primer, feel free to post a comment.  : )