Stir Frys 101. Help please!

[AnW819]

I mentioned to DH I would love to make a stir fry weekly and he said "yum stir fry!", so I guess its a go! Problem, I don't know how to make them!

I love rice and peppers and pineapple. DH would hate that.

He likes rice, any meat, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, corn, onion diced REALLLLLLYYYY small, and peppers only if they are SO SMALL that he can't really get a bite of them.

Picky if you ask me, LOL.

So I figured with these ings, make rice, throw in chicken and a bunch of those veggies. That would be a stir fry, right?

Now, isnt there a sauce that goes along with it? I see them @ the store already done, but if its cheaper to do homemade I would love to do that!

What other types of stir frys do you like?

[baxjul]

I make mine with chicken, broccoli, soy sauce, and seaseme seeds. I serve over rice. No recipe really, I just throw stuff in. LOL

[TigerGirl1226]

I just use soy sauce for my sauce. Or you can get packets in the section with the chili seasoning and such that less than a dollar and provide tons of flavor.

[Libby]

Cook the rice as normal. When ready, set aside.

If you have meat - slice it into very thin strips and make sure they're all even. If you wish, you can marinate them in with a bit of seasoning or a tiny bit of soy sauce & water and let sit a few mins. When ready, sautee them in the skillet, frying pan, wok with a bit of oil and keep it moving b/c it should be on med-high/high heat. Once its almost half cooked to your liking - remove from the skillet and set aside.

Next add a tiny bit more oil let it heat up and toss in the thinly sliced veggies and keep them moving about with the same med-high/high heat. When they start to wilt, toss the meat back in and stir them together (this is where the meat continues to cook) At this point you should have a slurry ready to add in - this is the gravy. Once added stir to coat the veggies, take soy sauce and do a turn or two of the pan - not too much b/c its salty and then stir it up again. You need the slurry to thicken up and cook through until it's gravy consistency...there shouldn't be a lot of gravy either but if there's none in your pan...add a slash of water and retoss the veggies until you get a lil bit. Veggies should be slightly 1/2 cooked, not too raw but not soggy either. You decide when to take them out

Serve over steamed rice.

The key to evenly thin sliced meat and veggies is to make sure everything gets cooked through and evenly to be done at the same time.

Slurry/gravy - mix a tsp or two of cornstarch to cold water...stir well until dissolved. I don't bother with the bottled stir fry sauce...its all salt to me.

If this was too confusing...you can look up cooking videos on youtube - I'm sure there's plenty for stir fry. Remember to have fun with this too!

[AnW819]

You all don't add anything to the soy sauce? I love soy sauce but not a lot, and I would love a really saucy type of sauce. Maybe I can mix soy sauce with duck sauce or something.

[AnW819]

Cook the rice as normal. When ready, set aside.

If you have meat - slice it into very thin strips and make sure they're all even. If you wish, you can marinate them in with a bit of seasoning or a tiny bit of soy sauce & water and let sit a few mins. When ready, sautee them in the skillet, frying pan, wok with a bit of oil and keep it moving b/c it should be on med-high/high heat. Once its almost half cooked to your liking - remove from the skillet and set aside.

Next add a tiny bit more oil let it heat up and toss in the thinly sliced veggies and keep them moving about with the same med-high/high heat. When they start to wilt, toss the meat back in and stir them together (this is where the meat continues to cook) At this point you should have a slurry ready to add in - this is the gravy. Once added stir to coat the veggies, take soy sauce and do a turn or two of the pan - not too much b/c its salty and then stir it up again. You need the slurry to thicken up and cook through until it's gravy consistency...there shouldn't be a lot of gravy either but if there's none in your pan...add a slash of water and retoss the veggies until you get a lil bit. Veggies should be slightly 1/2 cooked, not too raw but not soggy either. You decide when to take them out

Serve over steamed rice.

The key to evenly thin sliced meat and veggies is to make sure everything gets cooked through and evenly to be done at the same time.

Slurry/gravy - mix a tsp or two of cornstarch to cold water...stir well until dissolved.

Awesome!!! Thanks!!!

[Contrary Housewife]

The traditional method is to marinate the cut up meat (chicken, pork, beef) in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, water and cornstarch. Try 2T soy, 1T vinegar, 2T water and 1 T cornstarch per cup of meat.

Hot oil, just shy of smoking, drop your meat in and reserve any liquid if possible. Stir the meat to move it around and get it mostly cooked. Don't worry if you still have a few pink bits. Set it aside.

Repeat with vegetables (no marinade) and cook until almost softened to your liking. Hint, hard vegs need more cook time, so put your carrots in first, then onions, and things like peppers or mushrooms last. When vegs look almost done, add the meat back in and your remaining marinade.

To make a sauce you can add a little more water if there isn't enough from the meat and vegetables, there should be enough cornstarch from the meat marinade to thicken it just a bit.

You can also use products like black bean sauce (2T plus some water) to make stir fry, or either oyster sauce (for beef and broccoli) or hoisin sauce as a variation. All those already have a lot of salt in them, so be careful of your seasoning. If you can find them you can also throw a few schechuan chili peppers into the oil first, for a bit of heat, or add a small amount of sriracha chili paste.

A note on black bean paste: it smells pretty nasty. Don't assume it is bad, it will taste fine. It also sometimes comes with chilies in it, beware if you do not like heat.

To make fried rice you start with cooked steamed rice, and your finely chopped vegetables. Leftovers are ideal for this. Saute your vegs until they start to soften up, then add the pre-cooked rice to the pan. Stir well. If you do not have meat, a scrambled egg will add protein. It's also a nice touch of color. Season with a couple spoons of soy sauce to taste.

[AnW819]

This is all making me hungry now!!!

[Libby]

A note on black bean paste: it smells pretty nasty. Don't assume it is bad, it will taste fine. It also sometimes comes with chilies in it, beware if you do not like heat.

Ain't that the truth...that it smells nasty but thats b/c the beans are fermented. If you use this sauce, you will not need much of it nor any extra salt or soy...those beans are pretty potent! I love them....in moderation.

This is all making me hungry now!!!

Once you get the basic skill down, the possibilities are endless!

[nancycg56]

Get all your prep work done BEFORE you start cooking and always use cold cooked rice for fried rice.

There are a million recipes out there for sauces for stir frys. I normally just use soy sauce or sometimes teri sauce. I also stir fry in garlic oil instead of just plain oil.

[starsapphire]

Fresh garlic, fresh grated ginger and sesame oil are good additions for a flavor kick. You can get a thumb-sized chunk of ginger for about 20 cents.

[AnW819]

Teri sauce!! Thanks! Thats exactly what I want!!!

[Libby]

Ashley, you know what this means right...we're all gonna wanna see pics of your first stir fry

[Contrary Housewife]

You can make your own teriyaki sauce inexpensively with soy sauce and brown sugar. There are many recipes online. I never bother with the bottled stuff.

[AnW819]

I will totally post em!!! Stir fry night is Sunday night!