We love stir frys in this house, but I just don't seem to get it right unless I resort to a satchet or Jar. eg Honey Soya or Teriyaki. I would love it if the "Cook from Scratch" brigade could share some hints and tips for the perfect stirfry as I would prefer to do it that way. We had Thai Chicken and Cashews the other night at a restaurant andthe sauce which had pooled on the plate was plentiful and delicious, I want to be able to create stir frys like that from scratch. Thanks in advance for your help. JBx
bisloy,
Jun 11, 9:21am
Cornflour; brown your meat first, then remove and add it again at the end; do all your prep BEFORE you start cooking, including your liquids and have everything on hand and ready to go.
cookessentials,
Jun 11, 9:30am
Tamari instead of soy sauce, ginger I add a touch of runny honey as well.not too much as you dont want it tooo sweet. Get the wok nice and hot to sear the meat. I add chopped onion, ginger and garlic, the meat of choice brocolli florets, carrot, mushroom, baby corn tamari and a little honey. Dont cook for too long either as it can make the meat tough.
nauru,
Jun 11, 9:56am
Don't forget to add a little sesame oil just before serving, a quick stir and serve.I also use a little 5 spice in my stir fries too.
charlieb2,
Jun 11, 11:02am
Great idea for a thread Toadie. I love stirfrys too. but just cant seem to get them 'right'
tigerlilly16,
Jun 11, 12:04pm
Use Fresh root ginger,and fresh garlic - not the stuff from a jar. I use a good inch and a half to 2 inches of root ginger, peeled and finely diced, add half of this in with the meat which I fry off first, with just a light sprinkle of salt. Put the browned meat to one side then cook the veges, add the slowest to cook first, eg carrots, cauli, broccoli, celery. After an initial flash around in the pan, I add either a chicken oxo or beef oxo (depending on what meat i'm cooking) dissolved in a cup of hot water, so I'm not so much frying the veges at this point as boiling/steaming them. put a lid on the pot and cook for 5 mins then add veges that take less time : eg capsicum, mushroom. At this point I addsliced onions and finely chopped garlic, because I don't like the taste of browned garlic, and actually like the onions in stir fry to have a slight bit of crunch. If you prefer browned onions/garlic, add at start or fry off with meat to begin with. At this point I also add the other half of the chopped ginger as I like the taste of fresh as well as fried ginger. After cooking these veg for a couple of minutes, I then add the least-time-to-be-cooked veg, eg, spinach, silverbeet, mung beans, and add the meat back to the pan, then add a dessert-spoon full of cornflour dissolved in a cup of cold water, with a good glug of soy sauce or tamari added (about 1/4 cup).Cook until juice is clear (the cornflour initially makes it cloudy) and add more water if needed. Taste and add more soy sauce if needed. then serve with rice or noodles.
cardiffgirl,
Jun 11, 12:28pm
To make a really good stir fry you need heat.serious heat. Preferably gas. The oil in the wok needs to be shimmering before you put the ingredients in.and you must keep them moving. Get everything prepared, meat marinated, sauce madeetc before. Then heat wok, add oil, add aromatics.garlic/ginger.fli- p and press a few times to flavor oil and then remove them. Sear meat/ seafood whatever and remove. Do veg next.hard first. A little bit of salt/ sugar/ cooking wine orwater and lid on for 30 secs. Then combine everything and add the premixed sauce ingredients and a little sesame oil.and then enjoy
aglarana,
Jun 11, 1:17pm
My 19 year old makes the best stir fry. I wish I could tell you how he makes it(he's made it since he was 11), but he always kicks me out of the kitchen with the old "Do you want dinner or not" look. But I can tell you that onion, garlic, ginger, fresh chilli fried in butter are the first step and NO frozen vegies go into his stir fry.
fisher,
Jun 11, 3:19pm
charlieb2.you know where to look.and keep it simple.
Thanks, lots of advice for how to cook it thanks. but looks as if not much flavours are added. I thought i would be off to the supermarket to buy several different sauce bases. I already use garlic, ginger, sweet chilli and soy. so apart from Tamarin and hoisin, people don't seem to add as many different things as I thought.
cgvl,
Jun 14, 9:13pm
I use ginger and garlic. then make a thin past with cornflour, soy sauce and a stock cube and a stir in a tsp of honey right at the end. thats my basic. If I have I add chinese 5 spice as well. If I want a satay type I add peanut butter instead of the honey. Somewhere I have a recipe but not sure where its gone to these days.
motorbo,
Jun 16, 8:30am
im with cookes i only use tamari, and fresh ginger and fresh garlic
coast_palms,
Jun 16, 9:23am
Best ingredient for a stir fry- loads of sugar snap peas tossed through just at the end of cookingjust to warm them through without cooking them.
mrs67,
Jun 25, 7:57am
get my hubbie to cook it lol
gardie,
Jun 25, 7:59am
My son will tell you he makes a really good stir fry.When I asked what recipe he used he told me; a packet of stir fry frozen veggies, a packet of stir fry honey soy sauce and some bits of pork!I'm afraid I tend to rely on packets to get food flavour too - just like OP.Prefer fresh veggies though.
bruceakld,
Jun 27, 9:38pm
A couple of tablespoons of oyster sauce, a few splashes of fish sauce, teaspoon of sugar and some warm water to mix. This makes a great sauce and if you like ginger add some fresh ginger that has been peeled and chopped into thin matchsticks. Cook your meat, add the veges then the ginger and finally the sauce. cook another minute or two. TASTE. add more water or oyster sauce as required - yummy.
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