Stir Fry??

shazland

Hi Everyone. I find stir fry's are great when I'm trying to lose weight but I struggle with ideas on how to flavour them (healthily). I use loads of soy sauce, which is low in calories but too high in sodium etc.
Any one have any suggestions?

WBB55

Cook in olive oil, season with fresh garlic, fresh gingerroot, A LITTLE soy sauce, red pepper flakes. Deglaze with homemade veggie broth. Pour deglaze over stirfry.

kittywrangler

I don't know if you have epicure where you live, but they have some amazing spices for stir fry. I also second the ginger and garlic suggestion., maybe a little pineapple for sweetness. I know some people have tried adding in Apricot jam as well for flavour.

midpath

Garlic black bean sauce is the bees knees but its also high sodium, ginger, garlic, cilantro, chili oil, sriracha, anything spicy really!, fry it up in coconut oil, olive oil, or maybe avocado oil. You can use veggies for flavors too though. Brussels, okra, cabbage, or fresh herbs can add loads of flavor.

kandell

Have you tried reduced sodium soy sauce?

Also, my grocery store has stir fry flavor packets in the ethnic foods aisle. I mix them with lite coconut milk for flavor. Might be worth a look. They're not too bad, calorie-wise, when you're using one packet for a whole stir fry (I cook 4-6 servings at a time and save leftovers.

MommyL2015

I found a really tasty Asian spice mix in the aisle where soy sauce would be found. I think it's called Taste of Asia. Stir some of that in with some fresh garlic, lots of fresh veggies, some chicken, a splash of Terriaki sauce and I could eat that every day. I use coconut oil to fry it because it enhances the flavor.

kshama2001

Like the majority of the population, I'm not sensitive to salt, so use soy and fish sauce liberally in recipes that call for it. Funny thing, when I stopped cooking Thai food regularly, I became deficient in iodine and had to start supplementing with kelp.

azulvioleta6

I tend to mix up whichever of these I happen to have around...generally I pick 3-4 ingredients to flavor.

-low-sodium soy sauce
-Bragg aminos
-tamari
-fresh ginger
-fresh garlic
-green onions
-sesame oil
-hoisin sauce
-five spice
-wasabi
-Chinese hot mustard
-cocktail sauce
-sweet-and-sour sauce

The last two are obviously not very diet friendly and would need to be used sparingly. I've often wondered if pineapple juice or fresh pineapple would be an interesting addition since that is what most of the flavor is in sweet-and-sour sauce. I've never tried it though.

Fresh herbs can be good too...especially cilantro.

Be careful of pre-mixed sauces and dry spice packets--many are VERY high in sodium and contain MSG.

ExRelaySprinter

I add Sweet Chilli Sauce to my Stir Fry's.
I like the sweet/savoury combo.

DisneyDude85

ExRelaySprinter wrote: »

I add Sweet Chilli Sauce to my Stir Fry's.
I like the sweet/savoury combo.

+1 for sweet chili sauce!

Queenmunchy

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I tend to mix up whichever of these I happen to have around...generally I pick 3-4 ingredients to flavor.

-low-sodium soy sauce
-Bragg aminos
-tamari
-fresh ginger
-fresh garlic
-green onions
-sesame oil
-hoisin sauce
-five spice
-wasabi
-Chinese hot mustard
-cocktail sauce
-sweet-and-sour sauce

The last two are obviously not very diet friendly and would need to be used sparingly. I've often wondered if pineapple juice or fresh pineapple would be an interesting addition since that is what most of the flavor is in sweet-and-sour sauce. I've never tried it though.

Fresh herbs can be good too...especially cilantro.

Be careful of pre-mixed sauces and dry spice packets--many are VERY high in sodium and contain MSG.

Same! And I also buy black bean sauce and vegetarian stir fry sauce and utilize light coconut milk and peanut butter. The sauces are fat free, yet high in sodium. I buy low sodium tamari, which is still in the 400 range for a serving.

BWBTrish

I eat almost daily stir fry's with spices and herbs love it!!!!



i dont use soya sauce ( too much sodium for me)
But indeed spices and herbs some mustard or lemon juice is good too.
Some greek cream cheese sauce and so on

azulvioleta6

ExRelaySprinter wrote: »

I add Sweet Chilli Sauce to my Stir Fry's.
I like the sweet/savoury combo.

Oh, I forgot Sriracha! Sriracha is great in stir fry.

Liftng4Lis

Garlic, oyster sauce, red chili flakes, siracha, ginger, basil. Play with it, any spices are going to liven it up.

BWBTrish

Is writing everything down i didn't use or tried before hehehe

Making a shopping list

middlehaitch

Find a few good spice blends online, curry, garam masala, harissa, etc, buy a load of spices and spend an afternoon concocting your own flavourings.
They work well as rubs on meat and fish, as well as being fried in oil, vinegar or yogurt for stirfries.
They store for 4-6 months in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
I don't have a good palate for salt so generally make my own mixes leaving most of the salt out.

Cheers, h.

barryplumber

WBB55 wrote: »

Cook in olive oil, season with fresh garlic, fresh gingerroot, A LITTLE soy sauce, red pepper flakes. Deglaze with homemade veggie broth. Pour deglaze over stirfry.

I like this one

barryplumber

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Garlic, oyster sauce, red chili flakes, siracha, ginger, basil. Play with it, any spices are going to liven it up.

Like this one too

kyrannosaurus

Fresh coriander, lime juice, chilli, garlic, ginger and a little soy.

rfihn

A combo of reduced sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce and water is my favorite! Got it from Laura Vitale. Also fresh ginger and garlic plus green onions as garnish.

kat_princess12

Fresh garlic, chopped green onions, and red pepper flakes have been my friends (in more than just stir fry).

azulvioleta6

A little off topic, but I wanted to mention that it's entirely possible to make stir-fry on a BBQ grill. During a recently heat wave it was FAR too warm to cook here. So I tried wrapping pre-cooked brown rice, veggies and sauce in foil and grilling.

I found that the packets were ready in about the time it took to grill a chicken breast on the side--roughly 10 minutes. It also works if you have pre-cooked the protein and are just warming it up inside the packet.

Another thing that I have been doing which makes food-prep easier is to pre-chop red cabbage, green cabbage, green onions, carrots and cilantro and put them in a large tupperware container, not mixed together. I can grab those for stir-fry, pick up a bit to jazz up green salad or mix them together and add dressing for coleslaw.