Looking for stir fry ideas

writer4him

I saw someone mention in a different post that they eat a lot of stir fry. I don't know how to stir fry but I would like to try. My questions: What kinds of vegetables do you use? What kind of oil do you fry with and how much? Do you add meat, and if so, do you cook it all together? (Do you have to start it before the veggies so it cooks all the way and the veggies don't get overdone?)

THANKS!

writer4him

I saw someone mention in a different post that they eat a lot of stir fry. I don't know how to stir fry but I would like to try. My questions: What kinds of vegetables do you use? What kind of oil do you fry with and how much? Do you add meat, and if so, do you cook it all together? (Do you have to start it before the veggies so it cooks all the way and the veggies don't get overdone?)

THANKS!

ChubbyBunny

Stir-fry is all about rapid cooking.
Personally, I use minimal oil... cut meat into bites size.... cook first.
Toss in a variety of veggies... depends on what you like (peppers, onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, etc). Cook until crisp-tender.... don't over cook... lose lots of the veggie nutrients when over cooked.

Make sense?

:flowerforyou:

MFS27

Stir fry is pretty forgiving - you can't really go wrong with it.

I usually cook my meat and veggies separately - so I'll heat up a couple of TBS of EVOO and cook my veggies (can be anything - eggplant, carrots, sprouts, snow peas, celery, onion etc. Everything needs to be sliced THIN so they cook fast. No potatoes - they tend to take too long to cook and get mushy).

I'll plate the veggies, and then add a few more TBS of oil, get it nice and hot, and cook the meat (also needs to be sliced thin, can be pre-marinated). When the meat is cooked, I add the veggies back to the meat, and add spices (soy sauce, chili flakes, honey, etc.) and cook for a couple of minutes to blend the flavors.

You can serve over rice or noodles, or just eat it on it's own. Add some fresh chopped scallions on top for a nice bite, or toasted seasme seeds.

As for the oil, I usually use EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) for everything, but you can use seasme oil (it has a more earthy, nutty flavor - kind of strong).

Finally, I have a sweet chile sauce from Trader Joe's that my kids LOVE to add to their stir fry.

Have fun!

kerrilucko

every stir fry I do is a mini-experiment. I grab anything in thefridge and start chopping. I've used everything from spinach to apples, carrots to tomatoes. I've never had one turn out badly. I use a bit of olive oil because I like the flavour, I also add a bit of soya sauce, some pepper, sometimes a bit of brown sugar. sometiems I use a little maple syrup. you can do ANYTHING with a stirfry.

jljohnson

I tend to get the pre-cut, pre-mixed frozen veggies. They come in different stir fry varieties, and they're really easy. I agree to cook the meat first, then add a little extra oil (I like extra light olive oil), and veggies. Like Chubby Bunny said, pull it off the heat when the veggies are tender-crisp... I hate mushy veggies!

writer4him

Thanks for the good ideas...I left off my biggest question earlier, which was - what do you use for seasonings and/or marinades? Thanks again!

ChubbyBunny

Hmmmm... I use soy sauce for my main one.
However, I've been know to use hoisin or stir fry sauce... gotta be careful though...those are sodium bombs. It also doesn't take lots.

Oh! I use fresh garlic, ginger, cilantro (depending on the flavor you are going for....)