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stir frys

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stir frys

Postby Hickybank » Sat Apr 25, 2020 1:40 pm

Hi good morning, A question or Sunflower I think. Hi Sunflower, long time no speak back to the BEEB days, hope you are well.
My question, due to lockdown & getting food items I would like to make a stir fry, Chicken or Pork. In my cupboard I have Sesame oil, toasted & pure, Sweet Hoisin sauce, Soy sauce, chilli sauce, also Onion, Garlic, Chinese 5 Spice & most other spices, plus frozen veg.
Any ideas would be most welcome.
Cheers
Terry

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Re: stir frys

Postby Gillthepainter » Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:16 pm

Funnily enough with your list, Hickers.
A stir fry is one of those things I think you do need a recipe for. Rather than bung it all in and hope for the best.

A bit like soups.
They're far better if you have a proper method.

Can't help you much, as the only thing I make of note is Singapore noodles.
And a plum-glazed pork recipe from Waitrose years ago that doesn't seem anything special, but is delicious. https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/r ... r_fry.html

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Re: stir frys

Postby WWordsworth » Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:41 pm

I agree, a bit like risotto.
Too many ingredients spoils it.

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Re: stir frys

Postby Sakkarin » Sat Apr 25, 2020 7:02 pm

My vaguely Singapore Chow Meinish dish last night had (in order of cooking):

Chicken
Potato Starch
Light Soy
Rice Wine
Sunflower Oil
Garlic
Ginger
Chilli
Chilli Bean Paste
Carrot
Celery
Red Pepper
White Cabbage
Onion
Mushroom
Oyster Sauce
A splash of water
Egg Noodles
White Pepper
Sesame Oil

If I was going for Singapore proper I'd have added some curry paste/powder.

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Re: stir frys

Postby lfoxr deactivated » Sat Apr 25, 2020 7:22 pm


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Re: stir frys

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:27 pm

Yes, I’m with Gill
My stir fries tend to be actual recipes, though sometimes I riff on them a little

Apart from the meats and the soy, that’s not an obvious list of stir fry ingredients

Something like this might work with substitutions, especially for the pak choi

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/swe ... li-chicken

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Re: stir frys

Postby sunflower » Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:03 pm

Hickybank wrote:Hi good morning, A question or Sunflower I think. Hi Sunflower, long time no speak back to the BEEB days, hope you are well.
My question, due to lockdown & getting food items I would like to make a stir fry, Chicken or Pork. In my cupboard I have Sesame oil, toasted & pure, Sweet Hoisin sauce, Soy sauce, chilli sauce, also Onion, Garlic, Chinese 5 Spice & most other spices, plus frozen veg.
Any ideas would be most welcome.
Cheers
Terry


Hi Terry for stir fry frozen vegetables may not be the best choice as frozen vegetables lack the crunchiness. If that's the only fresh vegetables you got you can still try it. Do you have any fresh vegetables like spring onion, lettuce or carrot or fresh ginger etc.. Fresh onion makes a tasty stir fry

I never use housin sauce and five spice for meat and veg stir fry. I think they are better use for marinating meat for grilling or roasting. I do use hoisin sauce as a side sauce when eating Vietnamese type noodle soup.

Back to the stir fry, if I am making a meat and veg dish I normally slice the meat and marinate with some soy sauce, pinch of sugar, ground pepper and cornflour. If you do not have cornflour can sub with an beaten egg white. Leave this to marinate for at least 20 minutes. You can even make a bigger batch for more than one dish or leave in the fridge to use within 2 -3 days. If using beef you need to cut against the grain and as thin as possible or they will be tough.

I always said you do not need a wok to cook Chinese. A large saute pan or frying pan is adequate. If you are making stir fry noodles best use non stick pan.

For the vegetables some classic combinations are:
- Mushrooms, onion, ginger and spring onion ( best with a touch of Chinese cooking wine)
- Onion, carrot and broccoli
- onion and sweet pepper
- onion and tomatoes

To stir fry, heat some oil and add a little crushed or chopped garlic, stir and follow by some chopped ginger if you got some. Then add in the meat to stir fry till browned and smelling good, you can also add a dash of cooking wine if you got some. Do not stir the meat too frequently let the meat brown naturally. This is because household cooker the heat is not as fierce as in restaurants. If stirring too much the meat will not brown easily instead juice will come out making the meat tough. Once the meat is cooked you can remove and set aside.

If the pan is dirty give it a quick rinse. If pan is clean continue without rinsing. Add a bit more oil to the pan fry the onion till fragrant then add in the vegetables, follow by a dash of water if you are using hard fresh veggie like broccoli or cauli. If using frozen vegetables you may not need water. When the vegetables are heated through and almost done stir in the meat. If you have oyster sauce you can add some now, or just soy sauce to taste plys a dash of cooking wine if you want. If the stir fry is very dry you can add a little water. Finally you can thicken the sauce with a liitle slackened cornflour, about a tsp cornfllour to 2 tbsp water. If you do not have cornflour just sub with normal plain flour add a drop of oil so it is easier to mix.

You can garnish the stir fry with a little chopped spring onion or coriander.

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Re: stir frys

Postby sunflower » Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:21 pm

Sorry fogot to mention at the last stage of cooking you can add few drops of sesame oil or some chilli sauce if you wish.

Another method is a slippery eggy sauce normally without too many vegetables, To make an eggy sauce, add about 3/4 of water to the stir fry heat till the liquid is boiling, add a little slacker cornflour to thicken lightly, then drizzle in 1 beaten egg while stirring. This is a classic sauce for beef and onion stir fry garnish with spring onion. You can also use chicken and pork.
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Re: stir frys

Postby Amyw » Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:22 pm

Very informative answer thanks Sunflower, will bear in mind when I next do a stirfry

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Re: stir frys

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Apr 26, 2020 1:54 am

Thanks, sunflower - very informative and very useful!

I´ll just share my experiences with the rest of the group, because a friend of mine bought me a wonderful wok from the local Chinese market.
1) Prep everything fresh, because frozen veg just disintegrate with the heat. Make sure EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT is at hand before you start.
2) Use fewer, rather than more ingredients. There´s nothing worse than a dishful of fried mush when you believe (wrongly) that you can use loads of stuff in your stir-fry.
3) Never underestimate the heat which is created in that wok. It can cook things faster than you can imagine.
4) Keep moving. In other words, keep the ingredients moving around the wok. I watched a Chinese chef cook enough shrimp-fried rice for 30 people in Cincinnati last year ( in a gigantic wok) and he never stopped moving the stuff around. Wish I´d taken a video. The guy was a genius.
5) Plan to cook the "toughest" ingredients (ie. carrots, cabbage, celery, onions) first. Never toss in all the ingredients at once. Been there, done that, burned it all.
6) Speed. You´d be surprised ( and I have been, and will continue to be) how quickly a stir-fry is ready.

And I confess (with no shame whatsoever) that I still can´t get it right - which is not really surprising.

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Re: stir frys

Postby Pampy » Sun Apr 26, 2020 2:22 am

karadekoolaid wrote:4) Keep moving. In other words, keep the ingredients moving around the wok. I watched a Chinese chef cook enough shrimp-fried rice for 30 people in Cincinnati last year ( in a gigantic wok) and he never stopped moving the stuff around. Wish I´d taken a video. The guy was a genius.


But see Sunflower's comment about NOT moving meat about too much...

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Re: stir frys

Postby sunflower » Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:25 am

Most of us at home we do not have very strong flame wok ring, so cooking is slightly different than in restaurants. If you have a ring with very strong flame you can turn and toss your stir fry meat and vegetables much as you like.

In most Chinese restaurants, the meat is normally precooked using a method called velveting using oil. Use at least 1 -2 cups of oil heat till moderately hot and stir in the meat which will cook rapidly sealing in all the juices without caramelisation. The meat is drained then ready for stir frying. At home if you do not want oil velveting you can try doing the same with a pan of boiling water blanching the meat but oil velveting tastes much better.

Also in restaurants all the hard vegetables like Broccoli, cauli and carrot are blanched and cooled down rapidly with cold water before stir frying. Aubergines is always deep fried before stir frying.

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Re: stir frys

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Apr 26, 2020 1:24 pm

But see Sunflower's comment about NOT moving meat about too much...


True; but I was thinking of the chef in Cincinnati who had a humongous burner to cook on.

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Re: stir frys

Postby Hickybank » Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:18 pm

Thank you everyone for your reply's they are all most helpful and have been noted, so much better on here for getting cooking advice.
Cheers
Terry

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Re: stir frys

Postby Hickybank » Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:25 pm

sunflower wrote:Sorry fogot to mention at the last stage of cooking you can add few drops of sesame oil or some chilli sauce if you wish.

Another method is a slippery eggy sauce normally without too many vegetables, To make an eggy sauce, add about 3/4 of water to the stir fry heat till the liquid is boiling, add a little slacker cornflour to thicken lightly, then drizzle in 1 beaten egg while stirring. This is a classic sauce for beef and onion stir fry garnish with spring onion. You can also use chicken and pork.
Image

Thank you Sunflower, I really miss the old BEEB board, It is where I got to like stir fry's with your help, nice to be back in touch.

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