Editors of Adams Media - The 50 Best Stir-Fry Recipes. Tasty, Fresh, and Easy to Make!

The 50 Best
Stir-Fry Recipes

Tasty, fresh, and easy to make!

Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

Contents

Introduction

Unlike some fads that have come and gone, stir-frying has proven it has staying power. Besides being a healthy cooking method, its so quick! In todays fast-paced society, many families find it difficult to fit dinnertime into their hectic schedules, let alone spend hours preparing a meal. A stir-fry can make its way from stovetop to dinner table in as little as fifteen minutes.

Once youve tried a few dishes, youll quickly find yourself falling into a rhythm marinating the meat, cutting and preparing the vegetables, then combining ingredients for a sauce. The total time for preparing dinner will nearly always be under thirty minutes.

The short cooking time means that vegetables retain more of their nutrients than they do when prepared using longer cooking methods. Furthermore, the amount of oil listed in the recipes is a guideline only you may find youll need even less. A properly seasoned carbon-steel wok develops its own nonstick coating after just a few uses, so you use less oil.

Stir-frying is a great choice for vegetarians or anyone wanting to prepare a vegetarian meal. Studies show that the boundary between strict vegetarians and nonvegetarians is dissolving even people who wouldnt classify themselves as vegetarians are choosing to incorporate one or two vegetarian dishes into their diet each week. Stir-frying makes this easy. Often its just a matter of replacing the meat with tofu and adding it to the pan near the final stages of cooking.

Here are fifty quick, easy, and delicious stir-fry dishes. In this collection, youll find recipes for your favorite Asian take-out specialties, like Pad Thai, Salt and Pepper Shrimp, and Lo Mein. But stir-frying isnt just for Asian dishes you can use the same techniques for a variety of dishes, like fajitas, risotto, and even Chicken Cacciatore.

Stir-frying is one of the simplest cooking techniques to learn so get out your chefs knife and your wok (or skillet) and get started!

Basic Stir-Fry Sauce

If you like a thicker sauce, add 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 4 teaspoons water. Add the cornstarch and water mixture directly into the sauce in the wok or skillet, stirring quickly to thicken. This sauce is best when added at the end of cooking.

Yields cup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

teaspoon garlic salt

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Use as called for in a recipe, or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use. (Use the sauce within 3 to 4 days.)

Whats in a Bowl?

When marinating food, the last thing you want is a chemical reaction between the material of the bowl and the acid in the marinade. Not only will the reaction wreak havoc with the marinade, but it can damage the bowl. For best results, use a container made of glass, ceramic, stainless steel, or plastic when marinating food. Never use an aluminum bowl.

Orange Sauce

A bright, sweet sauce such as this pairs nicely with such proteins as chicken and fish. If you want to pull back on the sweetness, you can always reduce or eliminate the sugar, but expect a thinner sauce if you do that.

Yields cup

Ingredients

6 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Combine the orange juice, water, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and brown sugar in a bowl. Either use immediately in a stir-fry recipe or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use. (Use the sauce within 3 to 4 days.)

Sesame Sauce

If youre using this sauce in a recipe that includes chile paste, you can leave it out of the sauce. Feel free to sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds in to give your sauce some texture.

Yields cup

Ingredients

4 tablespoons chicken broth

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or Chinese red rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

teaspoon chile paste, optional

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine the chicken broth, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and chile paste in a bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch. Either use the sauce immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until needed. (Use the sauce within 3 to 4 days.) Stir the sauce before adding to the stir-fry to bring up any cornstarch that has settled on the bottom.

Where to Marinate

Bacteria can form in meat that is allowed to marinate at room temperature. Food that is going to be marinated for 30 minutes or longer should always be refrigerated. With the exception of recipes that call for velveting the food, the marinating time for stir-fries is normally under 30 minutes. Experts offer conflicting advice as to whether these need to be refrigerated as well, but definitely do so if youre concerned about food safety.

Oyster-Flavored Brown Sauce

Less fishy than sweet and smoky-flavored, this common sauce is more akin to an Asian demi glaze. Its normally pretty thick and a regular alongside beef and broccoli.

Yields cup

Ingredients

cup beef broth

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

4 teaspoons dark soy sauce

Black pepper to taste

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine the beef broth, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, black pepper, and sugar in a bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch. Either use the sauce immediately or place in a sealed container and refrigerate until needed. (Use the sauce within 3 to 4 days.) Stir the sauce before adding it to the stir-fry to bring up any cornstarch that has settled on the bottom.

Versatile Brown Sauce

A savory combination of beef broth and soy sauce, sometimes flavored with oyster sauce, brown sauce is used in several Chinese dishes. Besides making an excellent gravy to pour over Egg Foo Yung, restaurants frequently use it to lend flavor to beef-and-broccoli dishes.

Fajita Marinade

Heres a great sauce to make ahead so your fajita dinner is that much easier to pull together. Try to stick to kosher or sea salt as opposed to regular table salt in this recipe they do a better job of heightening the flavors.

Yields cup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon chile powder

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

teaspoon ground cumin

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

teaspoon garlic salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, chile powder, kosher or sea salt, ground cumin, black pepper, and garlic salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Either use the marinade immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Use within 1 week, stirring the marinade before adding to the meat, poultry, or tofu.