Stir-Frying
Cooking Skills: Vegetables 1
Chapter 4 · Stir-Frying
Skill goal
Stir-fry vegetables so they stay bright and crisp, never soggy or burnt.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Stir-frying is fast cooking in a very hot pan, with the food kept moving. It gives vegetables bright colour and a savoury, slightly smoky taste called wok hei ('breath of the wok'). It goes wrong in one of three ways: the pan isn't hot enough, there's too much in it, or the pieces are too big.
The rules
- Prepare first. The cooking takes 5 minutes, so wash, dry and cut everything first, and mix the sauce in a bowl. Once you start, you can't stop to chop.
- High heat. Heat the empty pan until a drop of water skitters on it, then add the oil. A wok is ideal, but a large heavy frying pan works.
- A suitable oil: one that can take high heat, such as vegetable, rapeseed or groundnut. Extra virgin olive oil isn't suited.
- Small, similar pieces, thinly cut so that they cook in a minute or two.
- Hard vegetables first, soft ones last: carrots and broccoli, then peppers and mushrooms, then leaves and spring onions.
- Don't crowd the pan. Too much food drops the temperature and the vegetables stew. Cook in batches if needed.
- Dry vegetables. Wet vegetables steam and spit.
- Sauce at the end, so it coats rather than boils the vegetables.
- Keep it moving with a spatula or tossing, but let things sit for a few seconds when you want browning.
Order of cooking
| Add | Examples | Time in the pan |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Aromatics | Garlic, ginger, chilli | 10 to 15 seconds (don't let them burn) |
| 2. Hard vegetables | Carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans | 2 to 3 minutes |
| 3. Medium vegetables | Pepper, courgette, mushrooms, cabbage | 1 to 2 minutes |
| 4. Soft and leafy | Pak choi, spinach, spring onions, bean sprouts | 30 seconds to 1 minute |
| 5. Sauce | Soy sauce, a little sugar, water or stock | 30 seconds, until it bubbles and coats |
Sauce
A basic stir-fry sauce is 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar or honey and a splash of water or stock, plus garlic and ginger. Soy sauce is very salty, so you rarely need extra salt. For a thicker sauce, stir 1 teaspoon of cornflour into the cold liquid before adding it.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Simple vegetable stir-fry
Cooking is quick, so everything is cut, washed, dried and measured out before the pan goes on the heat.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 1 carrot, in thin sticks
- 1 red pepper, in strips
- 100 g broccoli, in small florets
- 1 spring onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp honey or sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- Mix the soy sauce, honey and water in a small bowl. Lay the vegetables out in order: carrot and broccoli first, then pepper, then spring onion.
- Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat until it is just beginning to smoke. Add the oil, swirl, and add the carrot and broccoli. Stir and toss for 2 minutes.
- Add the pepper and cook for 1 more minute.
- Pour in the sauce, toss for 30 seconds until it bubbles and coats everything, add the spring onion and serve at once.
Hot oil
Hot oil: never leave a pan of hot oil unattended. If oil starts to smoke, take the pan off the heat and let it cool. Never put water on a pan fire: turn off the heat and cover it with a lid or damp cloth, then get out of the room and call 999 if it spreads. Dry vegetables well, because water on hot oil spits.
Level 2 · Leaves
Garlic and ginger greens
Leaves cook in a minute. Garlic burns in seconds. The aim is a fragrant, glossy plate, not black specks.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 200 g pak choi, greens or spinach
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
- Cut the pak choi into 3 or 4 pieces, or slice large leaves into ribbons. Wash and shake dry.
- Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for 10 to 15 seconds, until fragrant but not coloured.
- Add the greens straight away and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, until the leaves wilt and the stalks are tender-crisp.
- Add the soy sauce and sesame oil, toss and serve.
Level 3 · Combining
Vegetable fried noodles
Noodles go in after the vegetables have started to cook, so nothing overcooks. Cook the noodles first, drain, and cool them under cold water so they don't stick.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 100 g dried egg noodles or rice noodles
- 1 carrot, in thin sticks
- 100 g cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 pepper, in strips
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
- Cook the noodles as the pack says, drain, rinse in cold water, and toss with a few drops of oil.
- Mix the soy sauce and sugar. Cut the vegetables thin and similar in size.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok until very hot. Add the carrot and cabbage and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the pepper and garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the noodles and sauce, and toss with two spoons for 2 minutes, until hot all the way through. Add the spring onion and sesame oil and serve.
Cooling noodles
Don't leave cooked noodles at room temperature for long. If you cook them ahead, cool quickly, chill, and use within 1 day.
Level 3 · Protein
Tofu or egg stir-fry
Firm tofu goes in first and needs to brown without being stirred too often. Eggs are an alternative: scramble them in the hot pan first and set aside.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 150 g firm tofu
- 1 Lion-marked egg (alternative to the tofu)
- 1 pepper, in strips
- 100 g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 spring onions
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- Tofu: press it between kitchen paper for 10 minutes, then cut into 2 cm cubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok, add the tofu and leave it for 1 to 2 minutes to brown before turning. Fry for 5 minutes in all, then lift out.
- Egg instead: beat the egg and scramble it in the oiled pan for 1 minute, until fully set. Lift out.
- Add the rest of the oil, then the mushrooms and pepper, and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the ginger.
- Return the tofu or egg, add the soy sauce and spring onions, toss for 1 minute and serve.
Eggs
Eggs with the British Lion mark are safe to eat lightly cooked, but for stir-fries cook them until set.
Experiments
Experiment
Pan heat
Hot or medium.
- Stir-fry two batches of the same sliced pepper and carrot for 3 minutes, one in a very hot pan and one on medium heat.
Look for: The hot pan gives colour and bite; the medium pan gives softer, paler, slightly watery vegetables.
Experiment
Batch size
A full pan or a half pan.
- Stir-fry 200 g of vegetables, then 400 g in the same pan, for the same length of time.
Look for: The bigger batch drops the temperature, leaves liquid in the pan and cooks unevenly. Cook large amounts in two batches.
Experiment
Big or small pieces
Cut size.
- Cut one carrot into thick chunks and one into thin matchsticks. Stir-fry each for 3 minutes.
Look for: The thin pieces are done; the chunks are still raw. Small pieces are what make the quick method work.
Experiment
Sauce early or late
When to add the sauce.
- Stir-fry two portions of the vegetables, adding the sauce at the start of one and at the end of the other.
Look for: Sauce added early boils the vegetables and goes dull; sauce added late glazes them and keeps them crisp.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple vegetable stir-fry | ||||
| Garlic and ginger greens | ||||
| Vegetable fried noodles | ||||
| Tofu or egg stir-fry | ||||
| Pan heat | ||||
| Batch size | ||||
| Big vs small pieces | ||||
| Sauce early vs late |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Soggy, watery vegetables | Pan not hot enough, too much in it, or wet vegetables | Heat the pan longer; cook in batches; dry the vegetables |
| Burnt garlic | Added too soon or pan too hot | Add it later, for a few seconds only; lift off the heat if it browns |
| Raw middle | Pieces too thick | Cut smaller; start the hard vegetables first |
| Everything sticks | Not enough oil or the pan isn't hot | Heat first, then add oil |
| Too salty | Soy sauce plus salt | Use soy sauce as the only salt; add a splash of water or squeeze of lime |
Hot oil
Hot oil: never leave a pan of hot oil unattended. If oil starts to smoke, take the pan off the heat and let it cool. Never put water on a pan fire: turn off the heat and cover it with a lid or damp cloth, then get out of the room and call 999 if it spreads. Dry vegetables well, because water on hot oil spits.Knife safety: cut on a stable board (a damp cloth underneath), tuck your guiding fingertips back (the claw), and cut round or slippery vegetables on a flat face so they can't roll. A sharp knife is safer than a blunt one. Never catch a falling knife. Cooking Skills: Knife Skills 1 covers all of this.
Leftovers: cool cooked vegetables quickly (within 1 to 2 hours), keep them covered in the fridge, and eat within 2 days. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, and only once.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I prepare everything before the pan goes on.
- I heat the pan before adding the oil.
- I add vegetables in order, hardest first.
- I don't crowd the pan, and I add the sauce last.
- I can cook noodles and a protein into a stir-fry.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Vegetables 1, chapter 5 is Sautéing and Pan-Frying: browning in a pan without steaming.