We curated a list of ten effortless stir fry recipes along with five essential tips to help you up your stir-fry game. Read about the origin of this famous cooking style, how it inspired so many recipes across cuisines and became one of the most easily adaptable cooking techniques.
Stir Frying is a high-heat cooking technique, where the ingredients are tossed and fried in a small amount of hot oil, on a wok (cooking utensil with a round base). Constantly tossing of the ingredients allows it to become crispy without losing their color. This method of cooking is ideal for cooking a variety of finely cut vegetables with chicken, providing a healthy balance of vitamins and proteins. Stir frying veggies also makes them crunchier and brings out their natural flavor, therefore making it easy for picky eaters to get into the habit of eating vegetables.
First developed in China, this technique worked efficiently on simple brick stoves. The hot fire from the stove transferred quickly to the wok and the rest of the ingredients on the wok. The smooth transfer of heat takes place almost instantly, ensuring that the cooking too, can be performed quickly. When the heat is high and the cooking hurried, the Cantonese describe this effect as “wok hei”, which translates to “the breath of a wok”. To appreciate “wok hay” to the fullest, stir fry dishes must be served immediately, after being cooked.
The Indo-Chinese Chili Chicken is a stir fry dish that is quick and very easy to rustle up. It packs a punch with a mix of spicy, slightly tangy and sweet flavors. “Indo-Chinese” is a type of preparation that is inspired from authentic Chinese cooking techniques, but the ingredients and flavors are more suited to the Indian palate. Soft diced chicken pieces are coated in a light marinade, fried and then tossed with bell peppers, onions in a garlic infused aromatic chili sauce.
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This dish is inspired by the famous Japanese cooking technique known as Teriyaki. The meat is grilled or broiled with soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, cornstarch (for thickening) and sugar glaze which are the main ingredients of the delicious Teriyaki sauce. First, the sauce is made. Then, the chicken is coated with the teriyaki sauce and marinated overnight. Lastly, bake the chicken for about 50 minutes, gently brushing it with the sauce every 10 minutes. And voila!
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Indo-Chinese Chili Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) is a toothsome appetizer where fried paneer is doused in sweet and sour chili sauce. It is mixed with garlic and green chilies to give rise to a hot and pungent aroma. Chili sauce, soya sauce and vinegar are used to impart the quintessential Chinese flavor to this Indian dish. Many veggies are also used to give the dish a consistent silky texture. Such as onions, spring onions, bell peppers, corn starch. The Chili Paneer is the perfect vegetarian alternative to the Indo-Chinese Chili Chicken.
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Now that we have covered both meat and vegetarian options, it is only fair to talk about one of the best vegan stir fry dishes - the Teriyaki Tofu. Tofu usually gets a bad rep for being bland in taste but when whipped up with the right ingredients and sauces - it can be equally (if not more) delicious than its counterpart, the Teriyaki Chicken. Unevenly torn tofu pieces are fried and browned. Then it is coated with the sweet, tangy and gingery teriyaki sauce, topped off with sesame seeds.
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Although still up for debate, it is believed that this sacred recipe was dreamt up by a Chinese Chef from the Hunan province (and named after the Hunanese General) in the 1950s. The deliciousness of this dish can not be contested. Americans love food which is sweet, fried and man, do ya’ll love chicken! General Tso’s Chicken packs the ideal balance of spicy, sweet and savory flavors. The thick sauce is the source of the sweetness and tanginess, while the dry chilies make the dish extra spicy. The chicken is deep-fried and served boneless, making it soft and easy to eat.
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One of the best comfort dishes out there when takeout cravings hit you real hard. Yet, you can easily cook this at home. Eat a healthier concoction of this recipe, save a few calories and dollars at the same time. Marinate the tofu in a bit of soy sauce, maple syrup, and chili garlic sauce before dredging in cornstarch and pan-frying in a little oil. The result is a flavorful tofu that’s crispy on the outside, tender (not mushy) on the inside.
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Shrimps make the best stir fries. It is the natural fit for these juicy crustaceans. The juicy shrimps are sauteed with a variety of vegetables in high heat, in a flavorful garlic sauce. The essential garlic sauce is made up of soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, cornstarch and garlic. The mixture of these ingredients ensures that all the key flavors are on lock, and the texture is also maintained. The shrimp is then cooked in medium-high heat along with bell peppers, asparagus and peas. All the key ingredients meshed together, and then re-heated gives you the crustacean stir-fry dish you’ve been yearning for.
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The veggie stir fry is one of the most flexible recipes out there. By that we mean, it does not require a wide assortment of ingredients. Utilizing the leftover veggies with some ginger and garlic would do just fine. Make sure you include veggies of multiple colors and textures to get all the necessary nutritional benefits. Broccoli, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach are some vegetables that are great in a stir fry. The sauce that you use for the stir fry too can be customized - extra chili garlic sauce for extra spice, oyster sauce for more richness, hoisin for a sweet flavor, or swap water for pineapple juice for a tropical twist to the stir fry.
Find the recipe here.
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Not getting your pan hot enough is one of the most common mistakes while stir-frying for home-cooks. Restaurant kitchens are equipped with extra-hot burners that approach up to 12000 BTU. However, since your home kitchen setup may not be equipped with the same capabilities, the trick is to heat the wok for a long time, usually for 10-15 minutes over highest possible heat. First heat the wok by itself and then with refined vegetable oil. Choose a neutral flavor cooking oil so that its flavor does not overpower the other ingredients.
This one is very important. Do not add the ice-cold meat to the wok directly. It will cool down the wok almost instantly. Let the meat sit out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Use this time to marinate the meat with soy sauce or cornstarch and a little bit of wine. When the meat is ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade, drain it and pat it dry before it is added to the wok.
Never overcrowd your wok with excess meat and other ingredients. If you have more than 8 ounces of meat, cook it in batches. Overloading the wok with meat will cool it off since the meat pieces release its juices, and it will simmer and steam instead of getting fried. This results in the meat turning tough instead of tender.
Once the meat pieces are cooked, set them aside. Heat up the wok again, and cook the vegetables with fresh oil and seasoning. It’s advised that you cook the veggies in a particular order, depending on how long it takes to cook each of them. Veggies like onions and sliced mushrooms can be added to the wok at the beginning and gradually add the leafy vegetables such as spinach and shredded carrots. Items such as green beans, carrots and broccoli may need extra cooking time. To make sure that these too are cooked quickly, you can perform an extra step of blanching them in boiling water for a minute followed by dipping them in ice-cold water to drain excess liquids from these vegetables.
The final step is to again add the meat pieces that were set aside to the wok full of vegetables. Add some cornstarch, water and sesame oil to the mix and stir it well for a minute or so. When the sauce thickens, you’ll know that your stir-fry dish is ready to serve.
Stir-frying is one of the easiest home-cooking techniques out there, but we thought we could make it even simpler. So, we made a cooking robot that automates the entire cooking process for you, while you still get to exercise control over the ingredients, the cooking style of your meals and your taste preferences. What’s more? - with Nymble’s cooking robot, you can treat yourselves to all the above stir-fry recipes and many more (this was only a sneak peak). There’s lots happening - new recipes, new cuisines, product demos, cooking events. The kitchen revolution has only begun.
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