Wok this way

STIR-FRY is a cheap, fast and uncomplicated cornerstone of simple Chinese cooking. But if it’s so basic and easy, why do we keep mucking it up?

Most stir-fry problems are a matter of moisture. Dried up morsels and mushy rice are common symptoms of mismanaged liquid levels. Improper cooking temperature, too much moisture within ingredients and poor use of sauces and stocks can contribute to this.

This kind of cooking is fast, sloppy and imprecisely measured. Stirring constantly is important and it’s easy to get carried away with throwing stuff in the mix. A good way to increase quality in your creations is to simplify the ingredient list. Perfect a basic recipe before trying to balance too many things.

The speed of stir-fry preserves the colours and flavours of the ingredients, but requires significant advance preparation. Any experienced stir-fryer will tell you to pre-chop everything. Bite-sized ingredients need to be ready to grab by the handful when the iron’s hot.

A wok is not necessary, but is highly recommended. Use a flat-bottomed wok on an electric stovetop and a round-bottomed one for gas. This maximises the distribution of heat to the metal. Spatulas, spoons and scrapers should be wooden.

Hot metal and oil

Stir-fry is usually defined as a method of cooking that requires a high level of heat, but advice varies on just how much heat to apply. Pre-heating on high is good for getting the wok and oil up to the desired hotness, but once you start tossing in ingredients, you may want to lower to medium-high. This will give you more time and control over the cooking process.

Slowing things down like this may help you keep from burning delicate ingredients but don’t be too timid with the temp. A searing heat allows soy sauce to caramelise to the rice rather than just soaking in and making it soggy. High temperature and oil also prevent sticking.

Your oil must be able to be heated to rather high temperatures without burning or distorting in texture or colour. Sesame seed and olive oil are popularly used in stir-fires but can overpower with their potent taste. Practically flavourless peanut oil, therefore, really is the best. Apply oil modestly to an already hot surface but don’t let it smoke. Season it with aromatics before adding the other ingredients.

Frying rice

This is where things go wrong most often. Fried rice should not stick together and should not be fluffy. There are two basic approaches to frying rice, one with cooked and one with uncooked rice.

Frying uncooked rice is similar to the risotto, pilaf or paella methods; brown up raw rice in the oil and cover later with liquid at a reduced temperature. This sauté procedure can pass for stir-fry style rice but is not usually accepted as an authentic Asian technique.

Cooked rice should be cold and slightly undercooked before being added to the wok. This prevents the usual pitfalls of mushiness and sticky clumps. Most experts recommend leaving it in the fridge for an entire day before frying. This goes for both short and long grain rices.

The cold, mostly-cooked rice should be relatively well hardened and rid of excess moisture. The rice should then be administered gradually to the hot wok. The loose texture of individual grains is achieved by this preparation. Moisture control is the most important thing to remember when executing this procedure.

Meat

Recipes differ widely, but most stir-fries call for some kind of meat, seafood or poultry. Cutting and tenderising meat in a marinade should be the first step. This imparts flavour as well as helping to prevent overdrying of the chunks.

Meat should be cooked before the other ingredients and placed to the side before being heated back up in the final moments with everything else. In the pre-cooking phase, always simmer up the cuts about 80% of the way, just until the red disappears. Cooking the chunks on high heat will help sear in the juices.

As with the rice, add the meat gradually. Putting the meat in last will prevent it from tasting like everything else in the wok and vice versa. The most important factor, however, is to avoid overcooking and drying up of the cuts.

Vegetables

Unlike the meat, the vegetables need to be thoroughly dry before being added to the stir-fry. If not, they can get too mashed up, release too much water into the rice and cause oil to splatter all over. This is another moisture-control preparation many people fail to make.

As mentioned above, vegetables should be pre-chopped to be readily accessible when the wok shaking gets fast and furious. Naturally, denser veggies should be cut into smaller pieces to heat up quicker. Put the thicker bits in first and the more fragile pieces later. If you’re not sure about what order to add them, just cook them all separately and throw them in at the end as done with the meat.

Vegetables require more tossing than meats. You may need to prevent overdrying by adding in a little sauce or water but this should be done sparingly. Create a well in the centre of the wok with the ingredients pushed up on the sides. This will allow the added liquid to thicken a bit before mixing with the rice and vegetables. Many people are familiar with this technique but if you don’t allow the liquid to thicken, there’s not much point in doing it. As always, the most common mistake is getting moisture levels wrong, either by soaking things too much or shrivelling them up.