How to Stir-Fry: 4 Tips for Stir-Frying

Stir-fry is a Chinese cooking technique that involves cooking food over high heat in a wok—similar to the French technique sauté. Constantly tossing the ingredients allows the food to become crispy without getting scorched. This method is especially useful for veggies and quick-cooking proteins like chicken breast, and it is most successful when every ingredient is cut into small, uniform pieces.

Although stir-fry is technically a cooking method, in many non-Asian countries, it's also the name of a dish. Popular stir-fry dishes include beef and broccoli stir-fry, peppers and beef stir-fry, Thai basil and chicken stir-fry, and vegetable stir-fry.

You can make a stir-fry dish with any combination of protein and vegetables. Consider the following ingredients and optional add-ons for stir-fry:

1. 1. Sauce: You can buy pre-made stir-fry sauce, or you can make your own, depending on the desired flavor of your stir-fry. Teriyaki is a common stir-fry sauce made with soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, rice vinegar, mirin rice wine, and garlic. Other common ingredients for stir-fry sauces include fermented black bean, coconut aminos, chicken broth, red pepper flakes, maple syrup, sriracha, and aromatics such as chopped garlic cloves or minced ginger.
2. 2. Oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as avocado oil, peanut oil, and canola/vegetable oil. (Extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil have a low smoke point.)
3. 3. Protein: Tender cuts of meat, like flank steak and chicken breasts, work best for stir-frying. You can also use a vegetarian protein source such as tofu.
4. 4. Noodles: You can stir-fry carbohydrates like noodles or rice, then combine with meat, veggies, and sauce to make fried rice or pad thai. Cook the rice or noodles first, then add them to the cooked vegetables.
5. 5. Vegetables: You can use any vegetables for stir-frying, as long as they are cut to a uniform size. Add vegetables that need more time to cook first, such as broccoli florets, mushrooms, snow peas, green beans, water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, and baby corn. Add softer vegetables—such as bok choy, zucchini, red bell pepper, and bean sprouts—toward the end of the cooking process.
6. 6. Garnish: You can garnish the stir-fry dish with sesame seeds, nuts such as cashews for crunch, or green onions to add freshness to your final stir-fry.

Stir-frying requires prep time, but the cook time is relatively quick. Follow this step-by-step guide for an easy stir-fry recipe:

1. 1. Make a stir-fry sauce. You can buy pre-made stir-fry sauce or you can make your own with a mix of soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, and garlic. You can use the stir-fry sauce as a marinade for the protein.
2. 2. Marinate your protein. Marinate the meat or any protein you are using to tenderize it and imbue it with additional flavor. To marinate, you can use salt and pepper, stir-fry sauce or soy sauce, plus any other spices.
3. 3. Have your mise en place ready. Stir-frying is fast, so it is important to prepare all of your ingredients before you turn on your wok. Cut your veggies, protein, and aromatics such as onions, fresh ginger, and garlic to uniform size. Have stir-fry sauce ready in a small bowl.
4. 4. Heat your wok. Heat a wok or a large skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of oil and let it coat the bottom of the pan.
5. 5. Start with the protein. Sear your meat or vegetarian protein, such as tofu, first. Cook, stirring frequently, until it is crisp-tender.
6. 6. Add aromatics. Add your aromatics to the wok, stirring them for a minute until they’re fragrant.
7. 7. Cook the vegetables. Add the harder vegetables that need more time to cook, such as broccoli or mushrooms. Stir them around until browned. Then add quick-cooking vegetables, such as bok choy or bean sprouts, cooking them for an additional minute.
8. 8. Coat with sauce. Add the stir-fry sauce, letting it coat the meat or tofu and the veggies.
9. 9. Remove from the heat. You can serve the stir-fry as a side dish or as a main dish white rice or brown rice.

Follow the tips below to achieve a perfect stir-fry:

1. 1. Use a wok. A wok is ideal because the heat is centralized at the bottom of the wok, so it sears stir-fry ingredients quickly. When you stir-fry in a wok, you can push any ingredients that need to be on low-heat up the sides of the wok.
2. 2. Avoid overloading your wok. The key to stir-frying is to constantly stir. Your veggies must have enough room to move around in the wok. A -crowded wok will lead to veggies that are soggy instead of crunchy. If your wok is getting too full, cook your meat and then veggies in batches. Limit the total ingredients in your stir-fry to three to five items with different colors and textures.
3. 3. Add water. If your meat and veggies are starting to stick to the pan or wok, add some water to loosen them up. You can also add a splash of chicken stock or vegetable broth for additional flavor—especially if you are not using a heavy stir-fry sauce.
4. 4. Thicken your stir-fry sauce. Sometimes the stir-fry sauce can end up being watery after you add it to the meat and veggies. To thicken the stir-fry sauce, make a cornstarch slurry by dissolving a tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl of water. Then add the slurry to the stir-fry, stirring it until the stir-fry sauce is thick.

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