1. The number one stir fry fail is burning the garlic. Rather use it whole and smashed, thinly sliced, or roughly chopped. Minced garlic, added too early, is likely to burn in a hot wok.
2. And the number one secret to a great stir-fry is: make a corn flour slurry to thicken the sauce. In a small bowl mix a few teaspoons of cornflour with just enough water or stock to create the texture of heavy cream.
3. Use a large wok – if your wok is too small and crowded everything will steam rather than fry and you will lose flavour and texture.
4. Get the wok as hot as possible before adding anything. Ideally you should stir-fry over a big gas flame so the ingredients don’t braise or steam.
5. Once it is hot, add the oil and swirl it around the sides of the wok, then add the protein (marinated beef strips, for example), cook quickly and remove. Then add a little more oil and stir-fry the veg in batches (you might want to steam hardier veg such as broccoli first).
6. Once the veg is cooked, deglaze the empty pan with a splash of stock to loosen all those crusty bits. Then add aromatics such as ginger, onions and chilli and then the precooked protein and veg.
7. Add the cornflour slurry in a thin stream around the edges of the wok over a hot flame to lightly thicken the contents.
Note: Like good pasta dishes, Chinese stir-fries have just enough sauce to coat the ingredients.
Is your pantry properly equipped to whip up an Asian dish without any notice? Read more about your Asian pantry staples here.
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