Stir fry vegetables and you may never cook again

Once you taste the crisp crunchiness of vegetables prepared by the Chinese stir fry cooking method—you may never want to cook by boiling, baking or steaming again. Stir fry vegetables prepared by using the authentic wok, taste unlike anything made in the Western world. The closest cooking method to the stir fry technique in wide use in kitchen recipes today is sautŽing, but rarely are complete entrees prepared that way.

Stir fry, just as its name implies, is the act of frying foods, mainly found in vegetable recipes, over a high flame, while stirring with a wooden stick or spatula continuously. For ease in the heating of the cut up food, vegetables for instance—a round-bottom wok is used. This allows the bottom area to be hotter than the sides. It functions much the way a multi-temperature flat grill is used in allowing food to be rotated and cooked uniformly.

Stir fry and open your own Chinese restaurant, at home!

A small amount of cooking oil is used— only enough to cover the bottom of the wok or fry pan. When hot, the vegetables are added and stirred vigorously for the entire cooking duration, usually only a few minutes. The vegetable stir fry part of the process usually takes place at the end of the meal preparation, since there are other foods, within the recipes, that must by prepared by other, more slower methods of cooking.

Other methods of Chinese cooking used along with the stir fry:

• Shallow Fry- medium heat, longer cooking, no stirring.
• Deep Fry- high heat, entire food submersed in hot oil.
• Clear Simmer- meat & vegetables cooked in water produces clear broth
• Red Stew- simmer in water, soy sauce added reddens food.
• Braising- stir fry cooking of seared meat.
• Steaming- multi-layered steamer pans prepares several dishes together.

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