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January is a time to try new things and make resolutions. If you plan to eat healthily, how about learning to stir fry?

Linda: January can be a cold, wet, maybe snowy, dreary month. One of the easiest meals to bring warmth to the table is with a stir fry dinner. Not only is it delicious, it’s easy and healthy. Vegetables are a main ingredient. Stir frying is a Chinese cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while stirred in a wok. 

Lucy: It’s good to have a wok when you think of stir fry cooking. However, stir-frying can also be done in a large stovetop frying pan. A large cast iron skillet might be a substitute. Before your first attempt at stir-frying, you might be hesitant to invest in a wok immediately.

Linda: I do recommend purchasing a wok. Once you try a stir fry, you frequently use this method for a quick meal. Several years ago, I owned a kitchen store called “Cook’s Tour.” I would tell customers, if you only can afford one pan, make it a wok. It works for everything. You can cook bacon on it. Bring the slices up on the sides, and the grease pools in the bottom. A wok can be good for steaming. Place an inexpensive vegetable steamer in the wok with a little water. Heat water to a low boil and place your vegetables in the steamer with a cover. Woks are great for making popcorn. Put a little oil in the bottom. Heat and add popcorn. Cover it with a domed lid, and you will suddenly hear the popping. Anything you can make in a sauté pan, you can make in a wok. My wok is approximately 50 years old. It’s well-used, but I’ve never needed to purchase a new one.

Lucy: Once you’ve decided to add this pan to your inventory. You need to know what to look for. The best woks are made of carbon steel. Ultimately, the material is the most important thing. Skip nonstick. If you have a nonstick wok, you won’t be able to do high heat. Plus, you will scratch up the nonstick coating when stirring things around. Mandarin-style woks usually boast a long handle, sometimes with a smaller helper one. Food Network Kitchen prefers a wok with a wooden handle, which stays cool during cooking so you can easily and quickly transfer food from wok to plate.

Linda: I checked “Food and Wine” online for recommendations. The Joyce Chen wok had positive ratings and is one of the least expensive on Amazon. The large cooking surface is virtually nonstick and perfectly balanced with a comfortable birch wood handle. The flat bottom makes it a good fit for various kitchen cooktops, including induction stovetops, electric stovetops, and gas ranges. I had an opportunity to meet Joyce Chen many years ago at a dinner with a group of fellow employees. It was held at her favorite Chinese restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown. She ordered all our dinners. Her daughter now runs the company.

Lucy: I’m sure this would be a good wok, especially for someone just beginning and not wanting to spend a lot of money.

Linda: The best way to prepare to stir fry is to assemble all your ingredients before you start cooking. I cut up each item and place each in a separate small dish so they’re ready to be added to the wok, which needs to be heated dry to a hot temperature. I might cook the protein first, the meat, chicken, or shrimp, and remove it before adding the vegetables. You cook it almost all the way because you will add it back to the stir-fry right at the end, and then it will finish cooking. This prevents these items from being overcooked. Then I add fresh oil, heat up again and add in the remaining ingredients.

Lucy: I like to stir fry the vegetables which take a little longer to cook first, like the carrots, broccoli, and baby corn. Mushrooms, snow peas and the bell peppers do not take as long. Sometimes I add shredded cabbage or baby spinach to the mixture. They cook quickly and are a desirable addition.

 Linda: Once the pan is heated, the whole pan, including the sides, becomes a cooking surface. As you stir fry the ingredients you will pull things up on the sides as you stir and they will continue to cook. Recipes call for a variety of items which quickly fill the wok. Thus the sides add cooking space. If you add too many items at one time, it will cool down your wok.

Lucy: The goal with a wok is to cook quickly so that you do not end up with a lot of liquid at the bottom. You might add some soy sauce, wine, or stock and stir until all the veggies are cooked. Sometimes, I add about two tablespoons of sweet and sour sauce for extra flavor. But you want them to be crisp and retain their bright colors. Overcooked veggies will be soft and drab in color.

Linda: The way you clean your wok will depend on what type of material it’s made from, but it’s always a good idea to wash any wok by hand. Woks that are made from carbon steel or cast iron should never be soaked or put in the dishwasher. Wash your wok by hand with a bit of soap and water, and then dry it thoroughly to prevent it from rusting.

Lucy: Unexpected company and nothing in your fridge but random meat and produce? Need an inexpensive dinner to feed a family? Make a stir-fry. Let’s offer some recipes for our readers to get started. Once they master this Chinese cooking method, they will quickly develop their own favorite dishes. 

Shrimp Stir Fry

Ingredients

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbs cooking oil

1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets

8 oz. sugar snap peas

1 red bell pepper, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs minced ginger

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbs cornstarch

Juice of 1 lime

2 Tbs packed brown sugar

Pinch red pepper flakes

 

Directions

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook until pink, 5 minutes, then remove from skillet. Return skillet to heat and heat sesame oil. Add broccoli, peas, and bell pepper and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, cornstarch, lime juice, brown sugar, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Add to skillet and toss to coat. Add shrimp and cook until heated through, 2 minutes.

 

Pepper Steak Stir Fry

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 Tbs vegetable oil divided use

1 red bell pepper cored, seeded and cut into strips

1 green bell pepper cored, seeded and cut into strips

1 1/4 pounds flank steak thinly sliced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

 

Directions

Heat 1 tsp of the vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Add the peppers and stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until just tender. Remove the peppers from the pan and place on a plate. Add the remaining oil to the pan. Season the flank steak with salt and pepper to taste. Increase heat to high. Add the steak to the pan and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger, then cook for 30 seconds. Place the peppers back in the pan with the steak. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 cup water and cornstarch. Pour the sauce over the steak mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce has just thickened, then serve.