Stir fry recipe

Stir Fry Recipe

By theory, stir fry is the most practical and popular week night dinner.  Why? Because it is fast, combines vegetables and protein in a single dish, and it is relatively healthy, and it requires no accompaniment other than rice or egg noodles.  Bring in a bottle of beer or Riesling, preferably a pale ale, will make it a perfect evening meal).  But many home cooks shoot themselves in the foot by being far too ambitious in their stir frying. 

Stir fries can accommodate many different kinds of meat and produce – but that doesn’t mean you should dump the entire contents of your refrigerator in your skillet or wok.  In fact the best stir fries are the restrained ones they combine two principal ingredients – one protein, one vegetable – with a trio of essential aromatic seasonings and a simple, delicious sauce.

The stir fry recipe below, featuring chewy tofu (made chewier via freezing, if you have time) and vernal asparagus, is the ideal stir fry iteration, as far as we are concerned.  But it can serve as a blueprint for virtually any stir fry, so long as you remember three fundamental rules. The first is to cook your protein and your vegetables separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked.  Protein – whether chicken, pork, or beef, shrimp or tofu – should be stirred minimally so that it maintains undisturbed contact with the hot pan and acquires a nice, seared exterior.  Meanwhile, vegetables must be stirred fairly often so that they cook through quickly without any part getting mushy.  Attempts at stir frying protein and vegetables simultaneously will result in an erratic mélange of overcooked and undercooked ingredients, many of which will end up tattered.


A second rule of the thumb for stir frying: Choose one vegetable per stir fry.  Not all vegetables cook at the same rate, and getting two vegetables to hit that cusp between tender and crisp at the exact same time is pretty much impossible.  Furthermore, crowding your pan with vegetables will result in their releasing more liquid, which threatens to make them soggy instead of crisp.  Though you should not combine more than one vegetables in a stir fry, you may combine your vegetable with mushrooms, they cook through quickly but never really become overcooked, which makes them a great companion to any vegetable.There are three aromatics that go with the vegetables, ginger, garlic and chile, without it your stir fry will taste flat. Finally, always remember to ass liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking. 

A proper sauce for stir fries combines something salty-soy sauce, usually, though fish sauce also works-with something a little bit sweet.  Mirin, sweet Japanese rice wine, contributes a wonderful fermented flavor, but if you don’t have any, substitute a teaspoon of honey or sugar combines with two teaspoons of water.  Mirin and soy sauce both burn if cooked more than a minute, so plan to leave them on the heat just long enough to coat the other ingredients and thicken into a glaze.

STIR FRIED TOFU, ASPARAGUS AND SHIITAKES:

INGREDIENTS:

• one 14-ounce package extra firm-tofu, drained and patted dry
• 2 teaspoon peanut oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 medium jalapeno or birds eye chile, seeded and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound asparagus, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1 inch segments
• 3+1/2 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Mirin
• Cooked short-grain brown or white rice for serving (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• At least one day before you plan to make the stir fry, cut the tofu into 1.2 to ¾ inch slices and cut each slice into 1 to 2 inches tri8nagles or rectangles.  Freeze the tofu overnight then thaw it in the refrigerator.
• The old stir fry procedure discussed above will follow. 
• Enjoy this stir fry recipe and please continue cooking.

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