Steps for sizzling stir-fries

Take your homemade stir-fries to the next level with a few simple steps. They're versatile, healthy, budget-friendly and quick – the perfect kind of meal to cook to make meat go further, incorporate whatever vegetables you have to hand and use up leftovers. Here are our top tips to get them right, plus some inspiring recipe ideas.

Invest in a wok

A wok is the traditional pan used for cooking stir-fries – the size and shape makes it easier to stir and toss food, plus it gets hot quickly and retains heat well. Go for a flat-bottomed wok which can be used on both gas and electric hobs. Steel or cast iron woks are generally regarded as better than non-stick because the secret to perfect stir-fries lies in cooking the ingredients in an extremely hot pan.

Wok alternatives

A wok is the best pan for the job when it comes to stir-fries but you can use a large frying pan if you need to. However, ingredients will need to be cooked for a little longer. Avoid overcrowding the pan otherwise, everything will steam rather than fry.

Prep is key

Preparation is essential. Have all the ingredients you’re using cut and ready to go because everything cooks quickly. Place ingredients in order of cooking, pat-dry wet items, have sauces and condiments to hand, and rice or noodles prepped and cooked.

Chop vegetables the same size

A common stir-fry mistake is to add all the vegetables at the same time but some produce takes longer to cook than others. Cut veg into small pieces of roughly the same size so they cook evenly. If you’re including hard vegetables like carrots, add these slightly earlier or cut them in matchsticks so they take around the same time to cook through.

About oil

Always opt for an oil with a high smoke point like vegetable or rapeseed oil. How much oil depends on the recipe but a couple of tablespoons is usually about right. A special stir-fry oil already infused with garlic, ginger and chilli is also great for extra flavour.

Scraps are a stir-fry’s best friend

You don’t need lots of meat in stir-fries because a little goes a long way in flavouring the dish – leftovers or scraps are ideal. Cut pieces into strips so they cook quickly yet retain bags of flavour. You can also use up leftover vegetables and play around with your own pairings once you've mastered the basics.

Think about chicken

If you add chicken or turkey to a stir-fry, consider using boneless thighs over breast meat. Thigh meat contains more fat, more flavour and will stay juicier. If you opt for breast meat, marinate it for 10 minutes in a mix of soy sauce, cornflour and stock beforehand for a more succulent result.

Seafood and fish

Choose firm fish and seafood that won’t break up easily when tossed around. Salmon, cod, prawns, squid and even lobster are great. It’s important not to overcook fish and seafood so sear first or steam separately, and toss through at the end. Prawns cooked in their shells are less likely to overcook, will stay juicy and retain more flavour.

Try it: stir-fried runner beans with holy basil

This runner bean stir-fry is a vegetarian take on a classic Thai chilli and holy basil dish, using soy mince in place of minced meat. Don't forget to add a crispy fried egg on top.

A note on protein

As a general rule, it’s better to sear most types of protein first and let it cook through for a minute (not stirring too often). You can then add a little stock after the protein has browned to stop it sticking. To prevent it from overcooking, if you're adding more than one batch of vegetables, remove the meat or meat substitute, fry the vegetables and return to the pan towards the end of cooking but before you add the sauce.

How to cook vegetables

It's also helpful to sear vegetables – a little browning brings out flavour. However, the order in which they go in the wok is important. Once the protein has been set aside, heat a touch more oil and add harder veg like carrots. Next, in goes softer vegetables like peppers, mushrooms and mangetout. Lastly, the likes of watery beansprouts and fresh herbs. Don’t forget to keep stirring so the vegetables don’t burn.

When to add garlic

Contrary to popular belief, garlic shouldn’t be added at the beginning of a stir-fry. It’s an aromatic, like ginger, chilli and lemongrass, that infuses the oil with aroma and flavour, but it burns quickly. We recommend adding it in before the soft vegetables.

Aromatics

If you fancy a Chinese-inspired stir-fry, add onions, garlic, chilli and ginger and ingredients like beansprouts, water chestnuts, pak choy and baby corn. A Thai-inspired stir-fry will usually include aromatics like galangal, Thai basil and lemongrass. The marinade for the meat, which includes gochugaru and gochujang (Korean chilli flakes and paste), also becomes the base aromatics for the stir-fry.

Go nuts

Cashew nuts are perfect in stir-fries, as are unsalted raw or lightly-roasted peanuts. They add protein and a pleasing crunchy texture. You could also garnish a stir-fry with sesame seeds which look great and add a subtle nutty flavour.

Try it: shiitake and cashew black bean stir-fry

A quick and easy vegan meal, this stir-fry is loaded with meaty shiitake mushrooms and protein-rich, crunchy cashews. If you can't get hold of fermented black beans, just swap them with a good-quality, ready-made black bean sauce.

How about herbs?

As a final flourish, fresh coriander, mint and Thai basil are great herbs to wilt quickly at the end of cooking. Scatter fresh chopped spring onions when serving for a light, crunchy texture and refreshing flavour.

Noodles are nice

There are many types of noodles you can choose from. Unless they’re the straight-to-wok type, cook separately and have the noodles drained and ready to stir-fry. Use chopsticks or tongs to drop a few noodle strands into different parts of the stir-fry and mix in. If all the noodles go in at once, it creates an impenetrable ball of starch.

Top rice tip

Rice is a great accompaniment to stir-fries as it soaks up the flavourful sauce but if you're incorporating it into the stir-fry for a fried rice dish, jasmine rice is usually best. The sturdy grains don't clump when fried. Day-old rice works best because it's drier and less claggy.

When to add liquid

Water, stock, coconut milk, soy or fish sauce can help stop ingredients sticking but use towards the end of cooking, once the ingredients have cooked through. Liquid will coat and glaze ingredients so the end result isn’t dry. However, too much will result in a soggy stir-fry. A lot of recipes will suggest you mix the sauce ingredients before adding to the wok.

Steaming vs frying

If you don’t want to use oil, try steaming ingredients with water or stock. The secret is to add a small amount of liquid at a time (a couple of tablespoons will do) so the ingredients still have a chance to brown. A non-stick pan helps when using this method.

Don’t overcrowd the pan

You should be able to see gaps between ingredients when cooking a stir-fry – this is why woks are good because they have a big surface area. Too many ingredients at once will steam rather than fry the ingredients and they won't brown.

Timings

Once the prep is done and the pan is hot, a stir-fry should take no more than four to five minutes to cook. Searing the meat or vegetarian alternative takes around two minutes (but make sure any meat or fish is thoroughly cooked through), vegetables will cook in about one minute and another minute to toss through pre-cooked noodles or rice, plus sauce. Remember that hard vegetables in a stir-fry are supposed to retain a little crunch. A stir-fry is best served fresh from the wok so have your plates at the ready.