Stir Fry - That's Not Really A Stir Fry

[weinoo]

Last night I made myself shrimp with asparagus in spicy Szechuan sauce. But I didn't use a wok, and didn't really stir fry it.

Oh, I followed all the other techniques. Marinating the shrimp in cornstarch, shaoxing wine and a bit of soy. making a sauce of chicken stock, a touch of sugar and chili paste with garlic. Roll cutting the asparagus.

But my cooking technique was certainly not a stir-fry, since the pan I used was nonstick. I cooked the shrimp first over medium heat, took them out, added my trinity (ginger, garlic, scallions) and cooked that for about 30 seconds, then added the vegetables, sauteed them for a minute before adding in the sauce, then when the asparagus was almost done I added back the shrimp along with a teaspoon of cornstarch slurry.

Whole thing was done in 5 minutes. It was delicious. But can it still be called a stir-fry?

[Blether]

Well, you "cooked", "cooked" and "sauteed". You didn't mention at any point whether or not you stirred, so there's no evidence either way in the witness account. However, you already told us it wasn't a stir-fry, and you even said "certainly". You look like an honest fella, so we'll take you at your word. No.

.

.

.

I'll get my coat.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Blether (log)

[dcarch]

"Stir" is not part of the Chinese word.

You have "deep fry", "stir fy" is kind of "shallow fry", frying with very little oil.

With a hot wok, you have no choice but to stir otherwise food will burn and part of the food will not be cooked. A hot wok is also to burn off water quickly. Sogginess is a sign of bad cook in stir frying.

dcarch

[threestars]

dcarch have a point. Well I'm not really sure how it works but if it went very good, whatever way you cook it is totally fine. From how you describe, it looks really delicious.

[heidih]

It has seemed to me for some time that in the general population the term "saute" has been replaced by "stir fry". Witness the numerous frozen bags in the grocery store section for "stir fry" vegetables or with added proteins. Vegetables leaching water into a hot pan is not remotely going to give you wok hei Thanks to aggressive marketing some seem to feel "stir fry" = healthy, and saute = caloric French technique. Makes me crazy (or crazier than usual)

[dcarch]

"----wok hei----"

Thanks! That's it! That's what I have been told. That's what makes "stir fry"

The red-hot wok temperature instantly caramelizes many ingredients and gives the smoky flavor of stir frying.

"Saute" I thought I heard Jacques Pépin once said came from stir frying, that the ingredients jump in the pan.

Indeed, the ingredients do jump in a hot wok if you watch one in action.

dcarch

[Ashen]

I don't think you necessarily need a wok for a stir -fry but it is the easiest way. I had to use my largest cast iron pan this past weekend to stir-fry as a freak kitchen accident took out my flat bottom wok pan. It also killed the electric spiral element under it.

I had just finished prep and was making a tapioca starch slurry to thicken the sauce. I placed the wok pan on the element and turned to high to preheat. About 10 seconds later there was this very loud electrical buzzing snapping sound and sparks started flying. When I looked that the pan there was a single spot of really intense white light that left spots on my eyes for at least a half hr afterwards. I turned the control off , waited til the element cooled and swapped out for the back element of the same size . I pulled down my largest cast iron pan and kept going, there was no way I was wasting all that prep time. lol

It turned out well , although the low sides were an issue. Lots of things jumped out of the pan that night. I could only do a few ingredients at a time and then transfer to a hot casserole in the oven to keep while finishing the rest. At the end I sauced and tossed served over rice. Extra garlic chile paste for me as my wife isn't a chile fan.

Edited March 24, 2011 by Ashen (log)