Not burning the aromatics in stir-fry....

[tighe]

I enjoy cooking with a wok and everything I've ever seen/read/heard is that you get the best result by cooking at very high temperature. My problem is that when I really crank up the stove I often end up burning whatever aromatics (garlic, shallots, etc.) I put in at the beginning. I don't see burnt garlic chips in the food when I go to Asian restaurants, so what am I doing wrong?

[Knicke]

Hey, thanks for asking this question, tighe! I have often wondered the same thing....waiting with baited breath for eGullet wisdom...

[Bicycle Lee]

the way I learned from my mother is to have all your other ingredients ready to toss in and add them virtually right after you put the aromatics in the smoking-hot wok.

I get the wok hot, add my oil, throw in the garlic, ginger, shallots, etc...and barely get them moving around the wok and then toss in the other ingredients....this way the pan cools just enough to cook the meat and veggies wuickly, but not so hot that it burns your garlic and turns your stir fry rancid...

hope this helps....

[Toliver]

barely get them moving around the wok and then toss in the other ingredients

Exactly. The aromatics are there to flavor the oil that you're using to cook everthing else in. Once you've tossed them in to the hot oil, their job is done. In fact, if you don't need the tiny pieces in the final dish, don't chop them up. Smash the garlic cloves and shallot pieces with the broad side of your knife, toss them in the hot oil, stir briefly and then remove the chunks. The oil will have been flavored enough to start cooking everything else in it.

[Fat Guy]

As noted, the pace at which you add the ingredients to the wok makes all the difference. You want to get your wok hot with nothing in it, add the oil, then add the aromatics very soon after, and then add each additional ingredient in a sequence based on how long each takes to cook (ingredients that are very slow to cook should be par-cooked, and meats can be "velveted" first). Also be sure you are keeping the ingredients in motion and using plenty of oil.

[tighe]

Thanks for the guidance, it makes perfect sense. I need to shift from the 'sautee' frame of mind where these kinds of ingredients are cooked for a while before other ingredients are added. I would also think that with garlic in particular, one would need to dice it or crush it very finely to avoid have raw garlic flavor in the final product.

[Steve Martin]

I don't agree that garlic should be put in at the beginning and have all the life burnt out of it.

I take the advice of Chef Alastair Little and add it nearer the end of cooking.

Ginger likes to be early though.

[Behemoth]

I don't agree that garlic should be put in at the beginning and have all the life burnt out of it.

I take the advice of Chef Alastair Little and add it nearer the end of cooking.

Ginger likes to be early though.

Yeah, I have to agree about the garlic. If I put it in first, it goes in slices and comes out as soon as it is getting brown. Otherwise I push the food to the side of the pan at the end, add the garlic into the hot oil and toss after a couple of seconds. The latter technique I saw on America's test kitchen...I know people on this site don't seem to be big fans but some of the techniques they come up with are often very sharp. My stir-frys got really good after watching that particular episode.

[Malawry]

I was taught by one chef to just make some garlic oil as part of my mise-en-place, and then use that oil to cook the stir-fry. I don't usually use this technique but if you have a hard time with timing the aromatics and the other ingredients, it takes the guesswork out.

[Fat Guy]

I vote yes on Malawry's trick and no on the adding-garlic-later trick. The idea of adding the aromatics at the beginning is so that the oil and the rest of the ingredients become truly infused. Using an infused oil is a reasonable alternative. But adding any of the aromatics late in the game will not yield the deeply infused flavors you'll get from early addition -- which is why no real Chinese chef uses that trick. It's better to learn how to add the garlic without scorching it. If you also want some fresh garlic flavor, you can add more garlic towards the end of cooking, but that's a different use of garlic -- not a substitute.

[Behemoth]

I vote yes on Malawry's trick and no on the adding-garlic-later trick. The idea of adding the aromatics at the beginning is so that the oil and the rest of the ingredients become truly infused. Using an infused oil is a reasonable alternative. But adding any of the aromatics late in the game will not yield the deeply infused flavors you'll get from early addition -- which is why no real Chinese chef uses that trick. It's better to learn how to add the garlic without scorching it. If you also want some fresh garlic flavor, you can add more garlic towards the end of cooking, but that's a different use of garlic -- not a substitute.

The problem with the "chinese chef" argument is that a chinese chef is also probably using a wok on top of a stove that is built to accomodate it. I've found that round-bottomed woks don't work well on regular stoves because too little of the surface comes in contact with the heat source. At home most people are using either a flat-bottomed fry pan, or a flattened-bottom "hybrid" wok. (I use the former.) With both of these, it is difficult to get the depth of oil needed to keep the garlic from touching the metal of the pan, where it tends to stick and scorch almost immediately if there is nothing to buffer.

Actually, I think I misrepresented Mr. Kimball & co. a little -- the garlic is not put in at the end of the cooking, but is put in last among the aromatics. So for example, when I am making stir-fried pork with scallions, I would add the white parts of the scallions first,(It's nice when those scorch a little) then the ginger, then the garlic, then the partially pre-cooked pork, then the green parts of the scallions, then the liquids at the end. The entire process hardly takes 3 minutes. In absence of properly authentic equipment, this method works quite well.

BTW, in terms of authenticity, I learned this dish from a chinese colleague

[Hest88]

I've found that round-bottomed woks don't work well on regular stoves because too little of the surface comes in contact with the heat source.

I've heard this argument before and remember reading that travesty of a stir-fry recipe in an old Cook's Illustrated and I just don't buy it. I have a round bottomed wok that I've used on a succession of old, cheapo gas stoves--just like what I grew up with. I don't use a wok ring (unless I'm steaming or deep-frying) and have no desire to get one of those flat bottomed woks. It's certainly not ideal, but it works well. I think it's just a matter of practice and not an inherent drawback of the equipment itself. My mother continues to make great food with an old wok and an inexpensive stove.

Plus, I'm sure this isn't the case with you, but you don't *want* the entire wok to have uniform heat. You want the side of the wok to be cooler so you can push ingredients up the side to add items or control what what is getting more heat and what isn't.