Whenever I am in a pantry-clearing,
refrigerator-purging mood, I always think Stir-Fry. Regardless of the
veggies I have on hand, the proteins stored away in my freezer, the
seasonings in my spice rack, and the starches taking up space
in the cabinets, I am always confident that some kind of stir-fry dish
can come together for a quick and delicious dinner.
Stir fries, however, cannot be executed by a heavy
hand. One cannot simply chop all their ingredients, heat up some oil,
and throw all of said ingredients in for a frying pan ride! But
why—WHY?! You might ask. Well, here are some answers.
First of all, a stir-fry dish is elevated to the
next level if and only if flavors are built up and married. This may
require a bit more patience on part of the home cook, but the results
are sure to please. Take your sauces, for example.
If you toss everything in the oil, douse it with some kind of sauce or
marinade, and let it rip, much of the flavor will do one of two things: cook off or become too
soaked into the ingredients (nobody likes a soggy stir-fry). Think of your high school shop class days:
measure twice, cut once was the old adage
here. In the world of stir-fry, let’s just say taste twice, or thrice,
or four times, and serve once.
Now let’s think of our vegetable drawer. More
likely than not, you are going to have a wide range of veggies just
waiting to come to the stir-fry party. But what if this is what you’re
working with: frozen broccoli, summer squash, zucchini,
carrots, and celery. Odds are, it will be best if the frozen broccoli
gets cooking long before the delicate summer squash, which needs only a
few minutes over heat to get tender. And if carrots and celery are too
late to the party, their crunchy texture will
not marry happily with the soft zucchini. What I’m saying here is that
veggies should be added in layers. Bring in the frozen veggies first and
gradually add the fresh vegetables in order of most crispy to most
tender.
Lastly, it is important to be aware of the protein
you are working with. Are you using chicken breast that has already been
cooked? Or are you browning up raw ground meat? Similar to my theory on
the vegetables in a stir-fry, it is important
to add in your protein at the right point in the cooking process. If
your protein is still raw, brown up onions and finely chopped mushrooms
to get some flavors moving, and then cook your meat thoroughly before
adding any more vegetables. If your protein has
already been cooked and just needs some flash-frying to reheat it, add
it a little later when more of the sauces are in the pan to get the
chicken, or turkey, or beef tender again.
Last night, I put all of these simple rules of
thumb in action for a great Asian-inspired Ground Pork Stir-Fry. Below
is the recipe. Jazz it up as you want and make use of the ingredients
taking up space in your pantry—the options are endless!
Here’s what I had lying around the kitchen:
¾ pound ground pork
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped mushrooms
2 celery stalks, chopped to yield about ¼ cup
8 baby carrots, chopped to yield about 1/3 cup
1 egg
½ cup frozen broccoli
1 yellow squash, chopped to yield about 1 cup
½ cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
Here’s how I built a delicious stir-fry:
Heat up olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat.
Add in onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle with about ½
teaspoon salt to begin the caramelizing process. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes
until the onions are slightly browned and the mushrooms begin to
release some of their moisture.
Add the ground pork and break up the meat into the
onions and mushrooms. Cook until fully browned, 7 to 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally. If you need to drain any grease, do so at this
point before any flavoring is added.
Add the Worcestershire sauce and stir to coat.
Add the frozen broccoli and cover the frying pan to lightly steam the florets. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and stir.
Add the carrots and celery. Cook for about 5
minutes then stir in the lime juice. Allow the carrots and celery some
time to cook down before adding the egg (scrambled). I created a space
in the center of the pan to let the egg stiffen before
mixing in to the rest of the stir fry.
Add the summer squash, chili powder, and half of the soy sauce. Mix well and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finally, add in the spinach and the remaining soy
sauce. Cook until the spinach is wilted.
Serve over sticky rice and
drizzle each dish with a touch more soy sauce!
What is your favorite stir-fry dish? How do you bring your flavors to the next level?
