Variations:
1) Prawn, asparagus and corn stir-fry: Replace the chicken with 500g medium green prawns, peeled with tails left intact and deveined. Replace the mushrooms and broccoli with 2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths, and 230g (2 trays) fresh baby corn. Add the leaves from 1 bunch of fresh coriander with the sprouts.
2) Pork stir-fry with bok choy and celery: Replace the chicken with 500g pork mince. Leave out the capsicum and replace the mushrooms and broccoli with 1 bunch baby bok choy, leaves separated and washed, and 4 celery sticks, diagonally sliced. Replace the oyster sauce with 1 tbs of hoi sin sauce.
3) Lamb stir-fry with Asian greens: Replace chicken with 500g lean lamb steaks (Trim lamb, eye of loin, fillet, round or topside) cut across the grain into thin strips. Add 2 medium carrots, diagonally sliced, with the onion. Leave out the broccoli and add 1 bunch choy sum, washed and coarsely chopped, after stir-frying the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes before returning the lamb to the wok with the combined sauces and water. Leave out the bean sprouts.
This recipe can also serve two.
What’s the secret to a good stir-fry?
It’s no secret that stir-fry is easy to make, which is why it’s a staple in pretty much every Aussie household. But to make it just that much better, we recommend following these tips:
- Avoid overcrowding your pan to keep your vegies crisp. If there are too many veggies cooking at once, this will lead to sogginess.
- Using a pan works great, but to take your stir-fry to the next level, using a wok is even better. This is because the heat is centralised at the bottom of the wok, so it sears stir-fry ingredients quickly. And if you want vegies to cook at a lower heat, simply push them up the sides of the wok.
Do you cook chicken before stir-frying?
Chicken generally takes longer to cook than vegetables, so starting the stir-frying process by frying off your chicken first is the way to go. To prevent it from getting dry, remove it from the pan once it’s brown before cooking the vegetables. Then, re-add the chicken towards the end of the process to make sure it’s cooked all the way through.
Do you stir-fry on high or low heat?
The key to cooking stir fry is to make sure the heat is very high. This will ensure the cooking process is quick, and the veggies stay a little crisp.
Is olive oil good for stir-frying?
Olive oil has a low smoke point, so we don’t recommend using it in stir-fries. The best kind of oil for stir-frying is anything with a high smoke point. This includes peanut, grapeseed or canola oil.
