Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-Fry | Healthy Stir-Fry Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good stir-fry? ›

Stir your ingredients often

Your ingredients should cook fast, but to ensure that everything is cooked evenly, stir constantly (hence the name). It's important to move the food in and out of the centre of the pan quickly.

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

If possible, a stir-fry is always more delicious with fresh vegetables and ingredients. While you can use frozen or canned vegetables, fresh ingredients tend to provide a better taste to your meal. Once you are ready to cook your stir-fry, place all the ingredients on your counter and begin prepping.

Stir-frying results in tender-crisp vegetables that retain more nutrients than if they were boiled. And since stir-frying generally requires only a small amount of oil, the fat content is relatively low.

Ketchup could be used to enhance store-bought stir fry sauces as well. It will give them a flavor boost and a bit more richness, too. You can also try mixing a few tablespoons in with some teriyaki sauce to create a more complex flavor.

So many different oils, the good news is you can stick with what you know – canola is great! The best oils for stir frys are the oils with the higher smoke points. These tend to be the “thinner” oils such as peanut, grapeseed or canola.

Meat first, then vegetables – If you want meat or seafood in your stir fry, cook it first then scoop it out onto a separate plate before cooking the vegetables. You'll add the meat back in at the end. 5. Don't crowd the pan – If you have too much in your pan, the vegetables will steam instead of staying crisp.

Marinating vegetables enhances their natural flavors, adds moisture, and can create a delightful contrast between the crispy exterior and tender interior when cooked.

What thickens stir-fry? ›

Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.

Aromatics in first- onion, leeks, garlic, ginger, chilli. Firm vegetables in second – like carrot, capsicum/bell peppers, stems of Asian Greens (Buk Choy in this recipe), zucchini / courgettes, eggplant, asparagus, canned baby corn, green beans, okra. Quicker cooking vegetables added next- snow peas, kale, cabbage.

Flank steaks are the most popular choice for making a stir-fry. However, you can also use sirloin steak, skirt steak, Denver steak, or even beef chuck. Beef chuck steak is the most economical choice, but it does require some extra trimming. You'll want to remove the tough tissue from the steaks before frying.

Yes, stir fry vegetables are a great option for weight loss. Stir-frying is a low-calorie cooking method that helps to retain the nutrients in the vegetables while also providing a delicious and flavourful meal. The key to making a healthy stir fry is to use fresh vegetables and lean proteins.

Stir-frying and stir-frying/boiling, the two most popular methods for most homemade dishes in China, cause great losses of chlorophyll, soluble protein, soluble sugar, vitamin C, and glucosinolates, but the steaming method appears the best in retention of the nutrients in cooking broccoli.

The main ingredients to a stir-fry are: Proteins – chicken, beef, pork, seafood, tofu, tempeh, seitan. Aromatics – garlic, green onions, shallots, ginger.

The ingredients that take the longest to cook or tenderize should go in first to give them more time. “Very broadly, the order should be aromatics, meat, hearty vegetables, soft vegetables and seasoning,” says Sin. “A great example is a classic Chinese American dish like beef and broccoli.