How to Cook a Perfect Stir Fry

I love stir fries. They’re quick and easy, you can add tons of veggies, and they taste great over brown rice seasoned with turmeric and cardamom. You can go from ingredients to finished dish in fifteen minutes. They’re perfect for using up extra leftovers. What’s not to love?

Still, this tasty dish often isn’t the first meal that comes to mind when deciding what to make for dinner. That changes now! To learn how to cook the perfect stir fry, follow the super easy steps in the recipe below. Customize the recipe with your favorite ingredients (or whatever’s in your fridge); for example, try lean ground beef or tofu in place of the pork, or sliced water chestnuts and carrots instead of the onions and peppers.

You can use any large skillet to cook a stir fry, but it’s worth investing in a wok. Their round bottoms and high sides make fulfilling the “stir” part of “stir fry” much easier, and you can pick up one for about $15 to $20 at an Asian grocery.

A few stir fry tips:

*Make sure the wok is hot. The ingredients cook faster and the flavor is better.
*Thinly slice the protein and veggies so they cook quickly.
*Stir constantly while cooking. The cooking time is no more than 5-6 minutes, so you won’t be at the stove too long.

Spicy Hoisin Stir Fry with Sauteed Peppers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Keywords: stir-fry entree

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork or beef or cubed tofu
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup broth, beef or chicken or veggie
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup sliced green onions

Instructions

In a large skillet over high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl. Brown pork until crumbly and cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer pork to paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.

Combine broth, hoisin sauce, cornstarch and soy sauce. Whisk until smooth and set aside.

Pour off any liquid in skillet and discard. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet over high heat and saute onion, garlic, red bell pepper, ginger and pepper flakes for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until vegetables have softened.

Stir broth mixture into stir-fry and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add pork and combine. Serve over udon noodles or brown rice. Sprinkle with sliced green onions and serve.

P.S. A little something I knew you guys would be interested in:

I gave a series of presentations yesterday as part of my work with Head Start, and I opened each presentation with this question: “How many teaspoons of sugar are in 16 oz. sweetened iced tea?” The audiences were absolutely flabbergasted when I showed them the bottle into which I had measured NINE TEASPOONS of sugar. Can you imagine drinking that much sugar in a single iced tea? Crazy.

15 Comments

I let a friend borrow my wok (4 months ago) and I have yet to get it back. This recipes makes me WANT MY WOK BACK ASAP!! This recipe looks so tasty and healthy at he same time! Winner!