Tonight I made a beef stir fry and remembered back a few years ago when every stir fry I made came out terrible - tough meat and limp, soggy veggies. YUCK! I finally found this video which transformed my stir fries. Now it is a favorite - healthy and quick and a good way to get veggies into the meal without having to make them separately. If your stir fries need help, watch the video and follow it exactly the first few times (use a watch because 2 minutes feels lots shorter than it is). Another EXCELLENT video on pan frying in general is here. Watch them and you will be a much better cook for it!
Instead of a recipe, I'm just going to list a few key tips to keep in mind. Use any combination of meat and veggies you would like, or what you have on hand.
1. Prep everything ahead
2. Get the pan good and hot before adding the oil
3. DON'T OVERCROWD THE PAN. You may need to cook your meat in batches of 2 or even more. Even though it means it will take longer overall, this step is critical. If you put too much in, your pan's temperature will cool down and your meat will take too long to cook and end up steaming in it's own juices instead of searing - making for tough meat.
4. Don't move the meat until it has seared well and releases on it's own. Put it in the pan and leave it alone for several minutes, then give the pan a shake to see if they have released. If so then you can start to stir it.
5. It's okay to fill the pan with veggies as the difference in steamed or sauteed doesn't matter as much. But do keep the heat up so they cook quickly, and whatever you do, don't overcook your veggies. Add the sauce and meat back to the pan before they are finished, so that way they aren't overcooked by the time everything else comes together.
No comments:
Post a Comment