Stir-frying Vegetables
You’ve decided to a prepare a healthy stir-fry from scratch, using ingredients you have on hand.
Not sure whether a certain vegetable is a good candidate for stir-frying?
It all comes down to the density and moisture level of the vegetable.
High moisture vegetables that are not too hard, like zucchini, sweet peppers, spinach and mung bean sprouts, can be quickly stir-fried at high heat without the addition of extra liquid.
Denser, low moisture vegetables like broccoli and carrots, on the other hand, require more cooking time. Most recipes call for the vegetables to be stir-fried briefly and then boiled in a liquid such as chicken broth.
Another option is to briefly blanch the vegetables prior to stir-frying.
Many vegetables fall somewhere between these two extremes. Snow peas (also called sugar peas and snap peas) have medium moisture levels and thickness – they can be stir-fried dry or finished in a sauce. Asparagus, on the other hand, is a high moisture vegetable but relatively hard and thick – liquid is usually added.
More Tips on Stir-frying Vegetables:
For all vegetables, cut them into uniform size before stir-frying. This ensures that they will cook evenly.
Be sure the vegetables are thoroughly drained before stir-frying. (A good tip is to wash the vegetables and leave them to drain earlier in the day). Wet vegetables can ruin a stir-fry.
On the other hand, if vegetables become too dry during stir-frying, they can burn. To prevent this, splash them with a bit of Chinese rice wine, dry sherry, or water while stir-frying.
Keep moving the vegetables during stir-frying. This also helps prevent them burning.
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