Stir-frying is built for speed. Small, evenly cut pieces of meat and vegetables cook in a few minutes over high heat, and a quick sauce poured in at the end turns everything glossy. The method rewards a bit of organization more than skill: once the pan is hot, things move fast, so have every ingredient sliced and every sauce mixed before you start.
The recipes
- Chicken and snap pea stir-fry: cornstarch-coated chicken, crisp snap peas, ginger and garlic in a soy-oyster sauce.
- Quick beef stir fry: flank steak, bell peppers and green onions in an easy garlic-ginger soy sauce, served over jasmine rice in 16 minutes.
- Beef and broccoli noodles: thin sirloin strips and broccoli tossed with quick-cook noodles in a honey-ginger soy sauce.
- Garlic shrimp and broccoli stir-fry: shrimp seared briefly and set aside, broccoli stir-fried and steamed under a lid, then everything tossed in a garlic-ginger sauce.
- Thai basil chicken: ground chicken with chilies, garlic and a fistful of basil, served over jasmine rice with a fried egg.
- Egg fried rice and shrimp fried rice: chilled rice fried hot with egg, peas and soy sauce.
Stir-fry habits that make a difference
Slice meat thinly against the grain; ten to fifteen minutes in the freezer firms it up and makes this much easier. Cook the protein first, take it out while it’s still slightly underdone, then cook the vegetables and bring everything back together with the sauce. This avoids tough, overcooked meat.
For fried rice, cold cooked rice is essential. Freshly cooked rice is too moist and clumps together.
Picking one
If you have ten minutes and cold rice, go for one of the fried rice dishes. For a noodle night, the beef and broccoli is hard to beat. Want something with real heat? Thai basil chicken. And if there’s a family to please, the chicken and snap pea stir-fry is mild and slightly sweet.
All of these are cooked in one pan, so they also belong to our one-pan dinner recipes.