STIR FRY PREPARATION

Preparation of vegetables and meat is usually more time consuming than the actual cooking.

When stir frying, high heat is used to cook meat and vegetables quickly in a very small amount of oil.

The largest amount of time will be spent fine chopping aromatics such as garlic, green onion, ginger, or chili, and cutting meat and vegetables into uniformly sized pieces.

This can include thin slices, shreds, or a medium dice.

It is important that all of the sizes are the same size for quick and uniform cooking.

It is not necessary to own Asian cooking utensils, such as a seasoned wok and a long handled scoop, but they will make your task easier.

A wok is made to concentrate the heat in the center of the pan for cooking, and the edges acting as a warm resting area to leave your food after it has completed it's cooking cycle in the center.

A long spatula or scoop is used to keep the food in motion, by stirring, lifting and tossing.

This will insure that each piece is evenly exposed to the heat without scorching and to seal in the flavor as well as keeping your hands away from the heat.

Once you begin the actual cooking occurs very rapidly, and so it is important to have everything ready and near the stove before you begin.

I like to cut each ingredient and place it in a separate bowl. Now when you are ready to start cooking, you just pick up the bowl for the items that you are ready to cook and dump it in.

If you don't have a wok, you can use a skilled and a large sauce pan for the same results if need be.

Heat the skillet to high heat, and place a nonstick saucepan over Medium Low heat.

Now cook each item in the skillet, when it is done cooking place it in the sauce pan.

When you are ready to complete your dish, place everyting back in to the skillet and prepare the sauce.