I married a man who likes to go vegetarian in the summer. I didn’t really know what I was getting into –it makes for unusual meals at the Pinkston house. With experimentation, though, we’ve come up with some solutions, and we’ve found that we really enjoy stir-fry. Here is a list of tips that may help make your stir-fry creations better than ever:
1. Use fresh ginger and garlic. Ginger powder and garlic powder/salt just don’t give the same flavor. Be sure to sauté them first before you add anything else.
2. The fresher the meat, the better. I prefer to use meat straight from the grocery store, before it’s been frozen. If you do need to use frozen meat, make sure that it’s completely thawed.
3. Cut your meat against the grain. As you look at the meat, you can see which direction the muscular fibers run – cut across them to create soft, tender meat. If you cut with the grain, it’s harder to chew.
4. If you want your soy sauce to stick to your vegetables instead of running off, mix the sauce with a little bit of flour before adding it to the stirfry. Do this ½ teaspoon to 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
5. For absolutely outrageous chicken, mix the soy sauce and flour as above, then pour over sliced chicken strips. Stir it together and then let sit for fifteen minutes at room temperature before stir-frying.
6. Slice everything really thin. This not only helps it cook faster, but it’s easier to chew.
7. Cook everything at a high temperature for a shorter amount of time. If you can get your meat fully cooked on a minute per side, that’s about right. Overcooking isn’t good for you or the food.
8. Only cook the vegetables until they’re crunchy-tender. Don’t cook them until they’re soggy. If you look at them, they should still retain their bright color and shouldn’t be starting to fade.
You can create dishes to rival any Chinese restaurant for a fraction of the cost and calories. Get creative, and have fun!
(Tristi Pinkston is a full-time blogger in Movie and Media Reviews. Click here to read more by this blogger.)
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