Stir Fry

[WV Sawmiller]

    We could not decide what to make for dinner tonight so my wife got a couple of steaks out of the freezer. We debated what to do with them and decided to just make stir fried beef. They were still mostly frozen which is perfect for slicing. I trimmed the fat off and sliced them about 1/8" thick . I sliced 3-4 carrots and a medium onion and threw them in my Great Wok Of China (One of the few TV purchases I have been well pleased with) in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil when it started smoking. The beef was well done in just a few minutes then I added the carrots and onions and let them cook a few minutes. I tossed in a little garlic powder, a little salt and black pepper and a couple tablespoonsful of soy sauce then a handful of cranberries and a hand full of mixed nuts. I let them simmer a couple of minutes, added a cup of cold water with a heaping teaspoon full of corn starch for thickener/gravy and let them stew a couple of minutes then we served it over white rice and seasoned to tasted with some red hot pepper flakes and such.

  It was pretty good but really needed a little more seasoning and some other veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms, etc. would have been nice but we only had carrots and onion. I forgot or I'd have thrown a little cabbage in the mix. We may have to start stocking a few more assorted veggies and get some cheap cuts of beef (If there is such a thing any more) as round steak or such would have been just as good and cook this more often.

  I used to cook stir fry in my wok in Africa all the time as it was something that only took a very few minutes to prepare. I'd buy a carrot, an onion and a bell pepper or some other veggies when the nearby street vendors had them. Over there I did not store such ahead but just bought them daily. I'd use beef or shrimp mostly but don't remember using chicken there but should here.

[Ianab]

You can stir fry just about anything if you are so inclined. 

I have a cheap Chinese wok from a local discount store. There's no real "secret" to wok making, so a cheap one works just fine once you get the metal seasoned. (Same as cast iron). 

I usually cheat and use a flavour sachet from the supermarket. Just makes things quicker than fiddling with the different ingredients, although I can do that if I feel like it. Some noodles or rice to serve it with, and that's dinner sorted. 

[SwampDonkey]

The other day I sauteed peppers and onion in butter, cooked some rice and some chicken strips dribbled a little VH ginger sauce on it and enjoyed. We had bought 6 peppers on a buy one get one free store sale and have way more peppers than necessary. Worked out to $3 bucks a 3 pepper package, which is better than $2 a pepper. I think. : :D Then what do you do with them all? Got a freezer full of garden ones. But they have to be cooked, where as fresh can be in salad. Oh the dilemma. ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

   I stopped at our local Kroger (Grocery store) on my way back from the flea market shopping trip this morning and bought a pack of 4 boneless chicken breasts and a discounted pack of round steak. I packaged one breast per bag and cut the 2 steaks in half so I am set for 8 stir fry meals. I also bought several packs of frozen mix like Ian describes. I may add some more onion or carrots but they do have a good variety of veggies and being frozen I can keep them readily available. I like the idea of throwing some rice or noodles in there. I can see an assortment of stir fry meals in the future. My wife does not like leftovers so stir fry is a very good option for us to make small meals sized for our appetites. They are also very quick to prepare.

[Firewoodjoe]

I don't use corn starch. I always use corn meal. The mix that has flour salt and backing powder in it as a thickener. I love stews. Quick and throw whatever is available. Can't screw dinners like that up. My kids even love stuff like that. Skip the thickener and liquids and put it on shells or rice or potatoes. It's all good. 

[Ianab]

Only me and Lil home tonight. 
Got out one pork chop from the freezer, and some seasonal veggies.  Stir fry those add some extra garlic / ginger / chilli and some rice noodles.


 

 

 

I am impressed with my eucalyptus stiring stick that I made about 15 years back. Been through the dishwasher 100s of times, and still going strong.

[rusticretreater]

That was one pork chop?  Did you buy it the same place Fred Flintstone gets his brontosaurus ribs?

[WV Sawmiller]

   That just proves stir fry is a real good way to stretch a piece of meat, chicken, fish or a handful of shellfish! Sure looks good - way better than mine did.

[Ianab]

That was one pork chop?  Did you buy it the same place Fred Flintstone gets his brontosaurus ribs?

:D
They call them Shoulder chops, sliced off the top of the leg and has a bit of shoulder blade bone running though? It was ~400 grams (almost a pound) with the bone and fat. Confession, I bought it when I was home alone over Easter, and was going to have it all to myself, Fred Flintstone style. Just never got around to cooking it. But it was plenty enough to feed 2 with the veg and noodles. 

[Ianab]

I love stews. Quick and throw whatever is available. Can't screw dinners like that up.

Yeah, that's my classic slow cooker deal. Doesn't matter how old and chewy that beef is, 8 hours in a slow cooker and it's tender as. Arguably that tough "gravy beef" is the best, as it's more flavour and the extra sinew in there just thickens up better. 

I find a lot of the more interesting "Ethnic" recipes are more about stretching the expensive ingredients, or using less the "prime" ones. So when you actually look at the cost, they are very reasonable. Also many of them might specify some ingredient or spice, but it's not actually essential. I sure as heck don't add saffron to my fried rice, it would cost more than all the other ingredients combined. I'm more with Uncle Roger's Fried Rice.  Look up Uncle Roger on Youtube, he's an Asian comedian with a lot to say about fried rice and how people get it wrong.  Aii-Ahhh

[WV Sawmiller]

   I came back in the house and my wife was hungry and trying to figure what to have so I took out a piece of round steak that probably weighed about 1/2 a pound, started a pot of rice cooking and while still frozen I sliced the steak in strips about 1/8" thick. I also peeled several small carrots and coarsely chopped half an onion. I threw the steak in a couple ounces of hot vegetable oil and within 2-3 minutes it was cooked through then I added the carrots, onion and a bag of mixed stir fry veggies. I stirred that and covered and let it steam a few minutes and seasoned with salt, black pepper and soy sauce then added a big cup of water with a heaping teaspoon of corn starch. It was actually too much thickener and made more sauce than we needed. I forgot to add peanuts/mixed nuts and did not add cranberries but we did not miss them. It was much better than last time. The assorted stir fry pack had broccoli, green beans, snow peas and supposedly some red or green pepper, celery, etc. but I did not observe them.

 Now I am thinking (Yes - that is dangerous) about making my own stir fry mix and just buying a bunch of in season fresh veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, snow peas, onion, carrots peppers. Maybe even drain and mix in a big can or two of water chestnuts and slice up a few fresh onions or drain and throw in a big can or two of drained canned mushrooms. Slice all the veggies and throw them in a big bowl and bag them up in about quart sized bags and vacuum seal them for future use. My wife seems to think you need to blanch the veggies in hot water then ice them cool, drain, bag and freeze them. If any of you have ever done such please advise on the blanching or if there is any reason not to just freeze them fresh. They are going to go directly into the wok while still frozen so I don't know what the blanching adds to the process.

  If any of you have made your own stir fry mix please comment. It looks to me like you could make your own mix pretty cheap. There is pretty much no limit on what kind of crisp veggie you can throw into a stir fry and it just takes minutes to do. This sure stretched 8 ounce of cheap beef for a big lunch and leftover for at least one more meal or we could have fed 3 adults with it.

[K-Guy]

I love Asian food and insist on going to Chinatown anytime we go to Boston for both a good dinner and shopping for my pantry. We I make stir fry's, it has to have bean sprouts, onion and sui choy(Chinese Celery) from there what I have available for veggies. For meat, usually pork or beef and occasionally chicken. Since I like cooking real as opposed to western Chinese food, I do my own seasonings. 

[K-Guy]

No pictures(sorry) but we had Pork Yakitori with steamed rice and stir fried veggies in a Japanese Yakisoba sauce. The Yakitori was a homemade one but the Yakisoba was a commercially made one from Japan. The big difference from western copies to real Japanese sauces is the western ones are much sweeter and I don't care for that. The other thing is that they use them much more sparingly and don't drench everything in it. A little goes a long way.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
   I sliced up a chicken breast into small strips, threw them in a little hot vegetable oil in the wok for a few minutes, added 3 thinly cross cut carrots and half an onion, added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, a handful of mixed nuts and a few cranberries, stirred and covered, a good jigger of soy sauce, a little garlic powder, salt & pepper then a cup of cold water with a heaping teaspoon of corn starch stirred in then served over white rice.

So simple. Very good.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
A couple of Normal sized pork chops cut into cubes and fried in a couple tablespoons of oil, 2 carrots cut into thin rounds, a chunk of leftover onion, a handful of mixed nuts, one 12 oz pack of frozen mixed stir fry veggies, soy sauce, almond powder, salt pepper and about a quart of leftover cooked spaghetti noodles. Maybe 10-12 minutes to prepare and another very tasty meal.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 
I noticed an old bag of egg noodles and a partial bag of them in the fridge so I cooked them and while they drained I browned about a pound of chipped up beef labeled for taco but the right size for my needs. Then I chunked up half an onion and a couple of carrots then added a pack of stir fry veggies added the noodles, seasoned with powdered ginger and garlic and soy sauce. I threw in a half a cup of leftover whole kernel corn and heated. It needed a little more salt and was a little dry. I should have buttered the noodles but is not too bad. Of course I'll have to eat on it another couple of days as it made way more than the 2 of us needed.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 

   My wife was uncertain what to fix for dinner so I suggested fried noodles as quick and easy. She concurred so I put a pot of salted water on to boil spaghetti then pulled 2 pork chops and a bag of mixed stir fry veggies out of the freezer and while the noodles boiled I defrosted, deboned and cubed the pork chops into half inch cubes and threw them in the hot wok with a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil They got done and I set them aside and threw the frozen veggies in the wok while I drained the noodles which had boiled for 10-11 minutes. After 4-5 minutes the veggies were done so I returned the pork, threw in a handful of dry cranberries and another handful of mixed nuts, dusted  the mix with ground ginger and garlic powder and a good jigger or two of soy sauce then added the noodles and stirred a couple minutes. All this as the wok was on my highest heat setting.

   I used pork but any leftover cooked meat, poultry and I suspect fish would have worked. Instead of the frozen stir fry veggies any frozen or in season fresh veggie should have worked. For example, cabbage or green beans or onions or broccoli or cauliflower, peppers, carrots, etc. or a mix of any should have worked just as well for variety. Instead of cranberries I could have substituted raisins or grapes or left them out. Same with the nuts. Soy sauce is pretty standard but the ginger or garlic could be left out with no major impact. Keep it simple and use what you like and have handy. Water chestnuts or mushrooms would have been nice if I'd had them handy but not essential.

@Peter Drouin

    As I mentioned in another thread a wok for meals like this is a great bachelor device. Use on high heat the whole time, easy one dish clean-up and cooks fast. It is pretty hard to screw up a stir fry.