Stir Frys

[Kazzabon]

Hi All - Newbie here

I'm going to start EE tomorrow :sigh:

Normally I eat a lot of stir frys and I tried doing one tonight without oil using the SW method of stock in the wok then add veggies but it wasn't very successful......Any tips other than fry light (live in the middle of nowhere in SW France and haven't managed to find it in the shops yet).

 

[Sarah-Jayne]

I personally dont even use frylight when doing a stir fry, just a very hot wok and shove the veggies in.

You can use oil as a HEXB if you prefer to use oil in your stir fry hun x

 

[Kazzabon]

Thanks for the quick reply - I tried the hot wok thing and my noodles and egg stuck!! Practise, Practise, Practise I suppose ............ Oh, and my HEX were gone hours ago

 

[Sarah-Jayne]

How about boiling your noodles seperately and the just quickly tossing them into the stir fry right at the end when the wok is off the heat? Might not stick then x

 

[SlimmingKitchen]

I cook mine in soy sauce and its lovely. xxx

 

[ColJack]

start with the "juicy" stuff..

I'm sure you could get some frylite sent over from somewhere..

failing that a tsp of oil is only 2 syns so you could plan that into the meal..

is it a fairly new wok or a well seasoned one?
do you wash it every time or just wipe it out?

 

[RegField]

I don't like using Frylight, so I use a small amount of oil and syn it.

 

[CAPRICORN]

Im another one who doesn't use fry-light, I use 1/2tsp oil between 2 of us -so only 0.5 syns each....
get your wok hot, add your oil and then put the onions in first -once they are coated with oil add a bit of salt -(I read this tip by Ken Hom it draws out the moisture and they taste like proper fried onions when they are done), once they have started to soften you can start adding in the other things....
I also find that for some reason that stir-fry onions are better if you slice them root to tip rather than into semi-circles -you seem to keep more firmness
ooohh oooh and I usually do my vegies in the wok and any meat is cooked in a small frying pan and thrown in towards the end -so that any moisture from it doesn't "stew" the veggies
hope it helps

 

[Kazzabon]

I'm a philistine and puts the wok in the dishwasher.....
Will try a tsp of oil with the onions in first - cheers all

 

[jooloo]

I've just looked and you can buy fry light on ebay. If you want to try it you could ask them if they'll send it abroad? It probably won't work out cheap with postage but I find a bottle lasts me absolutely AGES! I use it everyday.

 

[ColJack]

you're not supposed to wash a wok.. just rinse it out with warm water..
that's what makes it non-stick.. all the oil that's soaked into the metal..

 

[BritMumInCanada]

Most wok's you buy in general stores are unfortunately of poor quality and nothing like what is used by the Chinese for cooking. For a good quality wok you need one made from carbon steel and never ever buy a flat bottomed one, a true wok has a round bottom and unfortunately are not really designed for cooking on an electric hob, the Chinese way of cooking is usually done on a gas water cooler burner. So gas hobs are definately best. I unfortunately have an electric hob so just stick to a good quality non stick frying pan.

You actually need very little oil to cook in a wok, the oil is generally just used to coat the wok. Also as mentioned a wok should never be washed with washing up liquid, infact avoid washing at all unless really needed, as this will ruin a wok. If you do need to wash it, just do so with warm water and dry straight away, don,t leave to dry on a draining board.

 

[ColJack]

put it back on the heat for a minute to dry it out..

 

[Shrimpy]

I bought a wok when I started SW, it's never had oil in it and it get's washed every time. Mentally I can be dealing with the idea of rancid, off fat being ignored on my cooking implements, especially since I stir fry about once ever 3 weeks...