Easy Stir Fry Sauce Recipe - Build Your Bite (2024)

FAQs

What is the sauce for the stir fry made of? ›

Whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, sugar and red pepper flakes if using in a medium bowl until combined. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.

The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.

Aromatic ingredients like garlic, ginger, green onions, chilies and spices. These ingredients are typically added to the oil first to infuse it with flavor. You won't need much; a few teaspoons to a tablespoon of total aromatic ingredients per person adds a serious amount of flavor.

So many different oils, the good news is you can stick with what you know – canola is great! The best oils for stir frys are the oils with the higher smoke points. These tend to be the “thinner” oils such as peanut, grapeseed or canola.

Another interesting fact, most Chinese people still prefer to use potato starch to thicken the sauce. If it's in Taiwan, Taiwanese people use sweet potato starch and potato starch to thick the sauce and cook other food.

You can thicken stir fry sauce by adding a teaspoon of cornstarch to a tablespoon water mixture. Continuously stir the sauce until the sauce thickens. Turn off heat right away and presto, you have a thick stir fry sauce.

While cornstarch is used in China, many Chinese cooks also cook with tapioca starch. In the West, cornstarch is more readily available and generally preferred. The reason why cornstarch is so common is that it adds that perfectly silky texture to stir fries, soups, and sauces synonymous with great Chinese food.

What goes first in a stir-fry? ›

Stir-fry onions first, then add hard vegetables such as carrot and broccoli. Quick-cooking vegetables, such as snow peas, leafy greens and bean sprouts, should be added towards the end of cooking. If using vegies that have a combination of both textures, such as gai laan, add the stems first and the leaves later.

Start with the hard vegetables like carrots and broccoli. Stir and scoop vegetables to the side to make room for more. Then add the softer vegetables, like sliced mushrooms and zucchini. Pour in some stock or water and always keep the veggies moving in the pan.

Oyster sauce is commonly used in Chinese food and adds a savory, salty, umami flavor. Both can be found in most grocery stores. If you like, you can add grated or minced ginger or garlic. Serve your homemade brown sauce with a beef, chicken, or pork stir-fry or chow mein dish.

Soy sauce has been used in Chinese cooking for over 1,000 years. This classic dipping sauce is a staple in Chinese restaurants, as it is served with dim sum dishes and is used together with vinegar, ginger, and chili oil.