Mastering Stir Fry

I shamelessly stole this from the original author. Brilliant! Simply brilliant!

1. Pick a protein: 3/4 lb. flank steak, trimmed and thinly sliced against the grain; 3/4 lb. slliced pork tenerloin, thinly sliced; 3/4 lb. med or lg shrimp, peeled and deveined; 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, thinly sliced against grain; 12-oz pkg. extra-firm silken tofu, cubed.

2. Marinate. whisk 1 egg white with 1 T. Chinese rice wine or dry sherry and 1 T. cornstarch. Toss w/ your protein; cover and refrigerate one hour.

3. Prep 3 c. veg in any combination: sliced carrots, celery, bell peppers, 1-inch scallion pieces, onions or shallots, quartered mushroom caps, bok choy or cabbage, sliced leeks, snow peas, asparagus, plum or cherry tomatoes (quartered for the plus, halved for the cherry) baby spinach, blanched broccoli or cauliflower, thawed peas or edamame. Have them cut to size for evenness in cooking.

4. Choose a sauce:

Clear sauce: mix 3/4 c. chicken broth, 1 T. cornstarch, 2 T. rice wine or dry sherry, 1/2 t. sesame oil, 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t. sugar

Sweet/Sour: mix 3/4 c. chicken broth, 2 t. cornstarch, 1/4 c. ketchup, 2 t. soy, 3 t. rice vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 t. salt, 1 t. minced ginger, 1 t. sesame oil.

Brown Sauce: 1/2 c. chicken or beef broth, 1 T. cornstarch, 1 T. soy, 1 T. hoisin, 1 T. dry sherry

Oyster Sauce: 3/4 c. chicken broth or clam juice, 1 T. cornstarch, 1 T. dry sherry or rice wine (even Scotch or sake will do..) 1 T. mirin, 3 T. oyster sauce, 2 t. sesame oil

Spicy Sauce: 3/4 chicken broth, 1 T. cornstarch, 2 T. each soy, rice vinegar and whatever booze, 1/2 t. sesame oil, 1 T. sugar and 1 T. red chili oil, 2 t. hottest mustard you can find.

Prepare your wok over the highest flame possible. Drain marinade from protein. Heat wok over medium high heat, and add roughly 4 T. peanut or veg. oil when it's hot but not smoking. Add your protein and begin moving rapidly in pan until it is almost opaque, or turning pink in the case of the seafood; roughly one minute as the protein is thinly-sliced. Remove to plate.Discard oil; wipe out pan. Heat pan over high heat now, 1-2 minutes. Add 2 T. oil and then 2 cloves minced garlic (4 if making the spicy sauce), 1-2 T. minced ginger, 2 minced scallions and a pinch each of salt and sugar. Stir rapidly for about 30 seconds. Add the veg, starting with whatever takes the longest to cook, and stir rapidly, moving veg. in pan and trying not to crowd it. Add protein and sauce of choice and stir until sauce is thickened. Thin with chicken broth if too thick, and correct for salt, soy, or any flavor you particularly like. Garnish with sliced scallions, peanuts, sesame seeds, sliced jalapenos, cilantro, basil, mung beans.........whatever you like.

Some combos to consider: The classic broccoli or asparagus beef - brown sauce; tomato ginger beef- spicy sauce; chicken and bok choy with celery and almonds - clear sauce; prawns with scallions, leeks, and sliced onion-oyster sauce.........the variations are infinite. Just accords to your taste and you'll learn to play around with this once your technique is down. Keep all your ingredients close to the wok, because you'll be playing fast once you get started. Oh, and something very old-fashioned that I love now and again is basic Eggs Foo Yong: Eggs whipped with baby shrimp, mung beans, thinly-sliced celery and just a touch of flour or cornstarch, formed into patties and fried, basting the top with the oil while the bottom cooks (though I find one large patty actually easier to manage) served with the brown sauce or the spicy sauce with some more baby shrimp and maybe a handful of peas or edamame thrown in.

Clearly this is boilerplate technique, but the beauty is in the mix-and-match, and it's tasty and you can play with combos and flavors.

(Thank you mamachef for allowing me to pilfer your work!)

bon appetit