This post has been rattling around in my head since I started blogging. But my dilemma? Since stir-fry is supposed to be so easy, would anyone want to see a post/tutorial on it?
But as I began making some last week, I decided that I would write this post, since after all, it took me years to figure out my own tips and tricks for making a good chicken stir-fry, and I would have liked to have had some basic instructions myself.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I lived in Thailand for two years after college. But any cooking I did there was definitely not Asian. There really was no point in learning to make Thai/Asian food at home since it was so cheap, plentiful, and delicious. At least as a 22-24 year old, I didn’t see any point in it.
My husband and I got married 20 days after I moved back to the States, and although he loves Chinese food, I wouldn’t make any or even go to an Asian restaurant for a year. I had missed my Chili’s too much.
But finally, I readjusted and decided to try. And I failed. Big time. I could never get it to turn out well.
So after years of trial-and-error and reading of instructions and recipes, here are the tips and tricks that I have come up with that have made chicken stir-fry, in various forms, one of our very top family-favorite meals.
My first big tip is to cut your chicken into small pieces. Smaller than you think. Bite-size is too big. Think small enough that one bite could include a piece or two of chicken, some rice and some veggies.
If your chicken pieces are as big as the top part of your thumb, they’re too big. Cut that in half. Thin and/or small is important. It helps them cook more quickly. Also, if the pieces of chicken are small, the chicken becomes part of the dish as a whole, not overpowering the other ingredients.
In a large skillet, heat some vegetable oil on medium high heat. I generally use about 3 tablespoons. After the oil is heated, add the chicken with onions and fresh garlic. You could go ahead and season with some more traditional Asian spices at this point, but I like to keep it basic so that I can do enough for two meals, and take out half once the chicken is cooked. Then I freeze the extra cooked chicken to make other meals later.
While the chicken is cooking (and you’re stirring frequently) start on this next trick. (Notice that I called the cut-into-small-pieces advice a “tip” and am calling this a “trick.”) This is totally my idea, and I do it to make things go faster, and because I don’t like my veggies crunchy in stir-fry.
After I have the chicken on the stove, I put a bag of steamer veggies in the microwave. I often use broccoli, but if I happen to get Chinese mixed veggies on sale, I’ll use them.
This is actually a bag that was not frozen, but was in the salad section. The directions on the bag said that you can poke a hole in it and steam it in the microwave. I think the directions said 3-4 minutes, so I did it for three, since it would continue to cook a little when I put it into the stir-fry. If you like your veggies a little crunchy, you could just microwave it for 2 minutes.
Once your veggies are steaming in the microwave, keep stirring your chicken here and there while you make your sauce.
This totally-made-up-by-me sauce is probably not authentic at all, but we love it. I made this dish once for a friend and she called later to get the recipe for that “fabulous” sauce, so evidently we’re not the only ones who like it.
In my two-cup measuring cup, I put one-half cup of soy sauce.
I then fill up the measuring cup with water, so I guess it’s one and a half cups of water.
I don’t recommend trying to imitate the above picture exactly. 99.999% of the time, if you hold a measuring cup full of soy sauce/water mixture sideways, it will spill out all over your counter. I’m just really talented.
I also add a “dash” of garlic salt to the soy sauce/water. For the purpose of this post, I used 1/4 tsp. Basically, to taste. If you have other flavors you want to add, this would be a good place to put them in.
Once the chicken is done, add 1 tablespoon of corn starch to the soy sauce/water mixture. Use a whisk to blend it in. It will look like this:
If you find that you put the corn starch in too early, as in not just before adding to the skillet, you’ll want to stir it again. It settles very quickly, but it needs to be suspended when you add it, to avoid lumps.
Now that the chicken is fully cooked, remove any extra that you want to save for a different meal in the future, and push the chicken to the sides. This is where a wok comes in handy. You can push the chicken up the sides and away from the heat, and the chicken stops cooking while you’re working on the sauce, or other ingredients.
(I used to have an electric wok, but people like me (slobs) tend to do things like pack the wok in a different box from the wok’s cord when they move. Then they tend to never get the two back together and end up throwing away the cord in one of those, “Aaaah, I can’t handle all this STUFF anymore and what does this stupid cord go to anyway?!” moments.)
Stir the sauce constantly until it starts to thicken and bubbles a little. Once it becomes thicker, or honestly – slimy – it’s ready. Mix the chicken back in and add your steamed veggies. Stir until it’s all coated with the sauce, and you’re done. Serve over rice.
My one other tip, or really trick, is a Mommy one. Since the veggies are nice and soft, use your spatula to break them, particularly broccoli, up into small pieces. They’ll blend in with the sauce and chicken, and little people won’t notice or pick them out as much. And even if they try, they’ll still get little bits and pieces into them.
My 3 kids all get excited when I make this, and no one even complains about the green stuff. Another version is to follow all the same steps, but instead of serving over rice, cook some packages of ramen noodles (I do one per person). Don’t add the ramen seasoning. Drain the noodles and add at the end, mixing it all together and serving as a one-dish meal.
And I’m linking up to Tiffany’s Ingredient Spotlight over at Eat at Home. Tiffany is a great mom and I love her real-life recipes designed to make cooking at home accessible.
I buy 40 lbs of chicken at one time for a great price (yes, that was an affiliate link!) and see how I manage 40 lbs of chicken here.
I am so sorry to say that it seems Zaycon has gone out of business. I say “seems” because the information I’ve seen says they’ve “suspended” operations and I don’t fully understand what is happening. I’m so so sad about this since this will change how our family keeps our freezer stocked with meat. We’ve been ordering almost all of our chicken, bacon, and shrimp for them for more than five years. If you had ordered recently, I recommend that you call your credit card company or bank (for debit cards) to see what can be done. I’ve heard many people have had success doing this.
Bonnie says
That looks fantastic! We love stirfry around her and it is easy to feed our family of 6 with a meal like that.
Thanks for the tip about cutting the chicken in smaller than bit size pieces. Great Advice!
Lenetta @ Nettacow says
Actually the sauce recipe alone is probably worth the post, let alone the other tips and tricks! (And the sideways photo CRACKED ME UP!) I've posted a couple of things that I thought everybody knew, and it seems like I always get a comment or two from somebody who didn't know it…
Melinda says
What great hints! And yes – there are people out there who don't know these things – like me! 🙂
Christy says
I needed to be reminded to cut the chicken up small, I am too often "in a hurry" but it really makes a difference and you can use less meat when the pieces are small.
Lisa@BlessedwithGrace says
Okay, first of all, WOW! You won 16 swagbucks searching for TMTT? Too Cool!I am so glad I could help you earn SBs!!! I am a huge swagbucks fan. Now, to the post- Thank you so much for taking the time to share your stir fry tips and tricks. I really did learn a few things. I am so glad you joined us at TMTT and hope you keep linking up. Oh, and happy swagbucks hunting. Ha ha!
tigerchick says
Thanks for the post. I consider myself to be a pretty capable cook, but stir fry has always been a problem for me–until now, hopefully! My family loves stir fry. I appreciate this.
Tiffany @ Eat at Home says
I love stir-fry. You're right that the chicken needs to be small. I make the mistake of cutting it too big because I'm always in a hurry. Great tutorial!
Good Enough Mommy says
Yum. I made it last night. It was not too simple, there are some of us that need that much help. Actually, as I was reading the recipe I was looking for the ingredient list because I didn't know how much of each ingredient to use. To some that probably seems ridiculous but I really am that clueless in the kitchen.
Nony the Slob says
Ingredient list . . . hmmm. That sounds like a logical thing to include in a recipe! I'll try to go back and add that soon. Glad you liked it!
Healthy Branscoms says
That looks so good! 🙂 I am going to make that! Erin
http://www.healthybranscoms.com
Crystal & Co says
This looks delish!
stephanie says
this is our “budget yet yummy” stir fry
make chicken top roman (we make 6 packs) with lots of water
cook diced chicken then add to top roman
add bag of fozen mixed stirfry veggies cook until veggies are done
dish some up in bowls with the roman juice and add
kikkoman stirfry sauce and add to bowls to taste. very good and less than $10 for the whole meal that will feed about 6 or so people. very tasty for a quick “whats for dinner on a budget meal!”
stephanie says
it helps with kids and adults who dont like rice and very kid friendly.
Nony says
Sounds great! I love to replace the rice with drained ramen.
Christie says
LOL I don’t have a pressure cooker for the same reason you don’t have a wok.
I save the ramen packets and add them in place of bullion sometimes.
Christine says
I use those packets to make impromptu soup…leftover meat from dinner, a can of Veg-All, the packets and a little leftover rice or pasta. Nice for a quick lunch while the children are in school.
Aggie says
Love your down -to-earth honesty and sense of humor. Great tutorial!
Lisa says
I did this just like you said and it was great! My husband loved it. The chicken is much better when it is cut in tiny pieces.
Nony says
Yay! So glad you liked it! It’s one of our favorite meals.
stephbo93 says
Awesome!! I love the idea of stir fry, but every time I try to make it, it comes out kinda meh. The sauce is what I’m screwing up on. Thanks for posting this!!!!
Stopping@4 says
I’ve been meaning to try this recipe for months and FINALLY thawed some chicken and started this recipe. Of course, I was out of soy sauce, but had a pre-made stir-fry sauce, so used that. Anyway, what a hit!!! The chicken being small was awesome and everyone inhaled it! Going to get some soy sauce today and will try the “Full” version of your recipe next:) Thanks so much for sharing this!
Dana White says
I’m glad you liked it!
Jennifer Britton says
Awesome! I have been stir fry challenged for years! I am going to try this! Thanks!
fep says
This is so useful! For people who are challenged in the kitchen (seriously I even sometimes mess up receipes I already did successfully before), these little tips and tricks are really what I need, it’s when you can do well the simplest receipes that you’re a good cook! 😀
Oh and also I had no idea why a wok had this form compared to a skillet (see? useful)
You’re hiding veggies in your food! As you should do with little children and ahem sometimes with big adults too, not that I would need to hide veggies from myself, nope…. I really was wondering cause you never mention them in your meal lists… And I can say meat seem so cheap for you? I’d probably really eat it at every meal, if it was this cheap around here…