Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-Fry | Healthy Stir-Fry Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Should you cook broccoli before stir-frying? ›

Do you have to boil broccoli before stir-frying? Whilst you don't have to, I prefer to. A quick boil in hot water, or a steam, will softened up the stem a little, making it tender before adding to the hot wok. This way the stem will be a little more tender, but the broccoli will retain some crunch.

Here's how to make a great-tasting stir-fry without oil or butter: Choose a non-stick pan: Use a non-stick pan that doesn't require oil or butter to prevent sticking. A cast iron or ceramic pan works well. Cook in broth or water: Instead of oil or butter, use broth or water to cook the ingredients in the pan.

Uniform Cooking: Pre-cooking can ensure that all vegetables in the stir-fry are cooked evenly. This can be useful when combining vegetables with different cooking times. Time and Convenience: Pre-cooking can add an extra step to the cooking process.

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.

You can also use spice blends in a stir fry. Try a sprinkle of Cajun Spice Blend, Indonesian 7 Seas or Chinese 5 Spice to name a few.

According to Food & Wine, ketchup is the ultimate way to take the flavor of homemade stir fry up a level, thanks to its sweet and sour flavor profile. It just might be the easiest cooking hack to elevate your home cooking to that of your favorite take-out.

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.

Extra virgin olive oil has a very low smoke point with a strong flavor, making it completely unsuitable for stir-frying.

What is the healthiest oil to stir-fry with? ›

Sturdy oils good for sautéing, stir-frying, or roasting foods include avocado, canola, corn, grapeseed, regular or light olive oil (not virgin or extra-virgin), peanut, rice bran, safflower, soybean, and sunflower oils.

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.

Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking. A proper sauce for stir-fries combines something salty—soy sauce, usually, though fish sauce also works—with something a little bit sweet.

Cooking: Heat oil in a wok or large heavy based skillet over high heat. Add garlic and ginger, stir for 10 seconds. Add onion, stir for 30 seconds.

Broccoli can be eaten raw, but blanching it quickly in boiling water helps give it a more crisp-tender texture and bring out its flavor. Broccoli can also be steamed, sautéed, and roasted. You could even throw long spears on the grill!

Once the oil begins to smoke, add the broccoli florets and stems. Cook, stirring constantly, until browned around the edges, about 2 minutes.

The Chinese broccoli needs to cook as fast as possible, so that the nutrients and color don't have as much opportunity to leach out into the water. It's best to start with as much boiling water as you can. Restaurants serve amazingly green and crunchy Chinese broccoli because they use huge amounts of boiling water.

Stir fry cooks fast and hot so make sure you are using your heaviest frying pan or wok and are stirring continuously. Don't overload your wok as the ingredients will become soggy. You can cook things in batches if necessary, for example, you can cook the protein first and set it aside to add back in later.