“Worldly and amusing, and a gifted mimic, ‘Kip’ Fadiman was a successful author, critic, translator, columnist, publisher and broad­caster, valued both for his erudite charm and his good-natured wordplay (‘between a wok and a hot plate’).”

Anne Fadiman, Slightly Foxed

There are a number of dishes which are just made for using up leftovers: salad; pilaf; curry; risotto; soup….even omelettes and quiches can take all kinds of convenient fillings.  And then there is the all-purpose stir fry.

The only snag with the stir fry is that, unlike soups and curries, it doesn’t suit elderly leftovers. It’s better for spankingly fresh ingredients – glut from the kitchen garden, one’s own, or from a vegetable box. But on the plus side it takes just minutes to make, no hours of cooking, blending etc.

This isn’t really a recipe, it’s more of a technique. I’ve given lots of ideas for substitution, but the main concept is that a stir fry should harmoniously unite textures (if you can’t find sugar snaps, make sure you have a bit of crunchy carrot); flavours (if you can’t find sugar snaps, incorporate the sweetness with peas); and colour (red pepper is a very good source of ‘red’ – tomatoes aren’t too good in stir fries, they are too mushy). Pretty much essential, though, is garlic. As Fuschia Dunlop, writing in The Financial Times, comments:

“When you sniff the air above the wok as you sizzle chopped garlic in oil at the start of a Chinese recipe, you are witnessing a suite of chemical reactions in which unstable sulphur compounds react with one another, producing new flavours and smells.” 

The version I give below is a vegetable stir fry, but obviously very thin strips of beef go well, as do bits of bacon – fry these first to cook through, then add the vegetables.

The aim of this recipe is to offer another fall-back dish to the armoury of the busy foodie. It is NOT intended to be ‘authentic’, although there are two nods to the Asiatic roots: the use of the wok; and the soy sauce. Both make a huge difference to the result.

With regard to the wok, I use one with a flat base because, unlike in Asia, my hob is flat. I have invested (yes, invested… it’s expensive) in a Samuel Groves classic stainless steel tri-ply non-stick wok, a veritable Rolls Royce of woks.

For the soy sauce, I use the wonderfully rich and thick Lee Kum Kee premium dark (follow this link for more on that).

Over to you!

‘see fire’ to release flavour: Amy Poon’s advice on adding soy sauce

Amy Poon often replaces salt with soy sauce – but in a stir fry it’s an essential ingredient. She explains that the Chinese advise that you need to get the wok hot – ie ‘see fire’ and add the soy sauce to release the flavour. It’s no good just drizzling it tepidly around the edge.

a quick vegetable (and more) stir fry

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Serves – 5

Ingredients

• garlic and/or ginger, perhaps half a teaspoon of each, very finely chopped
• 2 peppers – can be any colour
• 1 packet – about 150g/6 oz sugar snap peas; or 150g/1 cup frozen peas
• 1 medium carrot, finely sliced… or a couple of baby turnips
• 225g/8 oz finely sliced mushrooms… or a chopped aubergine
• 1 small head of broccoli, or romanesco, or cauliflower; or bok choi or pak choi
• 1 tin (about 200g/8 oz) sweet corn OR the same amount of baby corn
• 300g/10 oz tin, packet or jar of bean sprouts, water chestnuts, hearts of palm
• 60 ml/4 tbsps/¼ cup rich, dark, soy sauce
• 3 tbsps soft brown sugar; or two of oyster sauce
• 120 ml/½ cup chicken stock (made with water (and maybe some dry vermouth, dry sherry or Shaoxin wine) and a stock cube)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with a little salt (not too much because of the soy)
• 3 or 4 spring onions
• 2 tbsps sesame seeds or furikake…. Or chopped nuts… or dukkah
• Good slug of olive oil… or rapeseed and some sesame oil

Instructions

1. Pour a good slug of oil into the wok, get it good and hot and add first the garlic and ginger, stirring for about a minute, and then the vegetables (but not the spring onions). Fry for two or three minutes, stirring the while.
2. Mix the cornflour with a little of the chicken stock until it’s dissolved, then add all the other liquids, the garlic and the sugar.
3. Pour the liquid over the vegetables and stir – the sauce will thicken up thanks to the cornflour.
4. Snip over the spring onions, including an inch (3 cms) or so of the green part. Serve with the sesame seeds sprinkled over.