6 Stir Fry Sauces
Stir fry – that quick and easy method of stirring and frying thinly sliced vegetables, meat, fish, and poultry – is an excellent and nutritious way to make any meal. Frankly, you don’t need recipes to make a great stir fry dish. Just choose a protein source, then add some fresh vegetables to it. But what you might want a recipe for is the sauce.
Using Stir Fry Sauce
Once the food is thoroughly cooked, any pieces that have been removed from the wok or pan should be poured back in and a sauce stirred into them. There are commercial, ready made sauces available, but they tend to be higher in sodium than home made sauces. Besides, home made stir fry sauce is a cinch to make.
Recipe #1: No Sauce At All
Not every stir fry needs sauce. The trick to a sauce-less stir fry is aromatic herbs; mince some fresh garlic, add a little freshly ground ginger, sprinkle on some quality sea salt, and you have a delicious meal. If you’d like to moisten the food a little, drizzle some flavored oil over the dish.
Recipe #2: Brown Sauce
A basic brown sauce is made by mixing 2 tablespoons soy sauce with 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger, ¼ teaspoon clove power, and 1 tablespoon molasses. Add 2/3 cup liquid cornstarch and stir until fully dissolved. This sauce can be spiced up by adding 1 teaspoon sherry, 1 green onion (minced), and either 4 red chilies (fresh or dry) or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper.
Recipe #3: White Sauce
To make a basic white sauce, combine 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger, 1 garlic clove (minced), 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and ¾ cup stock. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and stir until dissolved. Add the cornstarch liquid to the rest of the sauce.
Recipe #4: Sweet and Sour
Mix ¼ cup stock, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Mix 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch together. When the cornstarch is dissolved, add it to the rest of the sauce.
Recipe #5: Fish and Lime Sauce
Combine 1/3 cup stock, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar or honey in a small pan. Cook over medium heat until the sauce bubbles. Reduce heat and add 6 garlic cloves (minced). In a small bowl, dissolve 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of water. Add to the sauce.
Recipe #6: Orange Sichuan Sauce
Combine 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, 1 garlic cloves (minced), ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2/3 cup fresh orange juice. Dissolve 2 tablespoons cornstarch in 4 tablespoons water and add this mixture to the rest of the sauce.
Other Ideas
You can also just whip up a spur-of-the-moment sauce based on common stir fry sauce ingredients. These include soy sauce, hosin sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, Xo sauce, vinegar, hunan sauce, sesame sauce, peanut sauce, white pepper, Sichuan pepper, freshly grated ginger, green onions (scallions), and five spice powder. Cornstarch (usually dissolved in a little water first) is a flavorless way to thicken stir fry sauce, whereas arrowroot thickens while adding subtle flavor.
What is your favorite stir fry sauce?
