Video:How to Stir Fry Vegetables

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Transcript:How to Stir Fry Vegetables

Hi, I am Ben Kurtzman for About.com Food and today I am going to show you the secret to making a great stir-fry.

Stir Fry Basics

The key to stir-fry is having a very hot pan and very thinly sliced vegetables that will cook on contact. I like to cook my stir-fry in a wok. Woks are great because they give you a large surface area. You can make a stir-fry in a typical skillet, but the problem is that if you pile the vegetables on top of each other they will steam instead of fry.

Vegetable Cuts

For today's stir-fry I am using the following ingredients: onions, carrots, red peppers, celery, and broccoli. This is just what I have chosen for today, but you can use whatever you like.

If you notice, my celery and my carrot are cut diagonally so that they are very thin, but they have a large surface area. This will enable them to cook better. Once you have prepared your vegetables, the next step is making sure your oil and your pan are sizzling hot.

Vegetable Cooking Times

Now you are going to want to add your vegetables in order according to the length they have to be cooked. You want to start with you onion. Onions always have to be cooked the longest. Then, if you have vegetables that are dense or fibrous like carrots or celery you want to add those. Then you want to add the vegetables that do not take quite as long to cook, like your red pepper or broccoli, or tomato if you have them.

When you add your vegetables, cook them for a few minutes so that they sear, and then add the next ones.

Stir Fry Vegetables

Once you begin adding vegetables and ingredients keep everything moving with a wooden spoon or spatula. That is the stir in stir-fry. It will prevent everything from burning. Once everything is cooked you can either eat the vegetables in their own juices, or else you can add a store bought sauce, or some vinegar or oil or whatever you like.

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for watching, and to learn more visit us on the Web at food.about.com.