In some ways, this is the most exciting kind of quick cooking — at least if the wok is hot enough. The moment the food goes into the pan, there should be a slight sense of danger and fun. Of sizzle and spit, crackle and hiss. There may even, very briefly, be a flame or two. If your heart doesn’t beat just a little faster when you start stir- frying, then your wok just aint hot enough.
Get a thin wok. I use mine mostly for stir-fries, or occasionally for steaming a small fish. The crucial thing is that the steel should be thin. The food needs to sizzle on the hot metal and cook very quickly, which is why we must cut it small. At one time the stir-fry was best left to professionals, but now that modern domestic gas jets are bigger, we can do it successfully at home.
Although this method of cooking fits neatly into the premise of this book, it should be said that it is only the cooking time that is minimal. The preparation will almost certainly take longer than the cooking. A stir-fry of vegetables, for instance, must include the time to peel and shred the ginger and finely chop the garlic and spring onion. The vegetables need to be cut into small pieces or thin slices. Any large chunks will slow down the cooking process, the food will steam rather than fry and your stir-fry will no longer live up to its name.
This remains one of my favourite methods of cooking. I like the speed at which the food browns and the whole sense of fun you get with high-temperature frying. Above all, I love my woks. I have two: a shallow Japanese iron pot with short handles that I use for meals for one (and I suspect is not really a wok at all) and a vast, black Chinese thing from Chinatown that I have had for a decade or more. Both harness incredible heat.
You can cook Thai food in a wok — I have often made a green curry in mine — and they are probably more versatile than they are given credit for. But they are principally for food that needs exceptionally high heat and constant movement round the searing-hot sides of the pan. The clue is in the words stir-fry.
A few favourites
Skin a large chicken breast, cut it into thick slices and marinate in a tablespoon each of rice wine and light soy sauce for about 15 minutes. Heat a little groundnut oil in a wok and, just as it starts to smoke lightly, toss in 2 chopped cloves of garlic and a handful of sliced chestnut mushrooms. Fry and stir, briefly and quickly, over a high heat. Stir a dusting of cornflour into the chicken, then add to the pan and continue frying for a couple of minutes. At the last minute, add a handful of raw green beans, cut into short lengths. Stir in a tablespoon of light soy sauce, a little toasted sesame oil and a little pepper.
Serve with rice.
Add beaten eggs to a little fizzing butter, stir with chopsticks, then add folds of smoked salmon, a spoonful of créme fraiche and a dash of wasabi or a few bottled green peppercorns.
Into a blender or food processor put a small, roughly chopped onion, a deseeded medium hot chilli, a couple of tomatoes, a tablespoon of light soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup, then blitz to a thick sauce.
In a wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil, then fry 2 finely chopped garlic cloves for a few seconds until they are golden then add 2 or 3 large handfuls of raw, shelled prawns and fry for 3 or 4 minutes until they are lightly golden. Stir in the tomato sauce and let it sizzle for a minute or two. Finish with chopped coriander.
chicken breasts, salted cashew nuts, thin-stemmed broccoli, five-spice powder, garlic
Remove the skin from 2 large chicken breasts, then slice the flesh into thick chunks. Put the chicken into a bowl and toss with 3 teaspoons of five-spice powder. Thinly slice 2 garlic cloves, add to the chicken and toss together gently.
Heat 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil in a wok, then add the spiced chicken pieces and fry for a couple of minutes, till golden. Add 50g salted cashews, 200g thin-stemmed broccoli and zooml hot water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and steam for a couple of minutes, till the greens are tender. You will need a spoon for the juices.
For 2. Crisp greens, crunchy cashews, tender chicken.
You can thicken the juices of a stir-fry by adding cornflour or arrow- root. I prefer not to, unless I am making a classic dish that requires it. If you like a thicker sauce, add a couple of teaspoons of Shaoxing wine and 2 tablespoons of cornflour to the five-spice as you toss the chicken.
Use a wider noodle, such as the fat udon. Crush a couple of cloves of garlic with the spring onions in the recipe opposite. Slice a squid into rings and add to the pan. Toss with the noodles, plus chopped coriander, mint, Thai basil - whatever takes your fancy. A sizzling stir- fry of green and white.
Peel a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger and cut it into matchsticks. Bring a litre of chicken stock to the boil, add the ginger and simmer briskly for +, minutes. Drop 150g dried noodles into the stock and cock for 3 or 4 minutes, till almost tender. Lift them out with tongs and drop into 2 wide bowls. Add a tablespoon of oyster sauce and 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce to the stock, followed by a couple of small, sweet spring onions, very finely sliced. Simmer for a minute or two longer, then ladle it over the noodles, Shake in a few drops of sesame oil before eating.
prawns, noodles, carrots, spring onions, chilli, ginger, orange juice, dark soy sauce, fish sauce
Scrub 200g spring carrots and slice them in half lengthways. Steam or boil them for 7-8 minutes, till tender but not soft. Drain and set aside. Soak 150g noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
Finely slice 3 spring onions. Halve lengthways and deseed a medium-sized chilli, then slice it finely. Peel and grate a knob of fresh ginger. Heat a tablespoon of groundnut oil in a wok, then add the spring onions, ginger and chilli and fry quickly, tossing and stirring for a few minutes. Add 200g peeled raw prawns. As soon as the prawns show signs of changing colour, add the carrots. Drop in the noodles, then pour in 125ml orange juice, a tablespoon of dark soy sauce and a tablespoon of fish sauce. Sizzle and serve.
For 2. Sweet and gentle.
Finely shred red and white cabbage, then soak in cold water to crisp up. Make a citrus mayonnaise by stirring a few teaspoons of yuzu juice (available from Japanese food stores) into mayonnaise, to taste. Toss the drained and dried cabbage with fresh white and brown crabmeat, the yuzu maycnnaise and a little chopped coriander.
Toss hot, grilled squid with whole coriander and mint leaves, rocket leaves and pea shoots. Dress with lime juice, fish sauce, a pinch of sugar and a little chopped red chilli.
pork belly, cucumber, dried shallots, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, sugar, mirin, lime
Blitz 3 tablespoons of dried shallots with 2 peeled cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Tip into a bowl. Cut 300g boned pork belly into thin slices and toss with the blitzed aromatics. Lightly peel a cucumber and thickly slice into chunky matchsticks. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of mirin.
Heat a wok, add a thin film of groundnut oil, add the pork and cook for a few minutes till nicely crisp, then add a tablespoon of lime juice. Toss briefly with the cucumber and eat immediately.
For 2. Aromatic, sizzling pork. The crunch of cucumber.
cubed pork, Szechuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, lettuce, mint, coriander
Finely crush a tablespoon of black peppercorns and a tablespoon of Szechuan peppercorns using a pestle and mortar or some other heavy weight, then toss with 500g cubed pork shoulder or leg. Set aside for 20 minutes or so. Heat a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. When the pan is very hot, pour in 2 tablespoons of rapeseed or groundnut oil and swirl around the pan. As soon as it starts to shimmer and slightly smoke, add the pork, together with a tablespoon of sea salt flakes. Fry at a high temperature, stirring regularly for 5 minutes or so, till the meat has coloured here and there. Tip into a warm bowl and serve with iceberg lettuce and maybe a few mint or coriander leaves. Ice-cold beer to drink.
For 2. Mouth-popping salty heat. Cool, crisp lettuce.
A few thoughts
Without the crisp lettuce and a cold beer the dish will be too salty. They are as much part of the recipe as the pork.
Cubes of pork from the shoulder or leg, lean and firm, are more suited to stir-frying than a fattier cut. Save fat-rich cuts for slow cooking where the fat has time to moisten and enrich the meat.
Move the ingredients quickly around the pan so the pepper doesn't burn. Use rapeseed or groundnut oil which has a lower flashpoint at high temperatures than olive oil.
If Szechuan peppercorns prove evasive, you can still make a simple salt 'n’ pepper pork without them. It will simply be less aromatic. Include a chopped dove of garlic or 4 chopped spring onions if you wish, or a grated knob of ginger or galangal. A grating of lemon zest at the end will freshen the flavours, and work well with the black pepper.
Coarsely grated carrot, cut as if for remoulade, would be an idea with the pork, as would a few green beans. Coriander leaves, or fresh mint, are appropriate here too, as is picking the hot meat up with a piece of warm, soft flatbread or romaine lettuce.
pork belly, Szechuan peppercorns, honey, lime, fresh noodles, chives
Cut 300g boned pork belly into cubes about 3cm thick. Heat 2 tablespoons of groundnut oil in a wok, then, when the oil is very hot, add the meat. Brown quickly, then add 2 tablespoons of coarsely ground Szechuan peppercorns, shortly followed by 2 tablespoons of honey and the juice of 2 limes. Continue cooking, moving the meat around the pan for a couple of minutes, then add 200g thick, soft fresh noodles and 4 tablespoons of chopped chives. Let the noodles warm and the chives mellow and soften, then season and eat.
For 2. Sweet, sharp, luscious. The peace of noodles.
Dissolve 3 tablespoons of dark miso paste in a litre of boiling water from the kettle. Pour into a saucepan, add 100g fresh enoki mushrooms, 2 red bird's eye chillies, halved, and a tablespoon of dark shoyu sauce. Simmer for a couple of minutes, until the mushrooms are soft, wit a slightly jellied texture. Pour into 2 deep bowls and add a small handful of coriander leaves to each. Serve piping hot, with 100g raw fillet, rump or rib-eye beef, sliced paper-thin, dipping the slices into the broth for a few seconds before eating. Serve with soup spoons for the broth.
Light, umami-rich broth, tender beef. A bowl to restore, heal and warm. For 2.
soba noodles, salmon, prawns, chilli, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, chives, coriander
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Salt the water generously, add 200g soba noodles and boil for 6 minutes. (Ignore the packet instructions, because the noodles will get a bit more cooking later.) Drain and cool under running water.
Cut 450g salmon into finger-thick strips. Finely slice a red chilli but leave the seeds in - you want a little heat in this dish. Put a large wok over a very hot flame, leave for a second or two, pour in 1 tablespoon of groundnut oil, swirl it round, then add the salmon and 250g large peeled raw prawns. Add the finely sliced chilli. Drop in the partially cooked noodles, continue to stir and fry. The salmon may break up a bit but no matter.
Add a tablespoon of dark soy sauce and a tablespoon of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of chopped chives and a handful of torn coriander, sizzle briefly, and serve.
For 4. Homely noodles, luxurious seafood.
Try fillet or sirloin steak, prepared as in the recipe opposite, but with courgettes cut into matchsticks instead of the mangetout. This is good with a little sliced garlic added with the mushrooms.
Steak as opposite (or use skirt or chuck steak, if you wish), but use button mushrooms, cut in half to give juicy little nuggets, then add shredded spring greens instead of mangetout. A juicy, messy tangle.
rump steak, wasabi paste, white miso, fresh Japanese mushrooms, mangetout
Heat a little groundnut oil in a wok. Add a 300g rump steak, in one piece, and let it brown nicely on both sides. Remove the steak and leave to rest. Add 110g small Japanese mushrooms (shimeji or enoki) to the pan and move them around as they fry so they pick up all the juices from the steak. Finely shred 200g mangetout, add to the pan and fry for a minute. Add 2 tablespoons of white (shiro) miso, 2 teaspoons of wasabi paste and 100ml water. Continue to fry and stir briefly. Cut the steak into pencil-thick slices and return them to the pan for a minute or so, keeping the centre of the meat rare.
For 2. The savour of steak, the refreshing crunch of mangetout.