On Mon, 12 May 2008 16:28:33 -0500, Sqwertz
wrote:

snopea wrote:

Any good ones out there anyone can recommend?

(ie do the meat and veg and add the sauce and it's done)

thanks!

The single-most important sauce for stir-frying is oyster sauce. A
good one like Lee Kum Kee premium or Amoy. And if you can't get
those, then LKK Panda brand is fairly decent.

Rice wine, chicken stock, light soy sauce, black bean sauce, shrimp
paste, bean paste, and hot chili pastes are secondary, and with all
the above you can make any sort of stir-fry. Don't ever buy
anything labeled "stir-fry sauce" - They all suck.

-sw

i suspect snopea is mainly looking for convenience here.

snopea, try googling 'chinese brown sauce' for something you can make
up in advance and add to stir-fried ingredients. it will taste better
and be cheaper in the long run than the pre-made sauces. you will
have to buy the ingredients, but most of them last a long time. for
storage tips on the ingredients, check he

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/sauces/f/storesauce.htm

there's another nice ingredient page he

http://www.foodsubs.com/CondimntAsia.html

that being said, the effort involved in frying some shredded ginger
root and garlic before your meat and vegetables is amply repaid.

your pal,
blake

blake wrote on Tue, 13 May 2008 15:41:45 GMT:

snopea wrote:

Any good ones out there anyone can recommend?

(ie do the meat and veg and add the sauce and it's done)

thanks!

The single-most important sauce for stir-frying is oyster
sauce. A good one like Lee Kum Kee premium or Amoy. And if
you can't get those, then LKK Panda brand is fairly decent.

Rice wine, chicken stock, light soy sauce, black bean sauce,
shrimp paste, bean paste, and hot chili pastes are secondary,
and with all the above you can make any sort of stir-fry.
Don't ever buy anything labeled "stir-fry sauce" - They all
suck.

-sw

i suspect snopea is mainly looking for convenience here.



that being said, the effort involved in frying some shredded
ginger root and garlic before your meat and vegetables is
amply repaid.

Did you know that "vegetarian oyster sauce" is made from
mushrooms?

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

isw wrote:
In article ,
"Woolstitcher" wrote:

"snopea" wrote in message
...
Any good ones out there anyone can recommend?

(ie do the meat and veg and add the sauce and it's done)

thanks!

snopea


soy vey! bought at trader joes.

That's an "interesting" sauce and marinade, but a "good" soy sauce, it
ain't.

We like Lim Lan Premium.

Isaac

Kimlan?

--
Jean B.

THANK YOU ! that is what i am looking for convenience and i would do the ginger and garlic separately no biggie

i found this brown sauce recipe at the "about" site-would it also work with chicken or would it be better if i substitute chicken broth for the beef broth? site says it works on all meats tho
-maybe it could also be doubled...


(i do intend to add some chili paste with garlic and maybe black beans and other things-just wanted a "base" recipe)

tyagainsnope

In article ,
"Jean B." wrote:

isw wrote:
In article ,
"Woolstitcher" wrote:

"snopea" wrote in message
...
Any good ones out there anyone can recommend?

(ie do the meat and veg and add the sauce and it's done)

thanks!

snopea


soy vey! bought at trader joes.

That's an "interesting" sauce and marinade, but a "good" soy sauce, it
ain't.

We like Lim Lan Premium.

Isaac

Kimlan?

Yeah; the sauce is a lot better than my typing...

Isaac

In article alfWj.7800$Uz2.3084@trnddc06,
"James Silverton" wrote:

isw wrote on Mon, 12 May 2008 20:06:13 -0700:

"snopea" wrote in message
...

Any good ones out there anyone can recommend?

(ie do the meat and veg and add the sauce and it's done)

thanks!

snopea

soy vey! bought at trader joes.

That's an "interesting" sauce and marinade, but a "good" soy
sauce, it ain't.

We like Lim Lan Premium.

I've been using Kikkoman soy sauce for decades. I even buy a
large quantity in a can to refill the bottles I keep around.

You should at least try a good Chinese-type soy sauce. They generally
have a considerably more "robust" flavor.

Isaac

On Wed, 14 May 2008 01:00:13 +0100, snopea
wrote:


'blake murphy[_2_ Wrote:
;1122400']On Mon, 12 May 2008 16:28:33 -0500, Sqwertz

i suspect snopea is mainly looking for convenience here.

snopea, try googling 'chinese brown sauce' for something you can make
up in advance and add to stir-fried ingredients. it will taste better
and be cheaper in the long run than the pre-made sauces. you will
have to buy the ingredients, but most of them last a long time. for
storage tips on the ingredients, check he

'Chinese Sauce – How to Store Chinese Sauce and Seasonings'
(http://chinesefood.about.com/od/sauces/f/storesauce.htm)

there's another nice ingredient page he

'Cook's Thesaurus: Asian Condiments'
(http://www.foodsubs.com/CondimntAsia.html)

that being said, the effort involved in frying some shredded ginger
root and garlic before your meat and vegetables is amply repaid.

your pal,
blake

THANK YOU ! that is what i am looking for convenience and i would do
the ginger and garlic separately no biggie

i found this brown sauce recipe at the "about" site-would it also work
with chicken or would it be better if i substitute chicken broth for
the beef broth? site says it works on all meats tho
-maybe it could also be doubled...


i wouldn't worry too much about the broth matching the meat as long as
the result tastes good. the approach here is unlikely to endear you
to purists anyway.

Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup beef broth (beef bouillion cubes can be used)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Preparation:
Combine the above ingredients in order and bring to a boil, stirring.
Yields about 1/3 cup.


(i do intend to add some chili paste with garlic and maybe black beans
and other things-just wanted a "base" recipe)

tyagainsnope

the sauce as given (and many you will find using that search) does
seem a little bland, but if you have the additional ingredients to
doctor is a little, you should be able to come up with something you
like. i would add that usually the cornstarch is mixed 2:1 cool water
to cornstarch and added to the sauce just before the sauce is added to
stir-fried ingredients). it will be cheaper (and possibly easier)
than finding something bottled that is worth the money. do get an
inexpensive dry sherry or something to add for the wine.

but do look for a basic chinese cookbook and try some recipes there.
cutting up the meat and vegetables for the stir-fry in the first place
is most of the work. the mixing of the sauce doesn't add much time.

your pal,
blake

thanks everyone

ok i just cannot DO chinese stirfry-i have tried and ruined way too many meals. it is just something i am bad at but i love to eat it

i figured at least a bottled stirfry would save me money over takeout

i tried the recipe i posted and added some sesame oil and chili paste with garlic and it still was just not good, very bland and just blech

so i broke down and bought some kikkoman stir fry sauce (buy 1 get 1 free at least) and did a small stir fry with some oil with ginger and garlic fried in it quickly then some steak strips and finally some cabbage and scallions
fried it all on high again quickly until the oil coated everything and the food was hot but the veg was still crispy

poured on the sauce added some chili paste

and it was GOOD

yay

snopea wrote:

so i broke down and bought some kikkoman stir fry sauce (buy 1 get 1
free at least) and did a small stir fry with some oil with ginger and
garlic fried in it quickly then some steak strips and finally some
cabbage and scallions
fried it all on high again quickly until the oil coated everything and
the food was hot but the veg was still crispy

poured on the sauce added some chili paste

and it was GOOD

yay

It sounds like you did good except the first sentence which included
'kikkoman'. Dump that buy-one-get-one-free cornstarch-soy-water
shit you get from Kroger and buy yourself a bottle of Lee Kum Kee
Panda Brand Oyster Sauce and use that instead.

Hello - McFly! Donk. Donk.

-sw

snopea wrote:

thanks everyone

ok i just cannot DO chinese stirfry-i have tried and ruined way too
many meals. it is just something i am bad at but i love to eat it

i figured at least a bottled stirfry would save me money over takeout

i tried the recipe i posted and added some sesame oil and chili paste
with garlic and it still was just not good, very bland and just blech

so i broke down and bought some kikkoman stir fry sauce (buy 1 get 1
free at least) and did a small stir fry with some oil with ginger and
garlic fried in it quickly then some steak strips and finally some
cabbage and scallions
fried it all on high again quickly until the oil coated everything and
the food was hot but the veg was still crispy

poured on the sauce added some chili paste


Stir frying is pretty easy. You need a wok but a good sized frying pan
will work. Sort the vegetables and meat into order of cooking time
required. Harder vegetables take longer to cook than the softer ones.
Carrots and peppers take longer to cook than onion or snow peas. Cut the
vegetables into small pieces, preferably on an angle in order to maximize
surface contact for faster cooking. Chopped garlic and ginger are great
flavourings to add. Have some chicken broth and soy sauce on hand and mix
up some corn starch with water . Heat up the pan, add some oil, toss the
harder vegetables in first and stir them around and when their colour gets
a little brighter, slide them up the edge of the pan and add the next
vegetables. To make the sauce, add some chicken stock to the pan along
with some soy sauce then stir in the corn starch slurry and stir. It
should thicken into a nice sauce within seconds.

On Sat, 24 May 2008 04:21:25 +0100, snopea
wrote:


thanks everyone

ok i just cannot DO chinese stirfry-i have tried and ruined way too
many meals. it is just something i am bad at but i love to eat it

i figured at least a bottled stirfry would save me money over takeout

i tried the recipe i posted and added some sesame oil and chili paste
with garlic and it still was just not good, very bland and just blech

so i broke down and bought some kikkoman stir fry sauce (buy 1 get 1
free at least) and did a small stir fry with some oil with ginger and
garlic fried in it quickly then some steak strips and finally some
cabbage and scallions
fried it all on high again quickly until the oil coated everything and
the food was hot but the veg was still crispy

poured on the sauce added some chili paste

and it was GOOD

yay



the garlic and ginger fried beforehand gets you half-way there.
*pace* steve, i think kikkoman makes some good things, though i'd
rather make my own. you might check an asian market to see what they
have, as it would likely be cheaper.

i'm glad you came up with something you like.

your pal,
blake

it turned out better than expected but leftovers the next day were watery
blech

also when i stir fry meats they let out moisture most of the time-i assume it is because my frypan isnt hot enough?

(i have a gas stove and use a cast iron pan)

On Jun 15, 6:28*pm, snopea wrote:
....
also when i stir fry meats they let out moisture most of the time-i
assume it is because my frypan isnt hot enough?

(i have a gas stove and use a cast iron pan)

You can do perfectly fine stir frying with a cast iron pan but you
must get the pan HOT before you start, then don't overload the pan.
The stewing effect instead of searing means, as you say, that the pan
isn't hot enough but that may mean either at the start or that it
cools too much because you've overloaded it. Heat the pan really hot
(you won't hurt cast iron), add the meat in no more than one layer,
let it sit for a bit to achieve a sear before you begin stirring it
around. -aem

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:28:40 +0100, snopea
wrote:


it turned out better than expected but leftovers the next day were
watery
blech

also when i stir fry meats they let out moisture most of the time-i
assume it is because my frypan isnt hot enough?

(i have a gas stove and use a cast iron pan)

if you're using pork, it may have been injected with water and
'flavorings.' but the release of some moisture is pretty much
inevitable. if your pan is *hot* (too hot is better than not hot
enough), this shouldn't be much of a problem as the water will cook
off pretty quickly.

as for the wateriness - was any cornstarch involved in your recipe?

your pal,
blake