How to Saute Vegetables

Stir-frying is a quick way to prepare a delicious and nutritionally balanced meal. As long as you have a deep pan and the right oil, you can sauté any vegetable. If you like, you can add tofu, chicken, beef or other meats. To season the stir-fry, you can use sauces or seasonings. Here are instructions on how to make crispy and delicious stir-fried vegetables:

Table of Contents

Prepare materials

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Choose vegetables. You can sauté most vegetables. Choose from a variety of vegetables that have a variety of colors, textures, and a few ingredients that taste and smell good. Fresh or frozen vegetables can be used for stir-frying. However, you should not use canned vegetables because they will lose their texture when stir-fried. Prepare one and a half cups of any fresh vegetables per serving. You can try stir-frying all the ingredients you like, for example:

Bell pepper
Peas
Carrot
Master code
Green cabbage or purple cabbage
Broccoli or broccoli buds
Eggplant
Onion
Mushrooms

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Wash vegetables and pat dry. Fresh vegetables must be washed before being processed, and canned vegetables must be drained. Use a paper towel or clean cloth to dry the water so that the vegetables are cooked well after processing. The leftover water will turn the dish into steamed vegetables instead of sautéed and cause the vegetables to become mushy.

There is no need to defrost frozen vegetables if they are already cut into small pieces. However, you should wash the ice and then pat it dry so that the stir-fry is as dry as possible. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Cut vegetables into thin pieces. When stir-frying, all ingredients need to be stir-fried evenly and quickly so that each piece of vegetables is cooked at the same time. Therefore, the size and thickness of the vegetables will play an important role in ensuring that each piece of vegetables is fully cooked but not overcooked. Therefore, if vegetables are cut thinly, they will cook evenly and faster.

When preparing ingredients, you should keep each type separately. Since some vegetables will cook faster, you must stir-fry them separately.
For vegetables that ripen more slowly, cut them into smaller pieces so they don’t get raw when other vegetables are cooked. For example, potatoes, carrots and other starchy tubers usually ripen longer than mushrooms and eggplants.

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Prepare ingredients for fragrance. Just add a little garlic, ginger, chili, scallions and you can create a richer flavor for stir-fry. Remember to peel the garlic, ginger or onion before adding to the stir-fry.

Cut flavoring ingredients into small pieces so that their flavors can blend into the stir-fry.
For a stir-fry for 2, you can use 1 clove of garlic, 1 or 2 stalks of chopped onion, 1.5 cm of chopped fresh ginger, and 1 minced chili. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Prepare protein-rich ingredients. Stir-fried vegetables are also very tasty, but if you want the dish to help add protein, add tofu, chicken, beef or any type of meat. To prepare the ingredients, follow these steps:

Cut the meat into thin slices. Thick pieces of meat will not cook quickly enough. If you’re adding meat to a stir-fry, make sure everything is cooked thoroughly after cooking.
Cut the tofu into bite-sized chunks. You should choose firm tofu for stir-fry. Soft tofu will break easily and crumble when stir-fried.

Select Sauce

Buy or make your own Teriyaki sauce. This sweet, aromatic sauce is often used to season stir-fries. You can buy a bottle of Teriyaki sauce or make your own. Here is how to prepare Teriyaki sauce enough for stir-fry for 2 people:

Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon rice wine, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a saucepan.
Heat the mixture and let it simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture thickens.
Add salt and dried red chili powder.

Mix white wine with soy sauce. This is a simple and very easy to make sauce that gives a rich flavor to stir-fries. Just mix a few tablespoons of white wine with soy sauce and you can create a simple and delicious sauce. Or you can use sherry (not sweet) in place of white wine. Add salt and dried red chili powder.

Make your own peanut sauce. Peanut sauce helps bring out a different flavor than traditional sauces. This is a famous sauce in restaurants and you can also make it yourself at home. Here’s how to make peanut sauce:

Mix 1/2 cup rich peanut butter, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon brown sugar.
Add 1 minced garlic clove, some sesame oil or dried red chili powder for extra flavor.
Place the mixture in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight for the ingredients to come together.

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Season the stir-fry with broth. If you like a mild stir-fry, use vegetable broth, chicken or beef for seasoning. If you like a strong taste, mix the broth with soy sauce and add strong herbs and spices. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Mix 1 teaspoon of sugar with 1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar for a traditional taste.
Mix broth with lemon juice in a ratio of 1:1 to create a sour taste.

Sauteed Vegetables

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Heat the pan under high heat. You should only heat the pan, not add oil. If you don’t have a deep pan, you can use a heavy and high bottom pan. This type of pan will keep the vegetables hot and you can stir the vegetables without spilling them.

Do not let the pan get too hot to avoid burning when the oil is added. The pan is hot enough when you add water and see the water evaporate within 2 seconds. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Open a window or turn on an oven fan (if you have one) as frying can generate heat and smoke.

Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan. It’s best to use oils that can be heated to very high temperatures before they start to smoke, such as peanut, canola, corn, safflower, and rice bran oils. Extra virgin piu oil, sesame oil, or butter should not be used as they smoke too quickly under a high flame. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Hold the pan handle and rotate so that the oil evenly coats the surface of the pan. The oil should separate into a string of small oil beads and roll easily on the pan.
Oil that’s hard to spread may be because the pan isn’t hot enough. Heat until the oil drips easily before adding the vegetables. Otherwise, the stir-fry will be mushy.

Add in the fragrance ingredients when the oil starts to shine. The oil will start to shine before smoking. It’s a sign that you can put the first ingredients in. If the oil is not shiny, you can add the ingredients when the oil starts to smoke a little. Add garlic, ginger, scallions, and chili peppers for flavor before adding vegetables and meat or tofu.

Use a wooden spoon to quickly stir the ingredients or stir by pushing the pan if you can without spilling them.
Stir-fry ingredients for aromas for about 30 seconds before adding vegetables and meat or tofu. Do not fry for too long because garlic and other ingredients are very flammable in a hot pan.

Add ingredients that need to be sautéed for a long time. In addition to protein-rich foods like tofu or meat, add firm, hard vegetables like potatoes, broccoli, pumpkin, and green beans first. ^{[6] X Research Source} Use a wooden spoon to stir ingredients quickly or use tongs to flip and stir.

In order for the stir-fry not to be mushy and evenly cooked, you should only stir-fry the ingredients just enough for the pan. Since stir-frying only takes a few minutes, you can stir-fry in batches, leaving the pan and oil hot in between batches.
If the ingredients seem overcooked, stir more vigorously instead of turning off the heat. This way the ingredients will be hot and dry, creating the perfect stir-fry.
Continue sautéing the meat and firm vegetables until the meat is almost cooked and the vegetables are light in color and slightly tender. This process usually takes about 3-10 minutes, depending on the type of ingredients you use.

Add vegetables that need less time to sauté. When the above ingredients are almost cooked, add the vegetables that do not need to be sautéed for too long into the pan and continue to stir vigorously.

Vegetables that can be added later include bok choy, bell peppers and mushrooms.
Ingredients that require less stir-frying time include zucchini, grated cabbage, peas, and leafy greens. ^{[7] X Research Source} If you don’t want to complicate things, you can add them at the same time or you can wait until the other vegetables are almost cooked.

When the vegetables are tender, drizzle a few tablespoons of the sauce over. Drizzle until the sauce coats all the ingredients, then sauté for another 1-2 minutes. The sautéed vegetables will be almost cooked in 1-2 minutes.

Pour the sauce in a line onto the side of the pan, not the bottom of the pan to keep the pan hot.
Do not use too much sauce to avoid making the stir-fried vegetables too wet.

Eat immediately. The texture of the sautéed vegetables hot as they come out of the pan is the best. As soon as the sauce has soaked into the vegetables, turn off the heat and remove the vegetables to a plate. Sautéed vegetables while hot are the best and will soften right away, so don’t let them cool before eating. Stir-fried vegetables can be served with steamed rice and dipped in sauce or are also delicious if eaten alone.

Variations in Texture and Taste

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Adjust the stir-fry time if the vegetables are too mushy or too crispy. You can vary the stir-frying time depending on the size, type and maturity of the vegetables and personal preference. Making a variety of stir-fries using your favorite vegetables will help you figure out how long each vegetable should be sautéed.

If you find a vegetable too crispy, next time add them to the stir-fry earlier.
As for vegetables that are too soft or easy to come apart, add them to sauté later.

Things you need

Deep pan (or heavy pan with high walls)
Tissue
Wooden spoon

Advice

Apply the Season method to the pan (treat the pan before using it to create a protective layer) if the food is sticky or burnt. Pans need special treatment before use and should not be scrubbed as hard as other dishes. Therefore, you need to apply the Season method to prepare the pan for the next food preparation.
If using tofu or meat, you can use the sauce for a quick marinade before stir-frying.
Use oil with a high smoke point so that the vegetables don’t stick to the pan. You can use canola oil and don’t use piu oil or butter.
If you are allergic to soy, you can use coconut sauce instead of soy sauce.

Warning

Use firm tofu, not soft tofu. Soft tofu will break easily when stir-fried.
Peanut oil commonly used in stir-fries can cause serious harm to people allergic to peanuts.

Steps