Ken Hom

Completing Sauced-Fried Vegetables

Appears in
Chinese Technique
Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

  • About
Harder, low-moisture vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, or Chinese radish, start out as stir-fried but end up with a quick boil.
  1. stir-fry the vegetables over high heat until they are partially cooked, then add the premixed sauce ingredients—stock, water, or whatever the recipe calls for. Let the vegetables boil until they are almost done; taste a piece to be sure. If the recipe calls for a thickened sauce, push the vegetables up the side of the wok to leave a pool of liquid in the bottom. Because the side of the wok isn’t as hot as the bottom, the food won’t overcook.

  2. Add cornstarch dissolved in stock or water to the pool of liquid (the recipe will specify the amount). Let the liquid return to a boil, then stir the ingredients back into the sauce to coat them. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat the food lightly. You can also thicken the sauce by reducing it. In this case you should remove the vegetables while you let the sauce boil down.