Stir-Frying

Stir-frying is a dashing, flamboyant technique that produces a great variety of trim, textured dishes. It is the brisk cooking of small cuts of ingredients in hot oil over intense heat, calling for split-second timing and swift movements. It requires an uninterrupted rhythm in its pursuit of that vitality the Chinese call “wok-heat.” The importance of capturing and retaining the heat of the pan and the energy of fast stirring within the dish cannot be overemphasized. As Ar-chang, our incomparable family cook, said to me in Shanghai: “Once you toss in the ingredients for a sizzling stir, even if the stove catches on fire and the fire is spreading with leaping flames, pick up the pan and let it ride the crest of the heat to completion before you put out the fire.”