Preparations

Preparations consist of matching compatible ingredients, cutting appropriately, marinating or tenderizing, and organizing.

A stir-fried dish is generally composed of one main ingredient—meat, poultry, or seafood—and one or several secondary ingredients, either fresh, dried, or preserved vegetables. There are many single-ingredient dishes, particularly in the realm of vegetables, and there are occasionally dishes where meat and seafood are combined. When made up of more than one ingredient, the dish either glorifies the main one by a light touch of the secondary or plays on variety and the contrast of textures by embellishing the main with an assortment of the secondary. The play on ingredients cannot be done without knowing the fundamentals of good matchmaking.