Paper Towels

A big wad of paper towels near at hand when you’re stir-frying is an indispensable helpmate. If you have too much oil in the pot, you can wipe it out. If too much soy comes gushing out of the bottle into the pan, you can blot it up. In the middle of stir-frying, if you should discover that the stir-fried whatever is swimming in oil, push the whatever to one side, press a wadded towel in the pan, then stir the towel gently until the oil is mopped up. The system may sound silly, but I have seen people look far sillier trying to tip a wok to drain it of excess oil or running across the kitchen to the sink to pour the unwanted oil out. Overdoing the oil is an all too common problem, and some nearby paper towels are a friendly, efficient solution.