This post Vegetable Stir-Fry was last updated in 2022.
Make your own Vegetable Stir-Fry. You can use it with any vegetables you wish, or serve it as a side dish to any Asian meal. This delicious Chinese brown sauce tastes just like what you would get at Chinese restaurants. It will make your vegetables scrumptious. And there’s a generous amount of it to soak your rice!
Vegetable Stir Fry
I make this approximately once a week, and it completely baffles me how I’ve been running this recipe website for 5 years (!!) Without sharing it.
A vegetable stir-fry is:
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my end-of-week Fridge Forage meal;
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How I (happy) eat a lot in one sitting.
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something I make with a mix of vegetables – or just one (like snow peas or Asian mushrooms).
I prefer it with noodles or rice. I toss noodles ToYou can use it to cook. It’s a great addition to homemade Chinese noodles soups. This saucy stir-fried vegetable makes instant ramen more respectable.
So I repeat again – 5 years. I have no recipe. BAFFLED. 🤷🏻♀️
What’s in my Vegetable Stir Fry?
You can basically ignore all the vegetables in the photo below, and visualise whatever YOU want to use! You can just use the sauce portion of my recipe. 🙂
Charlie, can I do this?
100% yes, you’ll need 4 tablespoons of Charlie and directions are in the recipe below. For new readers, “Charlie” is my ready made All Purpose Chinese Stir Fry Sauce. RTE readers and I love him so much, we’ve named him. He can be used in most of my stir-fries and noodles with a few additional flavourings or outright. Try him once, and you’ll be obsessed with him too!
How to make stir-fried vegetables
There’s only two rules here:
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You will need to chop all ingredients and have them ready to go in the skillet or wok. This recipe is quick once you get started!
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Don’t let the veggies cook until floppy and sad. They should be bright. Simply cooked so they don’t have the raw bite to them but they’re still a bit crisp. That’s the point of optimum flavour and nutrition for vegetables!
Which order should vegetables be cooked in stir fries?
There’s no need to turn this into an exact science! Start by boiling aromatics until you have a base of flavour. Next, add the vegetables that take the longest time to cook and then the delicate leafy greens at the end.
Here’s a rough guide:
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AromatherapyFirst-onion and leeks, garlic, ginger, and chilli
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Firm vegetables in second – like carrot, capsicum/bell peppers, stems of Asian Greens (Buk Choy in this recipe), zucchini / courgettes, eggplant, asparagus, canned baby corn, green beans, okra.
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Quicker cooking vegetablesNext: cabbage, kale and snow peas
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Delicate vegetables in last – toss until just wilted. Asian Greens, leafs of spinach, bean sprouts and green onions, as well as fresh herbs.
Pre cooked vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower and broccolini should be pre-cooked prior to using in a stir fry as they take too long to cook from raw in a stir fry (unless chopped small). Even though they are rarely used in stir fries I do pre-cook things such as squash, pumpkin, and other root veggies.
It’s never been easier to prepare a big pot of vegetables!!
Also – the stir fry sauce.I love to make lots of it so it can soak into the noodles or rice or whatever else you serve it. It’s also particularly good at disguising cauliflower rice – for those of you *trying* to cut down on carbs. 😇
Stir Fried Vegetables: What should you serve?
This can also be done as:
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a main dishServe with noodles or rice (try cauliflower rice for low carb options);
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a vegetable side dish.
Though this stir fry has Chinese origins, don’t restrict yourself to serving this alongside just Chinese dishes. You’ll see similar version of this sauce used all across Asia. So serve it as a vegetable side the next time you make any Asian dishes – such as Vietnamese, Thai or Japanese! Here are a few suggestions (just a few….😂):
Stir Fried Vegetables: What should you serve?
Woah. For someone who’s taken so long to share such a *simple* recipe, I sure did have a lot to say about it! 😂 – Nagi x
How to make it
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Saucy Vegetable Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger Finely sliced (optional).
- 1/2 Onion Peel and slice the fruit
- 1 Carrot Large
- 3 medium buk choy Note 1: Other leafy greens may be used (Note 1).
- 1 Cup mushrooms Sliced 3mm/1/8″ thick
- 1 Capsicum sliced 1/2 cm/1/5″ thick
Sauce (or 4 tbsp Charlie Note 4)
- 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)
- 2 tsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tbsp Mirin or Chinese Wine for Cooking (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp Sesame oil (optional)
- A dash of white pepper (or black)
- 3/4 cup / 185ml Water
Garnishes, optional:
- Finely sliced green onion
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
Vegetable Prep:
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Carrot: Slice in half lengthwise and then diagonally slice 2mm/1/10″ thick
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Buk Choy (Note 1): Take off the base, then trim the stem. The stem should be cut lengthwise into pieces of 1cm/ 2 inches in width. Leaves should be kept separate from stems as they can be cooked at different times.
Sauce (Charlie – Note 4):
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Combine cornflour with soy sauce in bowl. Mix until cornflour dissolves.
Cooking:
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Oil can be heated in a skillet or wok over high heat.
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Stir for 10 seconds. Stir in the onion and continue to stir for about 30 seconds.
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Stir in carrot, capsicum, and stems from buk choy.
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Mix in mushrooms. Stir for 2 to 3.
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Toss the Sauce in a bowl and let it sit for about 1 minute, until it thickens and becomes glossy. Do not overcook them so that they become limp and floppy. They should only be cooked until they are “crisp tender”.
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Take off the stove and serve with rice. If desired, garnish with green onions and sesame seed. Also, a large dollop of chilli oil would not go amiss!
Recipe Notes
It doesn’t matter if you are exact – some leaves may end up in the stem batch. The most important thing is to add the most leaves later in the cooking time.
2. Soy sauceUse light or all-purpose soy sauce. Dark Soy Sauce should not be used as the flavor is too strong and will overwhelm the sauce. The label will read “dark sauce” on the bottle.
Gluten free – use tarmari.
3. Chinese Wines for Cooking“Shaoxing wine” is the secret ingredient to make a restaurant’s standard Chinese sauce. With just a little of the cooking wines, you can achieve depth and complexity in the sauce.
SUBSTITUTES:
- Mirin – the Japanese equivalent to Chinese cooking wine
- Dry sherry, the next best, is any cheerful and cheap dry sherry
- Sake from Japan
- Non-alcoholic – replace the water with low sodium chicken stock/broth
4. CHARLIEMy All Purpose Stir Fry sauce. If you’ve never met him and love stir fries, then you will soon be best friends. Here’s how to make him.
Charlie can be used in this recipeReplace the Sauce with 4 tablespoons Charlie + 3/4 teaspoon cornflour/cornstarch + 3/4 cups water. Then, use the recipe as directed.
5. Nutrition excludes rice.
Nutrition Information:
Dozer life
Dozer pool action more! Dozer is climbing out of the pool, but there’s not much action. Dozer is currently using a ramp as the step in to the pool is so high that he injured his lower back from all his jumping in and outside.
I know, it’s true. First World Problems.🙈
