Give me your rundown on stir-frying. Whenever you watch a video

>>9124974
Stir-fry is a horribly broad category. It's a bit inaccurate to try and pin down exact answers to those questions for every stir-fry dish. But, generally speaking:

1) you start by cooking something aromatic--spices and fermented pastes are common.
2) You then add the other ingredients in order of cooking time. Meat goes in fairly early since it takes longer to cook. Veggies in larger pieces would be likewise. Things that cook faster would be added later.
3) Depending on the dish you might add some cornstarch-water slurry to thicken into a sauce, or maybe some oil to finish.

>>should you cook vegetables first and then meat in the same pan or vice versa?
Ideally you cook them in the same pan. But, if you have a weak ass stove then that would yield poor results, so you might have to pre-cook some of the ingredients to avoid that problem.

>>should you cook garlic/onion with meat or with vegetables?
Yes, aromatics go in first.

>>when do you add the sauce?
The idea of a "stir fry sauce" is entirely the product of shitty Western products. In China there is no such thing as a "stir fry sauce". You start the dish with the aromatics and spices that will flavor it. For many dishes that's all you add. For those that seem "saucy" that's done by adding a mixture of cornstarch and water right at the very end of cooking.

Best advice I can give is to watch episodes of the old Iron Chef show (the Japanese one that got dubbed into English). Watch anything that involves Chen Kenichi or a Chinese challenger. Ignore the banter, just pay attention to what goes into the wok in what order.

>>9125051
Thanks m8, there are a lot of Iron Chef videos on youtube, can you link some of your favourites?

File: 61aOHd+BCuL._SL1500_.jpg (97KB, 898x1000px) Image search: [Google]

97KB, 898x1000px

>>9124974
>iron wok or whatever

That raises another important point. The whole point of a stir-fry is the crazy high heat level. That heat level browns the food, creates the malliard reaction, and carmelizes. You need a really strong flame to do that properly. Because most people's homes don't have a strong enough hob then you have to cheat. One way of doing that is to pre-cook the ingredients in advance. Another way is to use a really thick, heavy, skillet then heat it up really hot before you put the food in. You're relying on the thermal mass of the iron rather than a strong burner. (Think of it like this: if you need to spend a lot of money but your salary isn't very high, then you need to save up first. That's exactly how a thick iron pan can help).

Or you can skip all the bullshit and get something like pic related and stir-fry on that.

>>9125074
let's assume a western stove m8

>>9125065
I'd start by adding the word "Chen" or "kenichi" in the search box. Hang on a sec and I'll dig up some particularly good ones for learning about stir-fries.

>>9125084
Do you have gas? Then you're probably OK as long as you keep the portion size reasonable.

Electric? You're going to need to cheat. Heavy thick pan, pre-cook larger ingredients.

>>9125098
Here are some good ones that focus on stir-fries:

Bok Choy - Chen vs. Yaginuma
Spiny Lobster - Chen vs. Huaxian
Prawns - Chen vs. Saito
2000th Dish Special - French Vs. Chinese
Pork Belly - Chen vs. Liang
King of Iron Chefs - Tokyo X Pork (Chen vs. Kobe)