An old roommate of mine used to make a lot of chicken stir-fry for himself for dinner, and he always offered me a taste. Nice guy, right? Unfortunately I learned never to partake in his creations, which inevitably starred sticky-sweet jarred sauces and were full of overcooked chicken breast and soggy slices of bell peppers.
Chicken stir-fry doesn't have to be like that. It can be full of crisp-tender fresh vegetables and juicy strips of richly-flavored chicken, and you can make it great without ever looking at a recipe. Once you learn how to make chicken stir-fry by heart, you'll appreciate that it's a dinner that always comes together in less than half an hour, and is endlessly customizable.
How to Master Cooking With a Wok
I don't claim to be a wok master nor even an expert on Chinese cuisine, so my method for making stir-fry is probably not the most authentic. But it works for me, and it can work for you, too, either with a wok or a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. Ready? This is how you do it:
1. Slice and Marinate Some Chicken
Chicken stir-fry is a great meal to make for one or two, because that gives you more room in your wok or skillet to really sear things quickly. But you can make it for up to four people at a time (any more than that and you'll have to make it in batches). How much chicken you need depends on how many people you're feeding and how much chicken they want to eat—I like to use about 1/4 pound of chicken per person in my stir-fry, but some people might want more like 1/2 pound per person. You can use either chicken breast cutlets or boneless skinless chicken thighs; whichever you choose, slice them into 1-inch thick strips or 1-inch cubes and put it all in a bowl.
To season one pound of chicken, you need about 3 teaspoons of marinade. My basic stir-fry marinade consists of equal parts soy sauce, rice wine, and corn starch. So for one pound of chicken, I stir together a teaspoon soy sauce, a teaspoon of rice wine, and a teaspoon of cornstarch, then I jazz it up some chili flakes or freshly grated ginger or garlic. Once the marinade is all mixed up, pour it over the sliced chicken and toss it thoroughly so that every piece is coated. Then let it sit while you get everything else ready to stir-fry. (This is not a long marinade game—10 minutes will do the trick, and that's probably about as long as it'll take you to get all your ducks in a row before you can start cooking.)
Ginger stir-fries have more fun.
2. Slice Some Vegetables
This where you can really play with variations in your chicken stir-fry game and add any quick-cooking vegetable you like. Snow peas and sugar snap peas are always great and don't need any slicing; bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and onions are also great, but require a little prep. Leafy things like bok choy or cabbage can also be used—the cabbage is best when thinly sliced. Carrots aren't quick cooking unless they're very thinly sliced, and then they're great—I like to use a mandolin to slice them into nice even little strips. You want about 2 cups of chopped vegetables for every pound of chicken.
3. Prepare a Sauce
Before you start cooking anything, make a sauce to stir in once everything's been seared. This is where the flavorings for the whole dinner will come from, so make it count—and make it strong. You want about 1/3 cup of sauce for every pound of chicken.
Start by whisking together some chicken or vegetable broth, soy sauce, and rice wine (about equal parts of each), then season it with freshly-grated ginger or garlic or hot sauce. Add a dash of fish sauce or a squeeze of lime juice or orange juice if you like. You can add a little sugar to the sauce (if you want it to be sweet) and a teaspoon of corn starch (if you want it to be thick). Whisk the sauce until it's smooth, have a taste, adjust it until it excites you, then set it aside and turn on your stove—you're ready to start cooking.
