Stir Fry Sans Fry
A quick, colourful stir‑fry made without oil yet still glossy, flavour-packed, and endlessly versatile. Toss in any veg you love for a nourishing, weeknight-friendly bowl that tastes amazing and feels great to eat.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Chopped seasonal vegetables of your choice.
- Optional dried mushrooms, black fungus, nuts, tofu chunks, etc.
- Optional seasonings such as ginger, chilli, lemongrass, herbs.
- Water, vege stock or liquid left over from cooking other vegetables.
Glaze
- Approx. ½ cup water
- Soy sauce salt or low salt to taste (optional)
- A dash of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tbsp wholefood sweetner, eg. raw or coconut sugar, maple syrup or date syrup
- 1 heaped tsp tapioca flour
Instructions
- Before you begin, check that the wok has no rust, (see tips below).Prepare the veges, and mix the glaze ingredients in a cup and set it aside.
- Pour some water into the wok. Turn heat on high, (medium for a non-stick wok).
- If you’re using dried fungus etc, put it in now to swell as the water heats up.
- Add the vegetables that take longer to cook. Stir constantly, adding rest of veges as you go, and a little more water if it dries out. Don’t overcook – keep the crunch!
- When the veges are almost done, (still al dente), add seasonings, pour in the glaze mix, and stir until it thickens and turns clear. Add any additional ingredients that don’t need to cook, e.g. sesame seeds, cashew nuts. You’re done! Serve hot.
Notes
- The type of wok matters when stir-frying without oil. Regular woks, made of steel, depend on the constant use of oil to stop them rusting. With non-stick woks, a medium heat is recommended as they wear out quickly when cooking on high. Stir-fries ideally cook at a high heat. Invest in a quality stainless-steel wok if you can – a large size with two handles. It will last a lifetime of constant use.
- Oil plasticizes when it’s heated, forming sticky brown goo that has to be scrubbed heavily in order to remove it. With no residue to speak of, cleaning a ‘Sans Fry’ wok is a breeze!
- The secret of the glaze is using tapioca flour to thicken it, not cornflour. Tapioca forms a high shine that mimics the look of oil. If you’ve no other glaze ingredients, just water and tapioca flour will do the trick. Pre-mix the flour in a little water first and stir it just before you tip it into the vegetables.
- The key to a good stir fry is constantly keeping the vegetables moving on a very high heat so they’re being seared on the outside surfaces. This also keeps them a little crunchy in the middle.
- Have you tried Black Fungus? It’s inexpensive, has a pleasant texture & is easy to cook. Give it a go!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!