You Only Need These 3 Cheap Ingredients For Restaurant-Worthy Stir Fry Sauce
With just a few humble ingredients, you can craft a restaurant-grade sauce to class up almost any stir fry. Isabel Chung, executive chef at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, British Columbia, exclusively told Daily Meal her three go-to ingredients for the best stir fry sauce: ginger, chili crisp, and soy sauce. "I love how ginger brings freshness and a bit of zip to any dish I add it to," she shared. "A bit of that je ne sais quoi."
Chili crisp, Chung said, "is so versatile, and it makes things that might otherwise be a bit bland or boring just a little more lively." The texture of the crisp is also important, Chung said, noting that simple dishes like stir fries often miss a satisfying crunch.
Finally, "soy sauce and its variants—tamari and shoyu—are the basis of so many dishes in Chinese cooking," Chung explained. Tamari is a thicker, often gluten-free soy sauce alternative with a stronger umami taste. Shoyu is a salty Japanese-style soy sauce with which you may be familiar. Kikkoman is often found on restaurant tables and in grocery stores; it is also available in bulk.
Read more: 7 Ways To Use Canned Refried Beans You Probably Never Thought Of
Ginger, chili crisp, and soy sauce "are probably my three must-haves for Chinese cooking in my home kitchen," Isabel Chung told Daily Meal. "This trio will work with all proteins," she added, suggesting different proportions depending on taste.
Extra chili crisp can add heat and texture for those looking for both, like an extra-spicy version of an easy chicken stir-fry recipe. Fresh ginger brings a delightful zest to any of the best stir-frying vegetables. "It is distinctly different in its fresh form, and I think of it much as I do lemon zest in other dishes," Chung said. "I love ginger, so if on my own, I will add a good amount of fresh ginger." And when it comes to soy sauce, it's a salty, flavorful base that Chung says is best used season to taste.
One final ingredient ties everything together. "As in all Chinese home kitchens ... cornstarch is a staple in my pantry," Chung revealed. I use this to thicken the sauce to coat the items in the stir-fry." And for the best flavors, don't forget to cook your stir-fry in the right order — for cornstarch, this means at the end as an equal-parts slurry with cold broth or water.
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