What is Korean Stir-frying (볶음)?

Stir-frying is a cooking method that is done by quickly cooking ingredients in batches on high heat while constantly stirring the ingredients to prevent burning and to cook evenly.

Basic tips to Stir-frying

1. When you make stir-fried dishes using a high temperature is important. In restaurants, the heat is very high because they have a strong burner, and therefore, the dish is cooked quickly, has a nice texture (not soggy), and has a smokey flavor. For home cooks, you can adjust the temperature to a lower temp if needed; there is nothing wrong with that especially if you are new to stir-frying. 
2. You need to use an oil with a high smoke point and let it come to temperature before you start cooking your ingredients.
3. Before adding other ingredients, you can make a flavored oil by adding aromatic ingredients to the oil and cooking shortly.
4. When stir-frying, you want to cook the ingredients in smaller batches to prevent the temperature of the pan from dropping. 

Step #1 Cookware & Temperature

When making stir-fried dishes, you want to use a wok and high heat. 

When making stir-fried dishes using a wok is preferred because a wok’s shape distributes heat evenly across the surface. You always want to use a wok or pan that can withstand high temperatures.

When you make stir-fried dishes, you want to use high heat. High heat is used to make stir-fried dishes because the purpose of this cooking method is to cook the ingredients quickly to keep the natural texture of the ingredients and to maintain more nutrients from the ingredients. The ingredients center should be cooked or softened without having the outside of the ingredient burn. That is also why you need to stir the ingredients constantly as they cook in the wok. Ingredients like vegetables should keep their crisp texture, if cooked at too low a temperature, they can get soggy.

Step #2 High Smoke Point Oils

You need to use an oil with a high smoke point for stir-frying. If you use an oil with a low smoke point, then it will burn and add a bitter flavor. It is also unhealthy to eat burnt oil. 

So, what is “smoke point”?

The smoke point is the temperature that oil will start to smoke and burn. When stir-frying, it is normal for your pan to smoke a bit since it is at such a high temperature, but that is why you need to use an oil with a high smoke point so that it can keep up with the high temperatures needed to stir fry. You need to use an oil with above 400F smoke point. 

Sesame oil and perilla oil have a very low smoke point. Make sure you only add these two oils at the end of the cooking process to add flavor and shine right before serving.

Oils such as grape seed, soybean, canola, and peanut are all great oils with high smoke points that you can use to stir fry. Some have a neutral flavor, and some, like peanut oil, can add a slight nuttiness.  

Step #3 Prepping & Cooking your Proteins

Now that your pan is hot and oiled, you can add your proteins.

You want to use ground proteins, small diced, thinly sliced proteins. If you use huge thick cuts of protein, then the outside will burn before the inside can cook completely. You can use whole pieces of shrimp or seafood when stir-frying because seafood does not take a long time to cook.

After cutting up your proteins, it is optional to marinade them. The benefits of marinading your ingredients are that it will add more flavor, tenderize, and it can help remove any natural smells. You can marinate your proteins for 30 minutes before using them. 

Now there are two main ways you can cook your ingredients based on what they are and if you want to avoid overcooking or need to remove any natural unwanted smell or oil.

1. You can stir fry the marinaded proteins shortly till they are about 75% done, then either push them to the side of the pan to make room to make a flavored oil or take them out of the pan and reserve them on the side in a bowl to add again at the end of the cooking process.
2. Some proteins like octopus, squid, and chicken can be blanched first in water instead of stir-fried until they are 75% cooked. This is done to remove any smells or undesired oils from the proteins. After blanching, the proteins can be added towards the end of the cooking process and finished/cooked further along with the other ingredients.

These steps can vary based on the recipe. I wanted to explain why certain steps are sometimes taken in Korean stir-fried recipes. 

Step #4 How to Make a Flavored Oil

In most stir-fried recipes, a flavored oil is made. Making a flavored oil adds flavor but, more importantly, adds a delicious aroma to the stir-fried dishes.

The first step is to coat your pan in oil and let it come to temperature. Then add your aromatic ingredients and quickly mix them into the oil until they are fragrant. 

You can use aromatic ingredients like ginger, green onion, chili, or garlic when making your flavored oil. You can also add some salt to the oil. This makes the salt dissolve and coats the ingredients more evenly. 

• You can add crushed or minced garlic
• You can add slivered, sliced, or minced ginger
• You can use green onion, preferably the larger green onion (대파). Use the white part of the green onion in the flavored oil and save the green part to add at the end of the dish. The white is more aromatic, so it’s better to use in flavored oil.
• You can use sliced, ground, or whole fresh and dried chili.

Step #5 Cooking the Other Ingredients

After making your flavored oil, you can add the other ingredients. 

Remember that it’s important to maintain the pan’s high temperature when stir-frying. Therefore, cook the ingredients in smaller batches.

Add the ingredients that take the longest to cook first, such as carrots or potatoes, then ingredients like squash or the green part of the green onion later.  

As I mentioned, you can also individually stir-fry and then reserve the ingredients on the side outside the pan. You can also just push the ingredients to the side of the wok once you are done cooking them and add your next ingredient to the center of the wok. 

Step #6 When do you add the sauce or slurry, and why?

After cooking the other ingredients, you can now add the cooked protein back to the pan or move it from the side of the pan and add it to the other ingredients. 

Now you can add your sauce. When adding a sauce, first push the ingredients to the side of the pan and then lower the heat to medium. Add the sauce to the pan directly, do not mix it with the ingredients yet. After a few seconds, you can then toss the sauce with the ingredients that were pushed to the side. Adding the sauce to the pan directly helps to enhance the flavor of the sauce.

Some recipes may call for you to add a slurry. A slurry is a mixture of water and starch. If a recipe calls for a slurry, use a slurry. You do not want to add dry powdered starch to the pan without water, or it will clump.

When adding a slurry, first lower the heat, then add the slurry to the ingredients directly and mix right away so that it doesn’t get lumpy. A slurry makes the sauce thick and adds shine. You usually will add a slurry along with a sauce that is more liquid so that it can become thick. 

The last step to fried rice is finishing it with sesame oil or green onion and serving it.