oil in stir-frys

J

jonny100

0
I'm doing stir fry every night for my 5th meal (well, I cook the week's supply all at once and then freeze it in equal portions so I can reheat quickly). By the way, are any of the nutrients lost by doing that?

My main question. Should I use oil mixed with water to fry all the chicken and vegetables in or just plain cooking oil? At the moment I'm using a pure sunflower oil (made by Flora) and draining the excess away once it is half cooked.
Is sunflower oil the best to use, and is it alright to use on its own without mixing with water to reduce the fat content?
 
I no longer cook food, but when I did I discovered that a good trick for stir-fry was to place onions on the pan first. The water content of onions adds moisture to the pan and lessens the need to add too much oil. Of course if you don't like onions this won't work for you. I personally think extra virgin olive oil is the best.
 
Extra virgin olive oil is the best - but even then, you need very little. Onions are great for a base, so is garlic - and I like cabbage quite a bit personally.
 
jonny100 said:
I'm doing stir fry every night for my 5th meal (well, I cook the week's supply all at once and then freeze it in equal portions so I can reheat quickly). By the way, are any of the nutrients lost by doing that?

My main question. Should I use oil mixed with water to fry all the chicken and vegetables in or just plain cooking oil? At the moment I'm using a pure sunflower oil (made by Flora) and draining the excess away once it is half cooked.
Is sunflower oil the best to use, and is it alright to use on its own without mixing with water to reduce the fat content?
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Olive and canola oils are your best bets for oils - they have higher amounts of the essential omegas.

You should only be using 1-2 tablespoons of oil - if you find that's not enough for the food to cook, then add water. Don't drain the excess liquid.

Stir-frying is a good way to cook veggies because it's quick and you're not throwing away the liquid they're cooked in (which is where a lot of the nutrients to when cooked).

Just be sure you're reheating it on the stove and not in the microwave.
 
I use some olive oil, and then coat the wok with Pam. this way you still get to fry the meat and it won't stick ,but you do'nt end up with too much added oil, even if it is 'good' oil.
 
what is Pam?

What I do is I cook my meals for the week in 2 pans. Are you saying that I should use 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil in each pan and then add then make the rest up with water, or add more oil because I'm cooking more than one meal?

Why should I not drain the excess oil away? What I do is I drain it and then add soy sauce, before carrying on cooking. So it's not like I'm ridding the stir fry of liquid.

And about the microwave, yes I have been reheating in the microwave. What is the difference between doing this and heating on the stove?
 
PAM is one of the greatest inventions in food preparation in the last 50 years!

Actually, it's just a really great calorie-free non-stick cookie spray - very useful when you just have to use oil to keep stuff from sticking to the pan.
 
jonny100 said:
what is Pam?

What I do is I cook my meals for the week in 2 pans. Are you saying that I should use 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil in each pan and then add then make the rest up with water, or add more oil because I'm cooking more than one meal?

Why should I not drain the excess oil away? What I do is I drain it and then add soy sauce, before carrying on cooking. So it's not like I'm ridding the stir fry of liquid.

And about the microwave, yes I have been reheating in the microwave. What is the difference between doing this and heating on the stove?
Click to expand...
okay - use 1-2 T per serving. So you figure that out yourself.

When veggies are cooked, they lose some of their nutrients - and when they're cooked in liquid, that's where the nutrients go. Generally. That is why you want to consume the liquid you cook the veggies in.

And the microwave can destroy nutrients in certain veggies.
 
anyone know if PAM is available in the UK, because I know natty PB isn't and I haven't seen fish/flax oils around either. :mad:
So is PAM a kind of substitute for oil meaning you don't need as much oil to make sure your food doesn't stick to the wok?

I will re-heat on the stove from now on ;)
 
you CAN get natty pb in the UK and fish/flax seed oils. Go to sainsburys or waitrose for the PB, and GNC/hollandbarret for the fish/flax oil.

However, I've never seen spray-on oil... still looking around though..

sanc
 
cooking sprays like PAM are available all over europe ASAIK. and the other stuff can be bought online if you cant find it, just do a web search.
 
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