MEAT AND POULTRY STIR-FRIES

BEEF STIR-FRIES ARE BEST MADE WITH flank steak. It slices thin and stays tender when cooked over high heat. We tried other cuts, such as top round, and found that they become tough when stir-fried. Slightly frozen flank steak is easier to slice thin than meat at room temperature. The same holds true for chicken and pork. An hour in the freezer firms up the texture nicely. Another option is to defrost meat in the refrigerator and slice it while still partially frozen.

Flank steak sheds a fair amount of liquid. To keep the meat from stewing in its own juices, we prefer to sear flank steak in two batches. When the first batch is nicely browned, scrape out the meat and all juices and transfer them to a small bowl. Add a little more oil and then the second batch of meat to the pan. When that batch is done, add the meat and juices to the bowl, then cover the bowl. Bring the empty skillet back up to temperature and proceed with cooking the vegetables. Each batch of beef will require about one minute of cooking time.

The chicken recipes in this chapter call for boneless, skinless breasts that are cut into ¹/₂-inch-wide strips. If you can find boneless, skinless thighs (or want to bone and skin the thighs yourself), go ahead and use this tasty dark meat. Thighs should be cut into 1-inch pieces. Both breast and thigh meat require a fairly long time, at least two and one-half to three minutes, to cook through and brown slightly.

Many traditional stir-fry recipes use ground pork. We prefer lean tenderloin and cut it into long, thin strips that cook in about two minutes. Like flank steak, pork tenderloin can shed a lot of liquid and should be stir-fried in two batches.