After hearing that stir-frying can produce carcinogens, many friends have asked: eating boiled or steamed dishes every day is too bland. Is there a way to have the best of both worlds, making dishes that are both tasty and healthy? If you're not too attached to the flavor of scorched oil and charring, this requirement can indeed be met. That is the "water-stir-fry" method I recommend. Let's use "Stir-fried Green Beans with Olive Sauce and Scallops" as an example.
First, wash 200 grams of green beans, remove the strings, and cut them into short pieces less than 1 cm long. Finely chop 3 cloves of garlic. Take 1 star anise and break it into eight segments. Set aside. Clean and soak 1 tablespoon of dried scallops until soft. Set aside 1 spoonful of olive sauce. In a wok, add a small amount of water and the star anise, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then immediately add the chopped green beans and scallops, and stir to combine. Cover the wok and simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to ensure the green beans are thoroughly cooked and to avoid food poisoning from undercooked beans. Then, remove the lid and stir the green beans to allow the water to evaporate. When the water is almost gone, add the minced garlic, stir, and then add a little salt. As the water evaporates, the aroma of the garlic will be released. At this point, the green beans are fully cooked. Add 1 spoonful of olive sauce, turn off the heat immediately, and stir to combine. Use the residual heat to release the fragrance of the olive sauce.
There are several key points to making this dish: First, the green beans must be finely chopped, which helps them absorb the flavor quickly. Second, the oil used for stir-frying must be an oil without a strong raw flavor, such as refined camellia oil, olive oil, or walnut oil. Third, make full use of spices like star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili peppers. Although the heating temperature is lower, as long as these aromatic substances are present, you can cook up delicious flavors even by simmering. Fourth, use umami-rich ingredients to complement the green beans. For example, besides olive sauce, you can also make stir-fried green beans with fermented black beans or with dried shrimp. These ingredients can be added in just before the water evaporates and can be stir-fried directly along with the beans. However, when pairing with ground meat, you should also add a little ginger juice or minced ginger to remove the gamey smell. Fifth, you must not add too much water at the beginning. Sixth, after the water boils and you add the oil, you should add the vegetables promptly, otherwise, the oil will splatter very quickly, which is dangerous. Seventh, if you plan to add seasonings at the end, then use less salt in the beginning, otherwise, adding salt along with the olive sauce and various sauces will make it too salty.
Actually, this idea of smokeless cooking is not limited to green beans; it can be applied to other dishes as well.