Introduction: After hearing that stir-frying can produce carcinogens, many friends have asked: if eating boiled or steamed dishes every day is too bland, is there a way to have the best of both worlds and make dishes that are both tasty and healthy? If you're not too attached to the flavor of smoked, charred food, this requirement can actually be met. That is the "water-stir-fry" cooking method I recommend. Let's take "Stir-fried Green Beans with Olive Sauce and Scallop" as an example.
First, wash 200 grams of green beans, remove the strings, and cut them into pieces less than 1 cm long. Finely chop 3 cloves of garlic. Take one star anise and break it into its eight segments. Set aside. Wash and soak 1 tablespoon of dried scallops until rehydrated. Have 1 tablespoon of olive sauce ready. 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, avoiding food poisoning from raw beans. Then, remove the lid and stir the green beans to let the water evaporate. When the water is almost gone, add the minced garlic and stir. Add a little salt. After the water has evaporated, the aroma of the garlic will be released. At this point, the green beans are fully cooked. Add 1 tablespoon 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 chopped, which helps them absorb flavor fully in a short time.
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 aromatic spices like star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili peppers. Although the heating temperature is a bit lower, as long as these aromatic substances are present, you can still cook up a delicious flavor even by boiling.
Fourth, use umami-rich ingredients to complement the green beans. For example, in addition to olive sauce, you can also make fermented black bean stir-fried green beans, or dried shrimp stir-fried green beans. These ingredients can be added in before the water is about to evaporate and can be stir-fried directly along with the beans. However, when pairing with minced meat, you also need to add a little ginger juice or minced ginger to remove any gaminess.
Fifth, you must not add too much water at the beginning.
Sixth, after the water comes to a boil 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 more seasonings at the end, then you should use less salt in the earlier steps. Otherwise, adding salt followed by olive sauce and various sauces will make the dish too salty.
Actually, this idea of smokeless cooking is not limited to green beans; it can be applied to other dishes as well.