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Triple (Grace Young) Stir Fry

jfm0830
jfm0830 Posts: 987
edited November 2014 in EggHead Forum
Grace Young, whose cookbooks were recommended by the good folks here when I began stir frying, recently released an online class using the Craftsy platform/website called The Art of Stir Frying. Even though I now have quite a few stir fries under my belt, I was interested in taking the class. I wanted to both see and hear items being done by an expert as opposed to just reading about them in a cookbook. I did pick up some great knowledge in the class. And the spinach recipe was without a doubt the best vegetable recipe I've ever had, at least for the first 5 minutes. For those of you who might be interested I wrote a blog entry where I reviewed the class: The Art of Stir Frying

What I made this day were three recipes included with the class: Classic Ginger Fried Rice, Spicy Beef with Snow Peas and Peppers and Simple Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic. Ms. Young mentioned that the flavor of the spinach was fleeting, so my intent was to do it last so that everything could be served once the spinach was done. I actually made two rounds of the fried rice which I stored in a warmer, followed by the beef dish which was also stored in warmer. When I came in with the spinach it was immediately plated and we began to eat. To do these out on the Egg I assembled Half sheet pan trays with all of the ingredients I needed measured out and arranged in the order I would need them. I stabilized the Egg at 650 degrees with no damper on the top chimney, using the lower draft door for all temperature control. Once I opened the lid to cook, I close the lower damper down completely and the Egg help 650 degrees nicely.

Classic Ginger Fried Rice:
Since I was making two rounds of this I set up two half sheet pans with the ingredients. The rice used is not instant or quick cook, so I had made it the night before. The oil is heated and the ginger is stir-fried for about 10-15 seconds. The veggies, which were each cut to a different sized dice to suit their hardness were stir-fried for 30 seconds. The rice was added and stir-fried for 2 minutes after which the ham, scallions and soy sauce were added and everything was stir-fried for 30 seconds more.
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Spicy Beef with Snow Peas & Peppers:
Cooking this dish on the Egg at 650 degrees gave me an advantage over cooking it on a wok on an indoor kitchen stove. At 500 degrees if you try to stir-fry the beef you get this mushy sticky mash of meat that is being steamed not stir-fried. She demoed this in the course video. Instead she has you put the strips of flank steak on the wok and leave it untouched and allow it to brown/sear for a minute before stir frying. At 650 I was able to stir-fry the meat the whole time with no issues. The meat was cooked 3/4 of the way and then pulled off the wok and held. The snow peas, scallions and salt were added and stir-fried for 30 seconds. The meat and a sauces were added back in and stir-fried for another minute.

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Simple Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic:
The large area of the wok  (vs a CI  frying pan) allowed you to stir-fry the spinach and have it remain in the high sided bowl of the wok. The steps were heat the peanut oil, stir-fry the garlic till fragrant, add the spinach and stir-fry until it is about half wilted, add a sauce and salt and pepper and finish stir-frying.. The extraordinary flavor of this dish lasts about 5 minutes so serve at once. After 5 minutes it is nothing special.

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The End Results:
This was an amazing meal!!  My guests said it was my best stir-fry ever. As mentioned I made two batches of the Fired Rice. I let people take some as an appetizer while they waited for the second round of Fried Rice, the Beef & the Spinach to finish. The rice held well in the food warmer and the beef did quite good too. The Spinach was plated straight of the wok and served at once. For the first 5 minutes it was totally incredible. After it had cooled it was good but nothing special. Fortunately everyone had listened to me and grabbed it while it was fresh.

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Jim


Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.

Comments

  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,832
    Nice job! I need to break out the wok again.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    Your stir fry cook are always amazing, Jimbo. Nicely done. I gotta dig my wok out of storage and get some done.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • fence0407
    fence0407 Posts: 2,236
    Did a chicken and shirataki noodle stir fry on Friday night - it was nothing close to what you've done above!  ^:)^
    Large - Mini - Blackstone 17", 28", 36"
    Cumming, GA  

  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    Always like to see stir frying on the BGE.. Wonder how Village Idiot is doing?  He had some great cooks and videos.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks for the kind words!

    Always like to see stir frying on the BGE.. Wonder how Village Idiot is doing?  He had some great cooks and videos.
    He sure did. He was one of the folks around here who encouraged me and got me pointed in the right direction 2 years ago when I was trying out stir-frying. I can't thank him and the others enough.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • lecrams
    lecrams Posts: 116
    That looks amazing! What kind of sauce did you put on the spinach?
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks! This really was a simple stirfry. The only flavoring was the garlic at the beginning and a sauce made from a tablespoon of chicken or vegetable broth into teaspoons of soysauce. Plus some salt-and-pepper after the sauce was added.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • tulocay
    tulocay Posts: 1,737
    Wow
    LBGE, Marietta, GA
  • I signed up as soon as I read your post and am watching Grace Young already! The website has the best production values possible. The closed captioning is PERFECT, doesn't block out the screen, and highlights speech as it is spoken.

    Thank you for this delightful link.
    Judy in San Diego
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    You're most welcome. This message board is all about us sharing what we've learned or discovered. 

    I now have about a dozen of those classes, 10 on food related topics and two on photography. I am self taught from books and seeing and hearing someone cook is great because I can find out whether I read things right. I actually prefer the iPad app interface to the website interface  and I can send the picture from my iPAD to our two HDTVs and the picture is great even on the big screen. 
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • I have an Android tablet. Do you have to buy the app to put it on a tablet?
    Judy in San Diego
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    I have an Android tablet. Do you have to buy the app to put it on a tablet?
    The Android App is available for free, there is a link on the Craftsy site for their mobile apps. It takes you to the Google Play store. The version I use for iOS comes in an iPAD and iPHONE version. The Android version appears to be optimize for an Android phone, so I am not sure how it will look blown up to fit a tablet sized screen. But it is free so you have nothing to lose giving it a try. The thing I like about the iPad version is it is cleaner and less cluttered and I find getting around even easier and faster than the full sized web browser version..  
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Dyal_SC
    Dyal_SC Posts: 6,046
    Looks killer as always, Jimbo!!
  • butert
    butert Posts: 202
    If you were going to purchase a Wok book would you lean towards Stir Frying to the sky's edge by Grace Young or The breath of a wok by Grace Young?  They both look very information but I only want to buy one or the other.
    Cooking on a XL BGE from Allendale, Mi.
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited November 2014
    That is a really tough question to answer, and frankly at this point I wouldn't want have to make a choice. A lot of it is going to depend on you. Both books have excellent recipes and the big difference is the background information. Breath of a Wok, goes much deeper into the background, history and traditions involving stir frying and the Wok. I've always enjoyed learning about the background of some new subjects I am learning about. I've also heard some people complain that Breath of a Wok is too much background and not enough recipes. Breath of a Wok is about 50% recipes and 50% background, historical and getting started information. Stir Frying to the Skies Edge is about 75% recipes in 25% background.

    I would also highly recommend Grace Young's Craftsy class: The Art of Stir Frying.  The items I stir fried in this post were all from that course. There is a link in my original post here to a blog entry I wrote about it. This class is a great way to get started because you are able to see and hear what things should look like and sound like. One of the other thing she does is illustrates some of the "What not to do's" by actually doing them. You can see for yourself why they don't work. Just to be clear, I am not talking about this in place of one of the cookbooks, I am saying in addition to the cookbook you choose. In fact I might reverse the order and get the class first and then order the cookbook of your choice.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • NDG
    NDG Posts: 2,431
    awesome - grace young is the real deal!
    Columbus, OH

    “There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is” 
  • butert
    butert Posts: 202
    Thanks for the advice @jfm0830.  I've had a wok since September, and have screwed everything up including the seasoning step of the wok lol.  Its been very frustrating but I want to make it work!
    Cooking on a XL BGE from Allendale, Mi.
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    Man! I feel like I'm missing the boat here with no wok. As always your spot on. Fantastic cook and presentation =D>
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thank you very much for all of the additional comments. It's funny, This post got more comments two weeks after was posted then it did when I originally posted it.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    Thanks for the post. I took your advice and visited Craftsy, took the course and just got off the phone with Ms. Tane Chan after ordering two woks. One for the Egg and one for the Volcano plus a lot of other stuff. Early Christmas presents! Been thinking about getting a wok for the Egg and your pics sealed the deal. Amazing cook.
    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC
  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Best of Luck and Merry Christmas!! It will be a happy New Year. Post some of your results.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • SJ21XDC
    SJ21XDC Posts: 235
    This looks awesome! =D>

    XL & Mini-Max

    Chattanooga, TN

  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    The woks won't be here until next week. We chose "Stir Frying to the Sky's" which will be here Friday. Getting ready to order a spider. I noticed that most of you use a round bottom with "D" handles. Ms. Chan recommended a pow wok for me. Anyone using that style?

    I will post pics. Just trying to decide what to cook first.
    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC
  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    Dang! Nice cooks brother. I have a nice wok for the stove top but not for the Egg. Looks like fun.
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
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    My Photography Site
  • bboulier
    bboulier Posts: 558
    Looks great.  Wonderful pictures and directions.  I like to stir fry and usually do so on the electric stove.  Unfortunately, I can't get the temperatures I used to get on the gas stove.  The egg really does get you up to authentic temperatures.  Stir frying on the egg is something I will have to try.   You have persuaded me.
    Weber Kettle, Weber Genesis Silver B, Medium Egg, KJ Classic (Black)
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,457
    edited November 2014
    Dredger said:
     I noticed that most of you use a round bottom with "D" handles. Ms. Chan recommended a pow wok for me. Anyone using that style?
     
    I prefer flipping the food with the pan, rather than tossing with a spatula, so both my woks are the "pow", handled style.  You can't close the Egg lid with the handle, but I can't think of when you would want to.  
     
    HINT:  to learn to toss your stir-fry, use a wet sponge in a cold wok, you'll have it down in a couple minutes.  
    ;)
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    Thanks again for looking and the new comments. 

    Flipping the food as you would in a pow wok is not something that is in my skill set, but there is a second advantage to the pow wok. You are able to carry  and empty the wok with one hand and use a spatula in the other to assist in getting the food out. If the handle is wood you may not even need a glove to pick up the wok. I have to carry my wok using the 2 D-handles wearing gloves. I must dump it out with two hands and unless you have a third hand for a spatula you may have to ask someone to help you. Fortunately my wok is well seasoned and the food slides out easily 99 time out of 100.

    Best of luck to the people who are starting to stir fry on their Eggs.
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,457
    jfm0830 said:
    Flipping the food as you would in a pow wok is not something that is in my skill set, but there is a second advantage to the pow wok. You are able to carry  and empty the wok with one hand and use a spatula in the other to assist in getting the food out. If the handle is wood you may not even need a glove to pick up the wok. I have to carry my wok using the 2 D-handles wearing gloves. I must dump it out with two hands and unless you have a third hand for a spatula you may have to ask someone to help you. Fortunately my wok is well seasoned and the food slides out easily 99 time out of 100.
     
    Excellent point.  That's always a problem for me for the last bit of stew, burghoo or spaghetti sauce in my cast-iron le Creusets: too heavy to hold with one D handle, and can't scrape out the last bit of food.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    Thanks for the sponge hint Botch, I'll give it a try. The other wok for the Volcano has the wooden handle with the helper handle, so I have a backup plan if I can't master the tossing technique.

    Hubby is so excited about the woks that we ordered two more Aerogardens to grow Asian greens. I already have two gardens growing Shanghai Pak Choi and Small Gai Choi, which should be ready to harvest by the time the woks arrive. If anybody wants to grow their own Asian greens, Kitazawa Seed Company is the place to get your seeds. They have everything Asian under the sun. Our local stores have a few items for stir-frying, but we prefer to grow our own. We like fresh veggies. So looking forward to that "wok hei" moment. Again, thanks Jim.
    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC