Finally caught on that I was overcrowding my pan every single stir-fry

Saw a video last week where the guy only cooked 1 cup of broccoli at a time and it actually got crispy instead of steaming, so I tried it with my $3.50 bag of frozen veggies and now I can’t believe how much better my dinners taste for the same money - has anyone else realized they just needed to cook in smaller batches?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lisa21d ago

Frozen veggies work great for this too, just make sure they're really dry before they hit the pan or they'll steam no matter what. I'll spread mine out on a paper towel for a few minutes while the pan heats up. Small batches are definitely the way to go for getting that browned, crispy texture instead of sad, soggy vegetables.

oliverhernandez21d ago

Yeah but @the_lisa what's your take on the thawing and squeezing thing though? I've always just done the paper towel thing and gotten decent results but maybe I'm leaving some crispy potential on the table. Have you ever tried janah83's method and noticed a real difference?

janah8321d ago

Actually, you don't want to pat frozen veggies dry, the problem is they release a lot of water as they cook because freezing bursts the cell walls. Thawing them first and squeezing out the extra moisture in a clean dish towel is really the only way to get them truly crispy.