Have you ever had a stir-fry disaster? Do you wonder why your stir-fry doesn’t look or taste like it does in restaurants? A good stir-fry can be a home cook’s best friend- it’s a crowd-pleaser and is ideal for busy weeknights when you want to put a nutritious meal on the table fast. But sometimes stir-fry can end up less than perfect with limp, soggy vegetables or dry, tough meat. And how do you prevent the ingredients from sticking to the pan? Here are some simple tips on this versatile ancient Chinese cooking technique to guarantee that your next stir-fry attempt will be a success.

- 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce*
- 3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha or other hot sauce (optional)
- 6 ounces soba noodles
- 4 teaspoons neutral-flavored oil like grapeseed or safflower, divided use
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb. medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
- 4 scallions, sliced
- 1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
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Mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, and Sriracha together in a bowl.
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Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Drain the noodles and rinse them with cold water.
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Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring often, until they just turn opaque, 2-3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate.
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Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the wok. Add the bell pepper, scallions (reserve some for garnish), and edamame. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until vegetables are crisp tender. Add the shrimp back to the wok along with the sauce. Cook until the sauce is heated through, about 1 minute, and then add the sesame oil and noodles. Toss to mix all of the ingredients together. Garnish with reserved scallions before serving.
* A sauce used in Chinese cooking that can be found in the Asian food aisle of most grocery stores
Thank you so much for the tips! I can't even begin to tell you how many times we were disappointed in our homemade stir-fry. This dish looks and sounds amazing!
Thanks so much! The recipe is very flexible- you can put in whatever meat and/or veggies you have in the fridge.
I love all of these ingredients. Super recipe!
Thanks, Lynda!
Looks really good! Great presentation!
Thanks! Yes, I was happy with the natural colors in the dish- I didn't have to do too much!
I shared this recipe on http://www.ameessavorydish.com. Check out Amee's wonderful site for more healthy, delicious recipes!
You make it sound so simple and end up with a super looking dish. I now realize why my stir fry vegetables get soggy. I do all of them together!
Tahnks for the tips.
Thanks, ur- once you get the method down, it is easy!
Such a beautiful and healthy stir fry dish! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the great tips!!! Lovely post!
Thanks for stopping by Amee!
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This looks delicious and very easy to make — going to try it this weekend!
Thanks Melissa- let me know how it goes!
You were right, this dish was a crowd pleaser. The only change that I did was to use the regular Chinese rice noodles BUT the vegetables remained crunchy and fresh looking.
Thanks for the tips on cooking temperature and differences in the use of oils for stir fries.
So glad it was a hit! Thanks!
This stir fry looks delicious and the tips are so helpful! Stir frys RARELY turn out for me so I'll have to try your tips 🙂
Thanks Elizabeth! Definitely focus on the tips and it should turn out great 🙂
I was just saying how I'm craving soba noodles. Looks like this will be in the dinner rotation very soon 🙂 Stir fry can seem intimidating, but you just have to be prepped and ready to go! Thanks for sharing!
Aren't soba noodles the best? Thanks so much Alanna!
Not overcrowding the pan is SO important!
Definitely!!
OH yes, I know all too well how disastrous stir-fries can turn out ;). All your tips are so so important to follow! I'm very guilty of overcrowding my pan as I have the tendency to want to add as much vegetables as I possibly can ;). And soba noodles..man..love that stuff!
Bad stir-fry can be really BAD! Thanks Min, and I couldn't agree more, soba noodles are so good!
I'm somewhat of a failure to my own culture and haven't ever made a legitimate stir-fry, haha. I knew about the super hot wok and the step-by-step part, but thank you for the rest of the tips! <3 This looks delicious! 😀
Haha, don't beat yourself up too much 😉 Thanks Farrah!
Oh geebuz. I still remember the time my mum leant me her wok and I wrecked it by burning the oil in the centre.
This looks delicious and I love a good stir fry- It's the best excuse to chuck well..anything in there! Shrimp is ALWAYS a winner! Also- hopefully it's just me but you're posts weren't showing up in bloglovin for some reason!
Haha, "Oh geebuz" is a new one to me! Thanks Arman, you really can't beat a good stir-fry.
As for bloglovin, thanks for letting me know. For a while now, I've been having a problem when I leave a comment with commentluv, it keeps linking to my peach fro yo. Now I know there's a bigger problem with my feed not updating, but I don't know how to fix it! Arrgh!!!
No worries at all- I had a similar issue- You need to shoot them an email and they 'reset' your blog- It has something to do with a connection with the RSS feed 🙂