Technique · Heat · Speed

The stir-fry is the fastest healthy meal you'll ever cook.

Prep everything before you touch the heat. Get the wok screaming hot. Add things in the right order. That's it. Six guides that show you exactly how.

230°C wok 90-sec cook Prep first
Start with mise en place
Wok over high flame with stir-fry vegetables and steam rising

This kitchen is forfast food done right.

A stir-fry should take three minutes once the pan is hot. Most people cook them wrong — crowded pan, not hot enough, everything added at once. You end up with steamed vegetables in brown water instead of something crisp, charred, and actually worth eating.

These six guides cover exactly what goes wrong and exactly how to fix it. Specific temperatures. Specific times. No vague instructions like "cook until done." Done means 230°C, 45 seconds on the protein, and your hand over the wok feels like standing next to a bonfire.

230°C Minimum wok surface temp for proper sear
90s Cook time once aromatics hit hot oil
5 min Prep time — mise en place must be done before heat
6 Technique guides from pan temp to fridge raids
All guides

Six things every stir-fry cook needs to know

Foundation
Mise en Place for Stir-Fry

Everything prepped, measured, and within arm's reach before the oil hits the wok. Once that pan is hot, you have no time to chop.

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Heat
Why the Pan Must Be Hot

Not warm. Not medium-high. Hot enough that a drop of water explodes on contact. This is non-negotiable if you want any kind of sear.

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Sequence
The Order You Add Things

Aromatics first, then protein, then dense veg, then leafy veg, then sauce. Get this wrong and everything cooks at different rates.

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Sauce
A Simple Stir-Fry Sauce

Soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and a teaspoon of cornstarch. Mixed cold, added at the end, coats everything in 15 seconds.

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Core technique

The fundamentals, one at a time

Mise en place: chopped vegetables in bowls ready for stir-fry

Step 01

Prep everything before lighting the burner

A stir-fry moves fast. Once the wok hits 230°C you have about 90 seconds before things burn. That's not enough time to dice garlic. Cut everything into uniform pieces — 5mm slices for dense veg, 3cm chunks for protein — and arrange them by cook order from right to left.

⏱ Prep: 5–10 min before heat
Wok tossing vegetables with high flame visible

Step 02

Get the pan screaming hot — then add oil

Put the empty wok on maximum heat for 2 full minutes. Hold your hand 15cm above the surface — if you can hold it there for more than 3 seconds, it's not hot enough. Add a high smoke-point oil (rice bran, refined sunflower) only when the metal shimmers. Never heat oil in a cold pan.

🌡 Target: 230°C surface / oil smoke point 230°C+
Garlic and ginger in hot wok oil — aromatics stage

Step 03

Aromatics: 20 seconds, no more

Garlic and ginger go in first. They sizzle immediately and turn golden in 20 seconds. If they sit longer they burn and everything tastes bitter. Keep them moving the whole time — no standing back from the stove.

⏱ 20 seconds · constant movement
Stir-fry sauce ingredients — soy, vinegar, sesame oil in bowl

Step 04

Sauce in cold, at the very end

Mix your sauce before the wok goes on. Add it in the final 15 seconds — pour around the edge of the wok so it hits the hot metal first and caramelises slightly before coating the food. A teaspoon of cornstarch in the sauce makes it cling. Without it, everything sits in a puddle.

⏱ Final 15 seconds · stir through once
The kitchen in action

What good stir-fry looks like

Finished stir-fry dish with bright colorful vegetables in wok
Crispy bok choy and greens in hot pan
Stir-fry ingredients from the fridge ready to cook
Vegetables prepped and ready in mise en place bowls
Garlic and ginger aromatics in wok
Simple stir-fry sauce in a bowl
The rules

Three things that matter every single time

A cold pan is the enemy. You're not sautéing — you're stir-frying. The Maillard reaction only starts above 150°C. Get to 230°C and stay there.

Heat discipline

Prep is not optional. The moment you put garlic in hot oil, you have 20 seconds. If your chicken isn't sliced yet, it's already too late.

Mise en place

Overcrowding kills stir-fry. One layer in the wok. Anything more and the temperature drops instantly — you're steaming, not frying.

Pan management
The sequence

Every stir-fry, every time — in this order

1
Before heat Mise en Place All veg cut, sauce mixed, everything in reach
2
2 minutes Heat Pan Empty wok on max heat until metal shimmers
3
20 seconds Aromatics Garlic + ginger, constant movement, no burning
4
45–60 seconds Protein Single layer, sear 30s each side, remove if needed
5
30–45 seconds Vegetables Dense first, leafy last, keep everything moving
6
15 seconds Sauce Pour at the edge, toss through once, serve immediately
Common questions

The things that keep going wrong

Three things cause soggy veg: a pan that isn't hot enough, wet vegetables (pat them completely dry before they go in), and too much in the pan at once. The temperature drops when you add food — if you overcrowd it, the pan never recovers and the veg steams instead of frying. Cook in batches if needed.
Yes, but size matters. Use the biggest, heaviest pan you own — cast iron or carbon steel holds heat better than non-stick. A 28–30cm pan gives you enough surface area to avoid crowding. Non-stick pans are fine but can't take the extreme heat of a proper wok station, so you'll need to cook in smaller batches.
Hold your hand 15cm above the wok surface. If you can keep it there comfortably for 3 seconds, it's not hot enough. For a dry wok, you'll also see the colour of the metal change slightly — it goes from black to a faint grey sheen. On a gas hob, 2 full minutes on maximum. Electric hobs take 3–4 minutes.
Watery stir-fry usually comes from wet vegetables releasing moisture as they cook, or from too much sauce. Dry everything thoroughly — spin salad leaves, pat proteins with kitchen paper. If your sauce is thin, add a teaspoon of cornstarch. It thickens almost instantly at high heat and makes the sauce cling to the food instead of pooling at the bottom.
High smoke point, neutral flavour. Rice bran oil (smoke point ~254°C) is ideal. Refined sunflower, refined groundnut, or refined avocado oil all work well. Never use extra virgin olive oil — it smokes at 190°C and tastes bitter when burnt. Coconut oil is fine but adds flavour. Sesame oil is a finishing oil only — add it to the sauce, not the pan.
Yes, and it's a great idea. Cut everything, store in airtight containers in the fridge, mix your sauce in a jar. The night before or morning of, when you come home from work, the whole thing takes 5 minutes. Just make sure to dry vegetables thoroughly before they go in the pan — fridge condensation makes them damp.