Sautéing and stir-frying—The most common question I get on this topic is how to sauté or stir-fry without butter or oil. The trick is to use small amounts of water or broth, adding just a small amount (1 to 2 tablespoons) at a time. Do this as often as needed to cook and brown the food, without steaming it.
Can I add water to a stir fry? Yes, if you want to steam the vegetables. Sometimes I will add 2 tablespoons of water or broth after adding the vegetables. I put a lid on the pan and allow the ingredients to steam for 2 to 5 minutes depending on how raw the vegetables are and how much food there is.
When you stir-fry vegetables, the dish is often dry and the amount of nutrients in vegetables is evaporated, so to retain those nutrients, you should add 2-3 tablespoons of water when the pan is hot.
Add the chopped vegetables and two tablespoons of water to a skillet or pan and turn the heat to medium or medium-low. It will take a few minutes for the vegetables to start sizzling. Use more than two tablespoons if you have a large pan. You're aiming for a thin layer of water.
Sautéing and stir-frying—The most common question I get on this topic is how to sauté or stir-fry without butter or oil. The trick is to use small amounts of water or broth, adding just a small amount (1 to 2 tablespoons) at a time. Do this as often as needed to cook and brown the food, without steaming it.
Soy sauce, sesame oil, a bit of vinegar, or store-bought stir-fry sauces are easy to add to the dish and most stir-fry recipes will include a suggested mixture of liquid. If you don't really have a sauce planned, a bit of bottled soy sauce and some diced garlic or ginger will make a nice basic stir-fry sauce.
Frying without oil: Meat options
In the pan: You can easily fry meat with no cooking oil in a griddle or a normal, nonstick pan. The natural fats of the meat are enough to cook it, but if you want to add a little something to help it on its way, try a splash of sparkling mineral water.
Steer clear of olive oil, delicate finishing oils (like nut oils), or butter, which will all burn, smoke, and become rancid quickly. This one goes hand-in-hand with the previous mistake. For perfectly cooked meat, tofu, tempeh, and/or vegetables, you want to make sure that the pan is not crowded.
Here are a few to choose from. A wok is another item you'll want to consider adding to your oil-free arsenal. Stir-frying without oil is a great option for those eating a plant-based diet, and having a wok on-hand makes for the perfect stir-fry.
One can't fry food stuffs like vegetables for example, with water because the boiling point of water is less than that of the oil.
It's a great way to cook pork chops, steaks, and more. The water soaks into the cooking meat and keeps it very moist. The trick to getting good color on the meat is to allow dry cooking time in between the additions of water.
If you want to sauté onions without oil, use a nonstick pan, and add a small amount of water or vegetable broth to help keep onions from sticking. Add chopped or sliced onions and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula.
USE ONLY COLD WATER FOR COOKING AND DRINKING. Do not cook with, or drink water from the hot water tap. Hot water can dissolve more lead more quickly than cold wa- ter.
Tip: As you're cooking the vegetables, if the wok starts to look dry or the vegetables start to burn before they are cooked through, add about 1 Tablespoon of water. If you do this with the longer cooking vegetables, you can cover the wok with a lid after adding the water.
The answer is an emphatic yes! There are only two things you need to successfully stir-fry on an electric burner at home: a good flat-bottomed wok and a bit of know-how.
Eating a stir fry may be a healthy option, but cooking it could be bad for your health because it shoots microscopic particles of fat into the air, which could be hazardous if inhaled, scientists have warned.
In addition to being quick and easy, stir-frying is also healthy. It results in tender-crisp vegetables that retain more nutrients than if they were boiled. And since stir-frying requires only a small amount of oil, the fat content is low.
Nuts and seeds. Peanuts might already be regular stir-fry toppers, but it's time to expand your nutty horizons. Add in almonds, cashews, or sesame seeds for crunch and richness. If you add the nuts into your wok with all of the other ingredients, they'll soften as they absorb the sauce, which can be nice.
No oil is needed to make things crispy in the oven. Food will still brown and crisp up without it and you don't even need oil to hold seasonings onto food. Take these oil free french fries for example. The moisture in the potatoes is enough for the seasonings to stick to while roasting.
Don't You Need Oil to Cook? Using oil can definitely make cooking easier — it helps prevent food from sticking to the pan and burning, it can help foods cook a bit quicker, and it can help certain foods crisp up nicely. But luckily for those trying to avoid their oil intake, cooking without oil is totally possible.
In fact, deep frying water isn't just an offbeat activity, it's also a potentially dangerous one. Given that water and oil don't mix together, a small leak from the water globule can create a big splash...of scalding oil that explodes everywhere.
Why is my stir-fry so watery? Damp vegetables drop the temperature of your wok or skillet and can turn your stir-fry into a soupy braise. Pat vegetables dry or run leafy greens through a salad spinner until dry to the touch. Otherwise, they will steam and braise in the pan and lose their crispness.
Fresh Vegetables: Use about 4 cups chopped fresh vegetables. Good vegetables for stir-frying include bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, yellow or white onions, green onions, pea pods, cabbage, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, and leafy Asian greens in the "choy" family, such as bok choy and yu choy.
Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.