>> When stir-frying, having the vegetables be really soft is considerably off-target. The standard is "crisp-tender" -- cooked enough to be no longer raw, but still having some crunch when bitten into. This provides a nice textural contrast. <<
That is purely a matter of personal taste. Some people like vegetables raw, some very slightly cooked, some cooked soft; and it can differ with individual vegetables. I'm not a fan of the nearly-raw vegetables in some Chinese dishes, and one perk of making things at home is we can cook them as much as we want. Or as little, in the case of beef that we like on the rare side.
>> With more experience, you'll come to have a better idea of how small to cut up the vegetables and how long to cook them to reach that point.<<
That's what I figure.
>> Another relevant common technique is, before thickening the sauce, to pop a lid on the wok and simmer briefly by way of steaming the vegetables some. <<
We tried that with the chicken and it worked less well than this approach.
>> Another standard of Chinese cuisine in general is in line with your general dietary approach: smaller amounts of meat and larger amounts of vegetables. 2-4 oz of meat per person is usually more than adequate. Enough vegetables to make it filling, and an appropriate amount of starch. <<
Yeah. The meat selection was not optimum here, but it's what was available. If I have to work with the same meat again -- it wasn't bad meat, just needed different handling -- I'd probably use only half the package and definitely separate the slices before adding them to the wok.
I like meat. I'm happy to eat it by the slab on occasion. But for stir-fry, I want a one-pot meal, and that usually means a small amount of meat in a larger amount of vegetables. There's nothing wrong with a wok dish that's mostly meat, but I'd want other things on the side then.
Re: Cooking note
That is purely a matter of personal taste. Some people like vegetables raw, some very slightly cooked, some cooked soft; and it can differ with individual vegetables. I'm not a fan of the nearly-raw vegetables in some Chinese dishes, and one perk of making things at home is we can cook them as much as we want. Or as little, in the case of beef that we like on the rare side.
>> With more experience, you'll come to have a better idea of how small to cut up the vegetables and how long to cook them to reach that point.<<
That's what I figure.
>> Another relevant common technique is, before thickening the sauce, to pop a lid on the wok and simmer briefly by way of steaming the vegetables some. <<
We tried that with the chicken and it worked less well than this approach.
>> Another standard of Chinese cuisine in general is in line with your general dietary approach: smaller amounts of meat and larger amounts of vegetables. 2-4 oz of meat per person is usually more than adequate. Enough vegetables to make it filling, and an appropriate amount of starch. <<
Yeah. The meat selection was not optimum here, but it's what was available. If I have to work with the same meat again -- it wasn't bad meat, just needed different handling -- I'd probably use only half the package and definitely separate the slices before adding them to the wok.
I like meat. I'm happy to eat it by the slab on occasion. But for stir-fry, I want a one-pot meal, and that usually means a small amount of meat in a larger amount of vegetables. There's nothing wrong with a wok dish that's mostly meat, but I'd want other things on the side then.