Chicken & 3 Vegetable Stir Fry

Cook's Illustrated has long argued the use a cast iron pan instead of a walk. The heavy, flat surface is more conducive to reaching and maintaining the high temperatures needed to quickly fry things.

I've used our Dutch oven before and decided to try it with our new, 13" i.d. skillet. It worked great!

Cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts into little pieces and marinade in dark soy sauce, pepper flakes, oil, and a little salt and sugar for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the pan until very hot, add oil, swirl, and toss in the meat being careful not to crowd it. If the pieses are two close together the pan will cool off too much and there won't be space for the excess liquid to boil off. The result will be a simmer, not a stir-fry. Stir occasionally and cook till done, about 3-4 minutes. Remove and reheat pan.


For the vegetables I used carrots, onion & shallots, and summer squash. Peel and cut into bite sized pieces. Repeat the stir fry process, starting with the longest cooking item (carrots in this case) first. Successively add the others, removing done ones if necessary.

I added some oyster sauce at this point.

Recombine and heat through. Serve with rice and light soy sauce on the side.