Stir-fry Recipes

Prep 10min Cook 12min 2 servings

Korean Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl

Once the salt-blanched tofu is in the doubanjiang sauce, the spatula is put away and only the pan gets shaken, which keeps the cubes square all the way to the rice. A sprinkle of Sichuan pepper at the end pushes it toward a proper mala taste.

Prep 10min Cook 12min 2 servings

Buta Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork Stir-Fry with Soy Mirin Glaze)

Rather than marinating the pork, this version sears thin slices of pork shoulder first and adds the soy, mirin, and fresh ginger sauce only for the last 30 seconds, when it reduces to a glossy glaze. Laid flat without overlapping, the slices brown at the edges instead of stewing in their own juices. Onion softened in the same pan adds sweetness, and the result is the ginger pork familiar from Japanese set meals and bento boxes.

🏠 Everyday 🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Singapore Rice Noodles (Curry-Spiced Stir-Fried Vermicelli with Shrimp)

Thin rice vermicelli turns yellow with curry powder and tosses with shrimp, bell pepper and bean sprouts into a light, loose stir-fry. With only 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in the pan, curry aroma rather than salt carries the flavor.

Prep 15min Cook 10min 2 servings

Korean Stir-Fried Octopus Fried Rice

The octopus gets two minutes over high heat, and the rice goes in as soon as it starts to curl. That leaves no time to mix sauce in the pan; it is stirred smooth before the burner is lit. For less heat, the chili flakes are dropped and gochujang used alone.

Prep 14min Cook 9min 2 servings

Korean Chicken Breast and Celery Stir-fry

Celery leaves usually end up in the bin, but here they go into the pan with the stalks and give the chicken breast an herby smell. The stalks get only a short time on the heat, so they still crunch.

🏠 Everyday

Noodles Medium

Korean Beef Japchae (Soy-Marinated Beef Glass Noodle Stir-Fry)

Each vegetable is cooked on its own and folded in at the end, so the spinach stays green and the carrot stays bright instead of fading into the glass noodles. The beef is marinated in soy and garlic first, and the noodles soak up that seasoning in the pan before the last of the soy sauce adds gloss. Spinach that is not squeezed dry leaks water and thins the dressing.

Prep 25min Cook 20min 4 servings

Prep 15min Cook 10min 2 servings

Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Octopus Rice Bowl

Two cheongyang chilies and a tablespoon of chili flakes make this properly hot. The octopus is tipped over the rice with all the loose sauce left in the pan, and bean sprouts can go down on the rice first for a crunchy layer underneath.

Korean Beef Brisket Kimchi Stir-Fry

No oil goes in the pan. Well-aged, sour kimchi is fried in the fat that melts out of thin-sliced brisket (chadolbagi), and comes out tasting of beef.

Prep 5min Cook 10min 2 servings

Prep 10min Cook 15min 2 servings

Korean Tteokbokki Noodles

Tteokbokki sauce, made from gochujang, sugar and soy sauce, coats both chewy rice cakes and thick udon for a bowl that alternates between two kinds of chew. The rice cakes need longer to soften, which gives them and the fish cakes a head start while the udon cooks only briefly. The moment the sauce clings thickly, the udon is plated, before a longer simmer can swell and break it.

Rice Easy

Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce Shrimp Fried Rice)

Kecap manis, Indonesia's thick sweet soy sauce, coats each grain of cold rice in a glossy brown layer. Shrimp paste and sambal are fried first until the oil turns red, and the rice tastes salty and hot as well as sweet. On top goes a fried egg with crisp edges and a soft yolk.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 10min Cook 10min 2 servings

Korean Stir-Fried Leafy Greens

Young bok choy leaves spend just over a minute on high heat, enough to char the tips lightly. The garlic goes in first over low heat to scent the oil, and the flame jumps up the moment the greens hit the pan.

Prep 8min Cook 5min 2 servings

Noodles Medium

Korean Vegetable Japchae (Glass Noodle Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry)

Without any meat, japchae leans entirely on its vegetables: spinach, carrot, shiitake, bell pepper, and onion each keep their own color and sweetness because they are stir-fried one at a time. The spinach only needs to wilt over high heat and is spread out to cool at once, or it dulls in color and turns tough. The glass noodles soak up soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil before anything else joins them and come out glossy, chewy, and seasoned through. Tossing them with vegetables straight from a hot pan makes the noodles slump and clump, the usual way this dish goes wrong. It works as an everyday side dish or on a holiday table.

Prep 20min Cook 20min 4 servings

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Squid Rice Bowl

A shallow crosshatch on the inside of the squid makes each piece curl into a thick, bouncy roll the moment it hits the heat, and the opened cuts give the gochujang sauce more surface to grab. Onion and cabbage go into the pan first to cook off their water so the sauce stays glossy.

Prep 15min Cook 10min 2 servings

Korean Beef and Pimpinella Stir-fry

Chamnamul, a Korean mountain green, smells a little like parsley or celery leaves, only cleaner and stronger. Stir-fried with soy-marinated beef, its fresh scent sits clearly on top of the heavier meat.

🏠 Everyday

Noodles Medium

Japanese Stir-Fried Udon

With no broth at all, a soy, oyster sauce and mirin glaze clings to thick udon, salty with a little sweetness. Udon still wet from rinsing drops the pan temperature and ends up steamed and soggy rather than stir-fried.

Prep 10min Cook 15min 2 servings

Prep 10min Cook 15min 2 servings

Korean Omelette Rice (Ketchup Fried Rice in Egg Wrap)

Ketchup rice, fried in butter with ham, vegetables and peas, is folded inside an egg still moist in the middle, using the curve of the pan. Cut into, the half-set egg runs over the rice, and the peas show up as flecks of green.

Stir-fried Bok Choy (Bok Choy with Garlic and Oyster Sauce Glaze)

This goes to the table the moment it leaves the pan. Bok choy stalks keep releasing water even on the plate, and the sauce thins as they do. A splash of water in the oyster sauce and soy lets the seasoning run down between the stalks.

Prep 8min Cook 6min 2 servings

Prep 15min Cook 12min 2 servings

Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles (Yakisoba)

Yakisoba sauce, built on Worcestershire, coats the noodles in a sweet, tangy glaze, and bonito flakes laid on the hot plate sway in the rising heat and add a smoky note. The noodles come precooked and need only about thirty seconds of warming to loosen before they fry, keeping some bounce instead of turning soft. Cabbage, onion, and carrot hit a very hot pan briefly and stay crisp under the sauce. The sauce is poured around the edge of the pan only at the very end, which protects that crunch, and a quick toss coats every strand evenly.

Rice Easy

Korean Snack Bar Omelet Rice

Korean snack bars serve omelet rice in its plainest form: ketchup fried rice with ham, onion and carrot, wrapped in thin egg and topped with more ketchup. The ketchup and Worcestershire sauce bubble at the edge of the pan before being stirred into the rice. Turned out onto the plate, it takes the familiar oval shape.

Prep 15min Cook 18min 2 servings

Prep 12min Cook 10min 2 servings

Korean Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Tofu with Doubanjiang

Doubanjiang, the Chinese fermented chili bean paste, is salty and hot, and how salty depends on the brand. So the soy sauce here is not poured by the recipe; it is decided after tasting the sauce. There is no meat, just pan-browned tofu and bok choy.

🏠 Everyday

Prep 12min Cook 10min 2 servings

Yakisoba Pan (Noodle Bread)

A split hot dog bun, buttered and toasted on the inside, gets packed with saucy stir-fried noodles: carbs inside carbs, a Japanese street snack. The cabbage, onion, and carrot come off the heat before they wilt, leaving some crunch between the soft bread and the glossy noodles. A shake of dried parsley adds color and a light herbal note against the sweet-salty sauce.

Rice Easy

Poha (Indian Spiced Flattened Rice Breakfast with Peanuts)

In this Indian breakfast dish the flattened rice never boils. A quick rinse in cold water and a short rest soften it enough to press between two fingers, and a brief toss in oil scented with mustard seed and turmeric warms it through. Roasted peanuts go into the yellow flakes, and a squeeze of lemon follows once the heat is off.

Prep 10min Cook 12min 2 servings

Korean Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce

Halved lengthwise and laid cut side down in a very hot pan, the bok choy cooks stalk first and only then gets flipped so the leaf edges char a little. The oyster sauce, loosened with soy sauce and a splash of water, is just enough for a thin, glossy coat on the stalks. Properly cooked, the leaves have wilted but a stalk still pushes back with some crunch when bent.