Stir-Fry in the Oven!
Think you can only stir fry in a wok or a skillet?
Not many school kitchens have commercial woks for traditional stir frying but I bet you have ovens! High heat oven roasting makes very respectable "stir fried" style veggies, for sure!
For the most authentic look, the veggies for this preparation should be cut in thin strips Don't get hung up on that though. The main goal should be to develop those unmistakable and recognizable, delicious Asian flavors, so don't worry so much about the veg shapes. With those Far East aroma wafting around the halls , everyone will definitely know that it's gonna be a seriously tasty lunch!
Caution: Be sure to have extra hall monitors on high alert when you menu this, cuz the kids are gonna come running down the halls to get to the lunch line!
Oven-Roasted Asian Style "Stir-Fried" Veggies
Preheat oven to 500 degrees (this is very important for the best result)
Yield Information: About 300 ½ c. Servings - 30 Lbs total raw ready-to-eat vegetables - Be sure to verify the yield based on your specific circumstances. This will require about 5, full size sheet pans for roasting.
5 Lbs Carrots
5 Lbs Celery
5 Lbs Yellow Onions
5 Lbs Cabbage
5 Lbs Broccoli
5 Lbs Red Bell Peppers
1 c. Salad oil
¼ c. Sesame Oil (flavoring oil: A small amount goes a long way)
1 c. Fresh Ginger, chopped
1 c. Fresh Garlic, chopped
2 c. Soy Sauce
Toasted Sesame Seeds - Garnish
Bias-Cut Scallions (green onions) - Garnish
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Cut all vegetables in thin strips or sticks (julienne) except the broccoli.
Cut broccoli into small florets.
Process garlic and ginger to your desired size/consistency (mash, fine chop, rough chop) or use a chopped garlic and chopped ginger product from a vendor if desired.
Place all vegetables into an appropriately sized bowl.
Add soy, garlic, and ginger to taste. Toss and stir with gloved hands (easier than with a spoon) to evenly distribute ingredients and all the veggies get coated.
Add the salad oil and sesame oil to the veggies and stir until you can see that all veggies are shiny and coated. It is important that all veggies are evenly and full coated for best results in the oven.
Place oiled and seasoned vegetables onto sheet pans in a fairly thin, even layer. It is important to not overload the pans as this will lead to the creation of steam which will not allow the vegetable to brown as readily.
Place pans in the pre-heated 500 degree oven and roast for about 5 minutes.
Check the veggies and decide if they need stirring. Return to oven and allow to roast for another few minutes. You are looking for a little bit of browning and a crisp-tender bite. The amount of time will vary depending on your oven, but you can estimate between 8-10 minutes total.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Transfer to service pans or containers.
Serve immediately, garnished with bias cut scallions and Toasted Sesame Seeds.
Serving Suggestions:
It's fun and gratifying to experiment a little. Feel free to sub out the vegetables with other choices you may have access to or prefer. Any fresh veg will be great!
How about Fruit? Try adding red chili paste and diced, fresh or canned Pineapple tidbits or Mango chunks to the mix before roasting (frozen mangos are great for this) for a delicious, and fun, spicy, sweet/savory thing!
Serve this as the Veg to nicely compliment any Asian-style "center of the plate" that you're currently serving.
Serve on top of cooked brown rice (made simply with a little salt and butter in the cooking water) or Soba noodles, commodity Teriyaki Chicken, then finish it off with any one of these, Three Super-Easy, Scratch-Made Asian Style Sauces!
Oh, Hey! You got an extra minute to hang out?
Take a look at this video I produced with images gleaned from my school food work experiences! Check it out! #beautifulschoolfood
Let me know if you ever want to discuss training opportunities that I can provide that will get your team ready to do more scratch cooking!