Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

Be a Wok Star!

stir fry

Grill & Fry: Easy Weeknight Dinner Idea #2

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Grill & Fry is an Easy & Fast Weeknight Dinner solution if you’re tired and hungry! Imagine juicy racks of pork ribs and a quick stir-fried veggie dish that your family will love. You’ll get a delicious, home-cooked meal in just 30 minutes or less. This is what being a Wok Star is all about—cooking without recipes, using what you have, and still making it flavorful and fun. And with very little cleanup, see below.

We LOVE these wide shallow bowls and eat out of them nearly daily. So cheerful and displays my food perfectly!

Here’s the best part—no need to drag out the BBQ grill or deal with a messy cleanup afterward. Just use your air fryer or the broiler in your oven (that’s the grill at the top of the oven, in case you didn’t know!). It’s fast, efficient, and super easy.

Watch my Youtube video for more tips and tricks and you’ll see how easy it is…

This Russell Dexter knife is included in my WOK STAR KIT but you can also purchase it on its own. Everyone adores it.

Here’s the workflow of a Grill & Fry Easy & Fast Weeknight Dinner:

Prep is key, so get everything ready:

  • Pork Riblets: I like switching up my spice rubs for variety, and hey, grill extra while you’re at it. I get my pork riblets from Costco. They are St. Louis ribs but cut across so they are smaller to handle and easier to eat.
  • Grilled Portobello Mushrooms and Tomatoes.
  • Stir Fry Vegetables: Minced garlic and shredded ginger give shimeiji mushrooms and Rapini so much flavor. Add cubed red bell pepper for a pop of color.
  • Cook Sweet Potato
I have two of these stainless steel baking trays which fit perfectly side by side under the grill. What you see is a smaller rack which I’ve placed on one baking tray so less cleanup. I do line with parchment paper, stopped using foil for health reasons. Also same reason I switched from aluminum wok lid to stainless.
I’m using this Nuwave bowl shaped induction stove that fits my 15″ cast iron wok perfectly.

Now, let’s break down the flow:

  1. Preheat that broiler till it’s sizzling hot.
  2. Coat those ribs with avocado oil, sprinkle on some salt and spice rubs, and grill them on the second rack so they don’t burn so quickly and cook through.
  3. Coat portobello mushrooms and tomatoes with avocado oil and salt in separate grill tray.
  4. While the meat and vegetables are grilling, start frying the veggies. Fry the rapini first in ghee with garlic and ginger, then add stock and wine, cover and plate.
  5. Check the ribs and flip them over when they’re golden.
  6. Next, toss in the red bell pepper and shimeiji mushrooms in. Add more stock if it’s evaporated.
  7. Check the ribs one last time and plate everything.
These unique magnetized wok mitts are also great to grab hot pot handles or a dish from the microwave. Various designs and handcrafted by Haitian seamstresses.
We adore these Laguiole Red Steak Knives!

There you have it, a quick, flavorful meal that doesn’t require hours of work or a laundry list of ingredients. Enjoy being a Wok Star and impress your family with this easy, satisfying weeknight dinner!

Drop in comment how you like this Grill & Fry Dinner Idea?

Here are some Asian dinnerware/cookware/seasonings and helpful gadgets on Amazon I’ve personally researched & selected. There are affiliate links within the blog.

Asian Dinnerware: https://amzn.to/40hF0uz
Asian seasonings: https://amzn.to/3UljLnE
Cookware: https://amzn.to/3BUOCRR
My Amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/wokstar

Hate vegetables? Try my glazing technique!

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Hate vegetables? Try my GLAZING TECHNIQUE, it will transform your vegetables to a different level. Even kids, spouses and partners will LOVE! GLAZING TECHNIQUE is a French classic technique using butter and stock/water but as usual, in comes Wok Star and as usual, I’ve simplified it and made it my own (see below).

OLD: STIR FRY TECHNIQUE 

The Chinese classic way of cooking vegetables starts by blanching vegetables in liquid, then stir frying and add seasoning. 

My Wok Star way is to do the opposite!  Check post below for full details…

Try this stir fry for cooking flavorful vegetables so you’ll LOVE them!

BIG DIFFERENCE when you fry first, then add stock! 

These are recommendations for best oils to use for high heat wok cooking, definitely NOT vegetable oils. 

NEW: GLAZING TECHNIQUE

With this new GLAZING TECHNIQUE, you INCREASE the fat ratio which softens the stems so they are still crunchy, glossy looking AND softens the hard stems of vegetables. 

And of course, I’m using my cast iron wok and induction wok stove (saving my portable gas stove for hurricane season) to stir fry. You can use a stainless steel pan or pot if you don’t have a wok. But PLEASE not non-stick wok or pans. They cannot handle high heat and should only be used on medium heat.

The French technique combines butter and stock together with vegetables and cooked at the same time.

My WOK STAR WAY:

I use ghee (clarified butter) which can handle 450-485 and chicken stock. I also changed the cooking technique by stir frying the vegetable first, then adding stock.

The ratio 4:3 is a game changer!

4 portions of ghee to 3 portions of stock and NO sugar involved for me, instead add some spice seasoning like Indonesian Ayam from World Spice. They have a ton of choices and grind their spices fresh before shipping. Spices add so much FLAVOR to vegetables and meat. More about this soon.

I’d love to hear in comments below if you try this GLAZING TECHNIQUE on your vegetables, what kind of vegetables and how you liked this technique?

Do tag @wokstar #wokstarway

GLAZING TECHNIQUE VIDEO
with step-by-step instructions…

Note: I earn teeny commissions from Amazon and World Spice, here’s a discount code, they have a fantastic variety of spices, teas etc.

A Wok Star means creating yummy dishes with what you have, no recipes or measuring required. When you focus on Flavors, Textures, Colors, it’s EASY!
Visit Cook Like a Wok Star and you’ll understand why I do what I do. 

Best Oils to Use for High Heat Wok Cooking

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As a wok cooking teacher, I’m constantly asked what are the best oils to use for high heat wok cooking.  The topic of best oils has changed over the years, we find more and more how vegetable and seed oils are highly processed and are NOT good for your health. Let’s discuss Smoke Points, Flavors and why and how they affect your health! 

CHART FOR OILS, SMOKE POINT, FLAVOR

BEST OILS FOR HIGH HEAT WOK COOKING

HEALTH

Vegetable oils which everyone thinks is so nutritious is actually highly processed and full of Omega 6 fatty acids which is inflammatory and has terrible health consequences. 

Here’s a functional doctor I highly respect who started off as a traditional family practitioner, Dr. Hyman.  It’s best you get the history about the complete switcheroo from vegetable and seed oils to saturated fats. This short video explains it really well.

HOW TO KEEP OILS

I know Costco stocks huge bottles of Avocado and Olive Oil but it’s best to buy smaller quantities because they can go rancid. Keep these oils in a dry, cool, dark place.  Never put oil bottles close to hot cooking areas which makes them spoil even faster. And close the lid quickly because oxygen contributes to rancidity, eww. 

SMOKE POINT

Smoke Point basically means at what temperature the oil reaches before it breaks down and degrades its flavor, smell and nutrition. 

I have also lowered the temperature of my stir frying. I start HIGH at 500 on my Nuwave and HIGHEST on my Iwatani gas stove. OK, sorry I’m introducing yet another angle to stir frying but ever since I started using the GLAZING TECHNIQUE which involves stock or water for vegetables, the smoke point doesn’t come into effect so much. I’ll work on a GLAZING blog post next. 

Coconut oil is not that high and gets very smoky, so I’ve backed off using it for my stir fries. 

Stir Fry Medley Vegetables – snow pea shoots, oyster mushrooms

FLAVOR

Only Avocado oil has a neutral flavor.  For me personally, I love the flavor of ghee in my food, it makes everything look very glazed, taste delicious and has a creamy texture. My husband as you all know is the Omelet Master only uses ghee now.

Coconut oil also imparts a strong flavor. Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVOO) makes everything taste Italian? Just joking but it does have a strong flavor and is expensive, I use it for mostly dressing.  All this boils down to is depending on your personal flavor preference. 

How to: Fry Eggs in your Wok

As mentioned, I will share the Glazing technique. In the meantime, Try this Stir Fry for Cooking Flavorful Vegetables so you’ll love them and so will your partner and the kids! In this post, I used a similar technique but less ratio of oil and liquid.

Try this stir fry for cooking flavorful vegetables so you’ll LOVE them!

CONCLUSION

To conclude, please ELIMINATE using any highly processed vegetable or seed oils like tea seed oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, safflower oil. If you see mentions of those oils in my old blog posts, PLEASE remember to replace with avocado oil, ghee, coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil. 

PS whenever I go out to dine, I get terrible bloating and takes a week to get back to normal. I’m trying to start a campaign to get chefs to NOT use those dreaded highly processed vegetable or seed oils. I was so thrilled to hear Los Felix and sister restaurant right next door Krus Kitchen in Coconut Grove do NOT use seed oils, yay. 

Ask me any questions in comments and I’ll try to answer as best I can.