Most people make stir fry with rice as a base. It’s great and it’s filling. However, I make mine with  quinoa (KIN-wa) for a whole load of extra protein to make stir fries that are healthy and nutritious. It hardly tastes any different from stir fry with general white steamed rice that I normally used before I learned about quinoa. The texture is finer because quinoa is finer than rice in texture, and that makes it easier to stir fry mixed in with the rice as well.

The recipes below are just generic recipes on which you could make quite a few variation substituting certain ingredients, and customize for your own preferences. Just by using different stir fry pastes alone, I could get Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian and Malaysian stir fry from the Asian Home Gourmet series that has no artificial additives! I just then customize the rest of it as I like it to go with the flavour or whatever I want to have in my stir fry for that meal. You vary accordingly to your tastes.

Making the Rice/Quinoa Base (for 2 servings)

• 1 coffee cup long grain white rice
• 1/4 pound quinoa
• 2 coffee cups + twice quinoa volume of water

I cook my quinoa in a rice steamer so I’m not sure how the cooking of quinoa and rice would work without one. Maybe someone who has tried or know otherwise can offer advice as a comment.

Put the rice in a rice steamer and wash. Then add equivalent amount of water, or a little less water but no more to keep the finished mix a little dry for easy mixing.

Add quinoa to rice and water in steamer, noting volume of whatever container you use to add quinoa because you will need to add twice the water later.

Mix well with spoon so that very little quinoa is floating on the surface after mixing. Should only take 1 minute max.

Add twice the volume of water as quinoa, but erring on the lesser volume. Mixing rice, quinoa and water again is optional.

Steam in rice steamer and wait until it is done, or is nearly done, before starting on the stir fry portion of the recipe.

Ingredients for Stir Fry with Bacon (for 2 servings)

• 6 slices low salt or fat bacon (see below less convenient, but healthier alternatives to bacon)
• 6 stalks of green onions 2″ long each, near bulb
• 6 stalks of green onions 2″ long each, near tip
• 1 tomato
• Sprinkle of basil
• Half a pack (20-25 grams) of stir fry flavour paste and/or plum sauce

Stir Fry Preparation Instructions with Bacon

Heat a 12-14 inch wok or frying pan with high walls after heating. I use medium heat on my stove but figure what works on yours. The bacon will provide the oil needed to allow the rice/quinoa to mix well.

Dice the green onion cut near the bulb into thin slices and add to the cooking bacon. This is green onion not eaten by most people, but it is great for frying to get that burnt green onion tinge in your stir fry.

Add to the cooking bacon and mix well. It won’t matter too much how long the green onions cook as they will be meant to be burnt.

Dice the green onions cut near the tip and hold to add.

Cut up the tomato into quarter circles, whatever way you want to get there, and hold to add.

Turn the stove down to warm or low heating. Add the cooked rice/quinoa once the bacon is sufficiently cooked and mix until there is no chunk left in the rice/quinoa.

Add stir fry paste and/or plum sauce and mix well. The stir fry paste usually adds spice to your stir fry. The plum sauce adds a little sweetness.

Turn off heat. Sprinkle some basil or other spice of your choice. Add tomato slices and diced green onions cut near the tip. Mix well. I keep these ingredients until the end because I like them to have a relatively uncooked, or natural flavour, to contrast the fried, well cooked, portion of the rest of the dish.

Serve when the tomatoes and green onions are sufficiently mixed well for your liking.

Ingredients for Stir Fry with Meat, Fish, Shrimps, Veggies (for 2 servings)

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (if you don’t use bacon)
• Meats, fish, shrimps or vegetables making up your stir fry (you determine how much each)
• 6 stalks of green onions 2″ long each, near bulb
• 6 stalks of green onions 2″ long each, near tip
• 1 tomato
• Sprinkle of basil
• Half a pack (20-25 grams) of stir fry flavour paste

Stir Fry Preparation Instructions Not Using Bacon

If you use shrimps, pre-cooked or raw, boil a little water at this time and add shrimps for a few minutes before draining. You can do this at the same time as heating the wok or pan that is the next step, but don’t leave the shrimps too long, or do this before you start on the other steps if you don’t want to multi-task. You would want to do this step on its own first if you have to peel the shrimps because that will take more time than you will have for just heating up the wok or pan.

Heat wok or pan to medium heat.

Add olive oil after the wok is heated and swirl around to cover a lot of the bottom of the wok. Other oils could work, of course, but they’re not nearly as healthy for you as olive oil.

Cut up meats, fish and/or veggies you want to add to your stir fry.

Add meats or fish after the oil is fully heated. This is to cook the meat or fish, but if you want to fry your veggies, add them here, too. I don’t fry my veggies because I prefer them either raw, or use them from a can in the rare time.

While your meats or fish is being fried, dice the green onion cut near the bulb into thin slices. This is green onion not eaten by most people, but it is great for frying to get that burnt green onion tinge in your stir fry.

Add to the cooking bacon and mix well. It won’t matter too much how long the green onions cook as they will be meant to be burnt.

Dice the green onions cut near the tip and hold to add.

Cut up the tomato into quarter circles, whatever way you want to get there, and hold to add.

Turn the stove down to warm or low heating. Add the cooked rice/quinoa once the bacon is sufficiently cooked and mix until there is no chunk left in the rice/quinoa.

Add stir fry paste and/or plum sauce and mix well. The stir fry paste usually adds spice to your stir fry. The plum sauce adds a little sweetness.

Turn off heat. Sprinkle some basil or other spice of your choice. Add tomato slices, diced green onions cut near the tip, shrimps and/or veggies. Mix well. I keep these ingredients until the end because I like them to have a relatively uncooked, or natural flavour, to contrast the fried, well cooked, portion of the rest of the dish.

Serve when the tomatoes and green onions are sufficiently mixed well for your liking.

Please click here for other quinoa recipes I have on this site.