What is the difference between sautéing and stir frying?
I put 1 tablespoon of oil in an iron Kadhai. Then after it gets a bit heated, I put a chopped onion in it, and start moving it with spatula so that it doesn't get burnt and gets cooked evenly.
So, what am I doing, stir frying or Sautéing?
Best Answer
It mostly depends on the heat used. If you are cooking at a high enough heat that vegetables and thinly-sliced meats (if using) are cooked through in only a few minutes then it matches with the term generally used as "stir-frying". In this heat, if you stop stirring even for a moment, pretty much, the food at the hottest part of the pan (at the base, near the flame) will start to burn. It needs to be in motion constantly.
That's the stir part of the stir-fry -- constant motion up the curved sides where it is cooler and letting other parts of the food go to the bottom to the heat and around and around. A full dish of meat, veg, noodles, etc can be completely cooked start to finish in just about 5 minutes.
This recipe demonstrates stir-frying baby bok choy in 2 1/2 minutes of cooking time for the veg, this one for 2 minutes, and an outlier at 3-5 minutes.
Sautéing should also be at a fairly high heat and generally with less oil (although stir-frying doesn't use a lot of oil either, usually). The heat is lower than what is implied by stir-fry. With sautéing you are still generally keeping things moving, but it doesn't need to be quite as frantic. You can let things stop a moment, and it can help to let them start to brown and caramelize.
To demonstrate, this recipe for sautéed baby bok choy cooks them for 7 minutes, this one for 9-11 minutes, this one is another outlier cooking it for 4 minutes. The fastest of these is twice as slow as most of the the stir-fry or about the same as the slowest stir-fry. The slowest of these sauté recipes is nearly 3-5 times as slow as the stir-fry with fairly similar ingredients, especially similar to the slowest of the stir-fry recipes.
But to be fair, in my comment on the other post I was, strictly speaking, abusing the term sautéing by conflating it with even more moderate temperatures (which are more properly simply called "pan frying").
A kadai is a good implement to use for stir-frying, but a kadai can also be used for cooking at a slightly lower temperature. Simply using a kadai does not 100% determine the end result will be either a stir-fry or a sauté or a gentle fry, or even deep-frying. It's a versatile vessel. :-)
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Quick Answer about "What is the difference between sautéing and stir frying?"
Stir-frying is similar to sautéeing, but amplified. With stir-frying, the heat is higher and the action is faster. Sautéeing cooks large or small pieces of food in a wide, shallow pan in a small amount of hot fat over medium-high heat, turning often or just once. The fat may be a combination of butter and oil.What does sauteing mean in cooking?
What Is Saut\xe9ing? The definition of saut\xe9 is to fry food in a small amount of fat. Saut\xe9ing involves the transfer of heat from pan to food, usually lubricated by a thin coating of oil that both prevents food from sticking to the pan and aids in the conduction of heat, browning the surface of meat or vegetables.What is the primary difference between sauteing and pan frying?
Pan-frying is similar to sauteing, except that generally more fat is used, the heat is lower and the cooking time is longer. This method is used for larger pieces of food, such as chops and chicken parts.What is meant by the term sauteing?
: to fry (food, such as small pieces of meat or vegetables) in a small amount of fat Saut\xe9 the mushrooms in 3 tablespoons of the butter until they are golden.\u2014 Nika Hazleton. saut\xe9 noun. variants: or less commonly saute.What's the Difference between Stir Fry and Sautée? Broccoli with Garlic, Two Ways
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Answer 2
The (unsupported) assertion you quoted is a bit extreme. Stir frying and sauteing are roughly analogous - both involve cooking in a pan over a high heat with a small amount of oil by constantly moving the food. The only real difference is that stir frying usually involves a wok, and higher heat. Sauteing is usually done in a saute pan and the heat is usually less fierce. But they are basically two sides of the same coin.
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