HOW TO STIR FRY YOUR FOOD SO THAT IT ACTUALLY TASTES GOOD

Americans somehow think of the wok as the ultimate in simplicity. A big rounded pan capable of miracles. Cut your food, throw it in, stir it around, and -- voila -- magic.

They do not realize that Asian cultures have been cooking and refining their dishes for thousands of years to the point where they are extremely complex to make -- much more complex, than say, tuna caserole or your average dish from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Most Americans do not understand that to make a proper stir fry, they usually need to cook many of the ingredients seperately. Simply by applying this one principle, they can improve the quality of their "Chinese food" tenfold.

Example: Cook your meat first and set aside. Then do the same with your vegetables (or steam them). Finally, starting from a clean wok, cook your spices and start adding the precooked ingredients. The sauce appears last.

Don't make the common mistake of dumping everything into the wok and just mixing it around and adding all kinds of bottled goops and gunks like the hippies do. The result will be a monochromatic dish suited for swine, not humans.

If you can't understand or refuse to practice this principal, why not go out to eat instead of insulting your food?