subject: The Best & Worst Cooking Oil For Stir-frying [print this page] A question we get asked often is what type of cooking oil do you use for stir-frying, so I thought I would answer that question here but also mention what not to buy as I see many kitchens suffering from using poor quality oil. I will explain how I know that later.
Most restaurants and takeaways use soyabean or canola oil which depending on the source can be good quality but we switched to Rice Bran oil as it is far superior and worth the extra cost. Here is the reasons why.
Oils foremost task for stir-frying is to act as a lubricant. Rice bran oil is slippery smooth, its like silk compared to other oils. When you stir fry, the chance of meat sticking to the wok is greatly reduced because of this as it is more forgiving. One of the key tricks to stir frying is to get the wok very hot. Even the best chefs can have a lapse of concentration and if they put the food in too soon, the meat sticks and if that happens its a mess. You really need to clean ther wok and start again.
Then its secondary task is to avoid burning and becoming bitter when heated to high temperatures. Rice Bran oil has a very high smoke point of 415 degrees* (*Wikipedia) and the important part to note is that in restaurants the oil is heated far beyond this point and its how the oil reacts to this that matters. Cheaper oils will gum up and leave a sticky residue, discolour badly and go acrid in taste.This process is called polymerization which is the breaking down process of the polymers in oils.
Rice bran oil when heating beyond smoke point tends to just turn into a very thin viscosity but doesnt actually gum up or go acrid, it is more stable over high heat. Eventually it will gum up if you leave the wok on for far too long but so will any oil.
Thirdly oil has to let the taste of the food shine through as it is just the medium to carry the flavors throughout the dish, its not the star of the show. Cheap oils leave an oily aftertaste and you can literally taste the oil. Rice Bran oil is known for a neutral taste and it lets the flavours perform their magic without cramping its style.
As a bonus, due to the above qualities it is also excellent for deep frying as it lasts longer, is more stable and the food tastes better.
What not to buy
1. Do not buy supermarket brand oil of any type. The quality is generally very poor as it is a method of getting rid of inferior grades or old stocks of oil. I remember watching a TV program on home brand oils and a panel of expert tasters found all to be very poor quality and some were old and rancid. Even without being an expert you can taste good and bad oil. Taste a little bit and if it appears neutral and your not really sure what it tastes like then its a sign that its perfectly fine. Poor quality, or rancid oil however will taste bitter or offensive or have a strong after taste. If it doesnt taste ok at first impression then dont use it.
2. Soyabean oil can be of varied quality. Even well known brands can be guilty of using a poor quality source. It is mostly soyabean oil that causes the gumming residue especially the cheap imported variety. We havent found a quality soyabean oil yet and just never purchase it especially as canola is only a fraction more and of a more consistent quality.
Telltale sign of poor oil use
This brings me to the point of how to spot a kitchen that is using poor quality oils especially soyabean oil. You can tell this by looking at cooking areas, pots and pans, deep fryers and utensils. Cheap oils gum up. What do I mean by gumming up ? You can see small globules of amber coloured resin forming on the walls and frying instruments. These are extremely hard to remove and practically require scraping or using steel wool to remove as degreasers just wont even budge them. Good oils will not gum up or polymerise.
I have seen home kitchens with this resin all over the stove and walls and sure enough you will see a cheap bottle of supermarket brand oil on the counter.
Like anything in life all things are not equal so spend a couple of dollars more and just buy the good stuff. Rice Bran Oil is our recommendation for stir frying and deep frying.
