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Stir-fried chicken salad cups. Photo / Annabel Langbein Media

We tend to eat a lot of stir-fries at this time of year, as the vegetables that are currently in season - Asian greens, spinach, asparagus, coriander, etc, lend themselves ideally to this quick, simple style of cooking.

The brilliant thing about the stir-fry cooking method is that you can change out everything - the protein, the vegetables, the noodles - and, by using different ingredients for the sauce, the flavour profiles. Adding soybean pastes such as miso, chilli bean, black bean, gochujang (Korean chilli paste) and sauces such as soy, oyster and black bean sauce, delivers lots of that lip-smacking umami deliciousness.

More than with any other cooking method, stir-frying is all about the order in which you add your ingredients and the timing of each addition. You want the aromatics to infuse their essence into the dish without burning, the meat to be tender and cooked through and the vegetables to remain fresh and with a bite.

Before you start cooking, have everything cut up roughly the same size. Put dense vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, beans and carrots into a big bowl with a pinch of salt, cover with a full jug of boiling water and leave for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Thinly slice mushrooms, peppers, cabbage, bok choy, snow peas and other, "lighter" vegetables and put in piles on the board. Have any garnishes such as spring onions and herbs chopped and ready to add. I treat bean sprouts as a garnish too, as if you want them crunchy they need to be added at the very last minute. Make your sauce or dressing and put to one side.

Season the meat, chicken or prawns with a pinch of salt, ground white pepper. Asian cooks often add a dusting of cornflour, which they say makes the meat much juicier (don't use cornflour for recipes with mince). Add a pinch of spice such as Chinese five-spice, turmeric, fennel seeds or ground coriander for extra flavour or marinate in a little of the cooking sauce for 5-10 minutes before cooking.

Use a neutral-flavoured high heat-point oil such as sunflower or canola - or peanut oil if you like the flavour. If you are using sesame oil, add it a bit later on so it doesn't burn. Before cooking, get your wok or deep-sided frying pan really hot – you should see a sheen of smoke rising off the surface. Then add the oil with a pinch of salt. A second or two later (the oil will get hot really quickly) you are ready to start cooking.

Add any aromatics - ginger, garlic, spring onion whites, etc, then your protein and let it brown it on both sides. If I'm using mushrooms I often cook these first until lightly browned and then take them out of the pan while I cook the aromatics and meat (they develop more flavour if you brown them rather than just simmering in the sauce).

Once the meat has browned, deglaze the pan with a little rice wine or water and add the sauce, all the vegetables and any noodles and stir fry until the "lighter vegetables" are heated through and cabbage, bok choy, etc are just starting to wilt.

Garnish just before serving with herbs such as mint, coriander, chives, sliced spring onion greens, beansprouts, peanuts or cashews and chilli.

Served in crunchy lettuce cups, this makes such a fresh, light meal. Serve rice on the side if desired. You can also make this with pork mince.

Classic stir-fry sauce (see below) or other stir-fry sauce of your choice 400g chicken mince 1 Tbsp fish sauce 2 Tbsp neutral oil 227g can sliced water chestnuts, drained and cut into slivers 4 cups thinly sliced cabbage, red or green 2 cups frozen edamame or peas, rinsed under hot water in a sieve to thaw 2 spring onions, thinly sliced Iceberg lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried, to serve ½ cup chopped roasted peanuts, to garnish

Mix stir fry sauce ingredients together and put to one side.

Combine mince and fish sauce together in a bowl. Heat oil in a large wok or heavy-based frying pan and stir-fry mince over a high heat, breaking it up to a fine crumb.

Add water chestnuts, cabbage, peas and stir-fry sauce and stir-fry until cabbage is just starting to soften and wilt (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat and toss through spring onions. Transfer to a bowl and serve with lettuce leaves to wrap and peanuts to garnish.

CLASSIC STIR-FRY SAUCE Mix together 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger, 3 Tbsp oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, a pinch of chilli flakes and fine white pepper and 3 Tbsp water.

This is a great one-pot dinner you can make with store-cupboard noodles and whatever fresh ingredients you have to hand. If you don't have gochujang paste, 1 Tbsp miso mixed with 1 Tbsp sriracha makes an acceptable substitute.

250-300g piece of tender beef such as sirloin or rump steak, fat and gristle removed, meat sliced super-thin across the grain Rind of 1 lime or ½ lemon, finely zested 1 clove garlic, finely sliced 2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 2 Tbsp rice wine or water Spicy Korean sauce (see below) 190g dry udon or soba noodles 1 head broccoli, stems peeled, cut into small florets 1 Tbsp neutral oil 2 smallish heads Shanghai (green-stemmed) bok choy, leaves separated A handful of snow peas, optional 1 spring onion, finely sliced 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

SPICY KOREAN SAUCE 1-1½ Tbsp gochujang (Korean chilli paste) 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp rice vinegar 3 Tbsp water

Mix the ingredients for the spicy Korean sauce together in a small bowl until smooth, put to one side.

Mix beef with lime or lemon zest, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Leave to stand on the bench while you cook the noodles. Add broccoli to the noodles in the last 1½ minutes of cooking, then add bok choy in the last few seconds, stirring it over the heat just until it wilts. Tip noodles and vegetables into a colander, drain well.

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan and stir-fry meat over the highest heat for 1 minute. Add the 2 Tbsp wine or water and stir to deglaze the pan.

Add the Spicy Korean sauce, drained noodles and vegetables, spring onion, snow peas if using and sesame seeds. Toss over high heat for 30-40 seconds minutes to coat the noodles evenly with the sauce.

Whenever we have rice I cook extra for another day, ready to fry it up with whatever vegetables I have at hand. This tofu and fried rice combo is one of my favourites. Sometimes I like to garnish with a fried egg as well as the scrambled egg in the rice, the runny yolk goes so well with the rice and dressing. If you can't be bothered to make the Thai dressing, use Thai sweet chilli sauce mixed with a little fish sauce and rice vinegar (4 parts sweet chilli to one part each vinegar and fish sauce).

Ready in 20 minutes + marinating Serves 2 generously

300g firm tofu, cut into 1.5cm dice 3 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp neutral oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger 1 green or red pepper, cored, deseeded and finely diced 2 spring onions, thinly sliced ½ green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced, optional 2 eggs 2 tsp fish sauce 3-4 cups cooked rice 2 handfuls bean sprouts or finely chopped bok choy stalks or cabbage 2 Tbsp toasted peanuts 2 Tbsp chopped coriander

TO SERVE Thai chilli dressing ½ long red chilli, very finely sliced or ½ dried red chilli, crumbled Zest of ½ lime, finely grated 2 Tbsp water 1 Tbsp fish sauce 1 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp rice vinegar

Make the Thai chilli dressing by combining all ingredients in a bowl or jar, stirring or shaking until sugar has dissolved.

Place tofu in a bowl with 1 Tbsp soy sauce and stir through to coat evenly. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 4 hours.

When ready to cook, heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan and fry tofu over high heat until lightly browned (about 2 minutes). Add garlic, ginger, green or red pepper, spring onions and chilli, if using, and sizzle for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Lightly whisk eggs and fish sauce together in a bowl. Push the vegetables to one side to one side and add the egg mixture to the pan, stirring until eggs are set in curds. Break up with the back of a spoon.

Add rice, bean sprouts or bok choy or cabbage and remaining soy sauce and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until heated through (about 5 minutes).

Add peanuts and coriander. Pile into a bowl or plate, drizzle with Thai sweet chilli sauce to taste and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the top.

Neudorf Home Block Moutere Chardonnay 2021 ($90)

Don't let the simplicity of this superb stir-fry stop you from treating yourself to something deliciously decadent on the drinks front. Listed as one of the Classic Wines of New Zealand and crafted from unirrigated, certified organic vines, this Nelsonian chardonnay is a masterclass of stonefruit concentration, beautifully balanced acidity and alcohol, creamy, caramelised oak characters. It boasts more citrus than you can swirl a big-bottomed glass at and its long, almond-laced finish will convince you it's worth every cent. neudorf.co.nz

Loveblock Organic Marlborough Pinot Gris 2021 ($22)

Prepare for baked apple, nashi, lime, a splash of spice and all things nice! Using a combination of concrete "egg" vessels and oak barrels to ferment 20 per cent of the juice that then also went through a "wild" malolactic fermentation has injected rich, creamy layers of texture, but before we get into how the mouthfeel of this wine is so magical with this tasty tofu fried rice, let's just ponder its "bottle feel". Hold another full bottle in one hand and this bottle in the other — and the Loveblock will feel lighter. Moving to lightweight 417g glass bottles (made in NZ from around 70 per cent recycled glass) instead of the standard 555g has shaved almost 15 per cent off their carbon footprint. Nice one. glengarrywine.co.nz

(Spicy Korean-style beef and noodles)

Esk Valley Artisanal Collection Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2020 ($19-$24)

Korean beef commands a ripe, roaringly fruity red. How on earth winemaker Gordon Russell manages to cram so much dark berry intensity, so many deep layers of spice and cocoa; and such complex plum, blueberry and boysenberry power all in one bottle, I'll never know. And for this price? Craziness. It's rich and spice-crammed, the tannins are warming, woolly and every sip is laced with soft smoky, liquorice layers. Selected as one of the 12 Gimblett Gravels Annual Vintage Selection wines, it's truly outstanding. goodwine.co.nz

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