What recipe?
Here is how I do a stir-fry, your style may vary.
LARGE skillet/Sauteuse. I use my 12 inch Farberware.
I also use a Rubbermaid silicone spatula.
Have your rice cooked before you start to cook the stir-fry.
1/2 to 1-1/2 pound lean beef (rib eye, as Sudsmaster used, is good. I have used it, or same amount of pork shoulder steak, or same amount of chicken thighs, breasts, or thighs and breasts. BONELESS, small, even pieces.
1-2 onions, sliced lengthwise, fairly fine shreds. Cut in half, then slice lengthwise from there.
12 ounces mushrooms, wiped clean with a damp paper towel, sliced vertically.
1 green bell pepper, sliced vertically and finely.
I red bell pepper, sliced similarly.
I large head broccoli, stems sliced into 1/2 inch discs, florets broken in a medium-small sort of size.
2-5 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed. If pressing, no more than about 3.
1/2 to 1 1/2 inches peeled ginger root, minced finely.
Sometimes, I will slice the broccoli stems in the processor. Works fine for this.
Also, drop the ginger and garlic into running processor (Steel Knife- "S" blade).
Have the boneless meat on a separate plate/platter, and have a CLEAN one (to prevent cross contamination) to park the cooked meat upon.
1-3 tablespoons peanut (preferred) or corn (strong 2nd choice) or canola oil.
IF USING--NEAR THE END OF COOKING: 1 tablespoon cornstarch, stir in 4-6 tablespoons chicken broth (Campbells Natural Goodness is the one I like at the moment). DO not mix this in advance, will not hold.
Have EVERYTHING sliced, cut, plated before you start!!!!
Heat pan until very hot, over high heat. Add 1-1 1/2 tablespoons oil, spread around.
Add the boneless meat and stir fry. Stir, stir, stir. Depending, you may have to do several batches. Chicken turns white throughout, as does pork. Beef should brown.
Remove to clean plate, set aside.
Look to see if pan bottom is brown or too brown. If just brown, deglaze with chicken stock. If burned, run water from the faucet and scrub.
Next, add the extra oil, and bring up to temperature again. Throw in the broccoli stems, and get them bright green. Remove them to a plate, and do the florets---a shorter time. About 1- 1/2 minutes for the stems, 30-50 seconds for the florets.
Same for onions, mushrooms, peppers.
Deglaze with chicken broth again.
If need be, one last "glug" of oil, though not always necessary.
Stirfry the garlic and ginger- very briefly, you do not want either to burn, but you do want them to smell marvellously big.
Add in the meat, stir. Add the other vegetables, stir.
If using the cornstarch for a glossy sauce, make the cornstarch- chicken broth slurry now, and add it in.
Stir until glossy and thickened. (Ma preferred it this way, I don't, but it is good to know).
Dish to a CLEAN platter, and serve.
A lot of this is practise.
Obviously, you can do entirely without meat, and I do, once in a while. Add more mushrooms then, or white and crimini-portobellos.
AGAIN, this is just MY take on it. Now that there is "High Heat Pam," I will reduce the level of oil used, and might not even use any, depending on how the Pam performs (Cook's Illustrated likes it.)
Lawrence/Maytagbear