How to perform pan flip like a pro

I hesitate whenever I have to sautéed vegetables with light oil, high heat, and quick moving cooking process, and I burn it every time because I don’t move fast enough. The first solution is to add some water to reduce the heat; then your end game becomes mushy. The most effective way I found when I work at Thai restaurants is to perform the pan flip, and I’m going to show you how you can practice in easy 3 steps.

Back in the day when I first started learning how to cook at a Thai restaurant, I used one hand holding a ladle and the other a spatula. Once, I turned on the heat from the wok, I burned everything so fast, and I couldn’t move it rapidly.

Therefore, I need to start practicing the stir-frying flipping to turn over the food from the bottom up to the top in just a second.

Plus, it looks cool, doesn’t it?

Before you get started, I recommend having a comfortable deep frying pan with proper weight so that you can practice without burning yourself or exhaust your wrist.

Also, we are going to divide from beginning to advance in 3 parts; practicing with sliced onions, low-heat pancake, and high-heat noodle sautéed.

#1 Off-heat with sliced onions

A typical style of stir-frying is to hold your pan with the left hand and grab a spatula or a spoon with the other hand if you’re right-handed.

Get a whole onion and peel it, then slice it up. And try to move the pan sideways or circle horizontally.

Once, you master it without spilling a single piece of onion, and you feel comfortable holding and moving the pan around, you can now move on to the next step.

#2 Low-heat with a pancake

It’s time to perform a stir-frying flipping with an easy-to-make pancake. It’s perfect when you start learning because the pancake doesn’t need a quick cooking method and use low heat.

Let’s mix a pancake now.

I always have “Krusteaz” pancake mix on hand in my kitchen, so I mix it up with 1 cup of the flour and ¾ coconut cream. Yes! I‘ve tried it. Excellent substitution!

Then, I turn on the heat to medium with a ceramic pan and drop a Tbsp of unsalted butter. And then, use a ladle to scoop up the mixture about 8 oz, and pour it on the pan.

Let it sit for 10 seconds and use a spatula to scrape the sticky bottom, and wait! Don’t flip it yet.

Now, lift it up and practice just like you did with the onion. Plus, try to flip it by pulling the pan to yourself horizontally. Use the curving edge of the pan to flip the fluffy pancake.

Did you get it?

Let’s go back to see the video and practice again. And then, move on to the final step.

#3 High-heat with Thai omelet

Thai omelet uses high heat to cook just like any other stir-fried dishes in Thai and Chinese cuisines. This technique is going to be how you practice and perform the pan flip like the pros you see in the movies or cooking shows. Yet, you might not want to throw it too high and burn yourself.

So BE CAUTION !!!

I suggest when you first try it out, use a fabric glove on your left hand to protect yourself.

Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp minced pork
• 2 Tbsp green onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp seasoning sauce
• A pinch of white pepper powder
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

instructions:

1. Beat the eggs and mix with minced pork, green onion seasoning sauce, and vinegar in a mixing bowl until well-blended and smooth
2. Add vegetable oil into the pan and turn on the heat all the way high. And wait until the smoke coming out, then lower the heat to medium-high (¾ of the gauge)
3. Pour the  egg mixture in the hot oil carefully and quickly then use spatula swirl the egg around
4. When the omelet is fluffy firm, FLIP it with the technique and BE AWARE of hot grease spilled out
5. You can turn it over again un till both sides are soft and crunchy.
6. Put on top of jasmine rice, or share with your loved ones, Enjoy!

Conclusion

I mostly cook 2-3 dishes at the same time, and our kitchen is too small to have more than 3 people preparing things, so I need a little skill to finish everything in a short time by myself or with an assistant.

If you perform pan flip and make a mess or burn your hand, you might switch back using a spatula. It is not necessary when you cook at home with your household gas pressure, but the technique comes handy when you’re multitasking.

I hope you will enjoy learning this and not harm yourself.

Happy Cooking 😉