dishes are cooked with a wok, but you can use a stir-fry pan for all the recipes in this cookbook. The biggest difference between a wok and a stir-fry pan is the nonstick coating on the stir-fry pan, which is user-friendly, especially for beginners to wok cooking. The nonstick surface also means that there is no need for the seasoning. The main downside for using a stir-fry pan versus a traditional wok is that a regular nonstick stir-fry pan is not recommended for intense high heat and hence it’s very hard to produce wok hei or “the breath of wok,” which is highly prized in Chinese cooking. To learn more about wok cooking, I recommend Grace Young’s books: The Breath of Wok and Stir-frying to the Sky’s Edge.
Most American homes are well equipped with skillets, which is a good substitute for a wok or stir-fry pan. However, do take note that skillets have a flat surface and are pretty shallow, so food tends to spill out because of that. The flat surface also makes tossing and stirring more cumbersome than a wok or stir-fry pan. Ultimately though, I highly recommend using a wok for Chinese cooking, but choose the utensil that you feel most comfortable using. You can always start with a nonstick stir-fry pan or skillet and then upgrade to a Chinese wok once you are comfortable with stir-frying and cooking Chinese food.
Wok Cover or Stir-fry pan Lid I love my wok cover as much as my wok. Wok covers work hand-in-hand with the wok and the lightweight aluminum body is so easy to handle. It’s particularly helpful to fend off the splattering oil, especially when you add wet ingredients into the wok—such as rinsed vegetables or tofu still dotted with water. For stewing and braising, wok covers work wonders in keeping the ingredients moist and tender during the cooking process. Most stir-fry pans come with a glass lid, which serves the same function, but these are heavier. If you buy the wok cover and stir-fry pan lid separately, remember to measure the diameter of your wok or stir-fry pan so the cover fits correctly.
Wok Mitt I feel obliged to add the wok mitt to this chapter because it’s such a handy and practical tool when it comes to wok cooking. A mitt is especially useful if you don’t have a wok ring because you can secure and stabilize the wok by holding onto one of the handles. I have had too many incidents where I’ve burned my hand while cooking. Now that I use a mitt at least my left hand is protected from splattering.
Wok ring If you have a regular residential gas or electric range in your kitchen, your round-bottom wok or stir-fry pan will probably wobble every time you use it. To stabilize the wok or stir-fry pan, you can get a wok ring that sits on the gas or electric range that cradles your wok or stir-fry pan snuggly.
Spatula There are a few types of spatula: steel, wood, plastic, rubber or silicone. Personally, I am a big fan of the Chinese steel spatula, which is perfect for a wok. The thin and slightly curved steel surface is great for stirring, tossing, and flipping during cooking. It also works marvelously for shoveling and scooping out the food when it’s cooked.
If you have a nonstick stir-fry pan, I recommend using a wood or plastic spatula to avoid scratching the nonstick surface. A wood or plastic spatula is thicker, so it’s a little clumsier to use, especially when you are trying to get beneath the food. My hubby refuses to use a wood or plastic spatula because he can’t flip his breakfast omelet with it! I don’t recommend rubber or silicon spatula because it’s just about impossible to use it in the wok or stir-fry pan. They are too pliable for the continuous stirring and tossing motions of Chinese stir-frying.
THE DIFFERENT USES OF A CHINESE WOK
If there is only one Chinese utensil that you wanted to invest in your kitchen, it's probably a Chinese wok. Wok is a magical utensil because of its many uses and versatility. In my kitchen, I use it for almost everything: stir-frying, deep-frying, steaming, boiling, blanching, and braising. Here are my quick tips of using wok other than basic stir-frying (page 14) and deep-frying (page 15).
STEAMING Add water to the wok and use a bowl to prop up the steamed dish. Make sure that the water level is enough to generate the hot steam but not too much. I usually leave at least 1-inch (2.5 cm) of gap between the water and the steamed dish, which is propped up on a bowl. After steaming, discard the water from the wok and pat dry with paper towels. Do not leave any traces of water in the wok as it might become rusty.
BOILING I often use my wok to make soup or to boil eggs. It's really convenient and delivers great results. Make sure that you wash off the residue on the wok and pat the wok surface dry to avoid rusting.
BLANCHING When making vegetable dishes such as Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (page 110), wok is a great tool for quick blanching of the vegetables. Add a few drops of oil into the water and bring it to boil. Drop the vegetables into the wok and remove immediately with a strainer or slotted spoon as soon as the vegetables become wilted or cooked.
BRAISING Wok is great for braising, especially meat dishes. Use the wok lid to cover the ingredients in the wok and turn the heat to medium or low to allow the meat to cook through. Perfectly braised meat should be tender and deeply flavorful with bone-in meat falling off the bones.
Seasoning a Cast Iron Wok by Wok Star Eleanor Hoh of www.wokstar.us
This seasoning method is ONLY for a Chinese, round bottom cast iron wok with two cast iron handles (the best for successful wok cooking.) When new, cast iron woks have a gray coating that must be removed. Seasoning is the most important procedure to set up your wok; it prevents the wok from rusting and gives it an overall protection. A simple explanation of “seasoning” means using heat to open the pores of the wok so the oil gets absorbed into the pores. When seasoning is done correctly, the wok will look bronze and black. With frequent use, a coating (patina) will build and becomes a natural “non-stick” surface and will turn pitch black, which is what you want. You need to season your wok only once but it can be “reseasoned” if necessary. (See below under Care and Maintenance of Your Wok.)
In Asia, typically the wok is seasoned with aromatics only on the inside. This requires constant stir-frying to make sure seasoning has occurred all around the wok—this is hard work. I use a much easier two-step process. Simply baking the wok to open the pores makes seasoning the interior much easier!
You need a little time and patience. Open doors and windows and blast the fan to blow out the smoke. Please be careful of grease fires and have a fire extinguisher at the ready. If you are sensitive to smoke, wear a mask and glasses. When washing the wok the first time gray discoloration may occur.
Directions for Seasoning Your Wok
1 Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Have all your tools ready. Wash the inside and outside of the wok, with hot soapy water and a stainless steel scourer (this includes the handles). This is a very important step: Scrub till you stop seeing a gray color in the water but not so hard that it’s bare metal. Dry the wok first by wiping the wok surface with paper towels (the paper towels may look gray after this). Then dry the wok thoroughly over the stovetop using low heat.
2 Open the pores of the wok by heating up all sides as well as the handles. Switch off the heat. Next, put vegetable oil (I use canola in a clear, plastic squeeze bottle) onto a couple of folded paper towels and apply a THIN, even coat to the inside and outside of the wok including the handles. Swish the oil around the wok in a quick motion. Turn the wok upside down on top of a sheet of foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. After the 40 minutes are up, leave the wok in the oven to cool for about an hour. The wok should be cool to the touch prior to next step. If there’s too much gray when you touch the wok, repeat steps 2 and 3 to ensure your seasoning is correct. Note: Do NOT pour the oil directly into wok or use too much oil, otherwise the oil will bake in sticky globs.
3
