How do you prepare a wok for cooking?
You’ll want to prepare your wok for cooking by cleaning, drying, and seasoning it. Here’s how: Wash the wok with hot water and dish soap. Scrub it with a textured sponge or steel wool to remove the factory coating. (Note: Unseasoned woks are coated in a particular type of oil to protect them until they are sold.
Should you pre heat a wok before stir fry?
Pre-Heat Your Wok. Part of the reason food cooks so quickly in a restaurant kitchen wok is because of the constant high heat. To recreate stir fry at home, where the heat is tamer, set the wok on medium-high, with nothing in it.
Why don’t we cook in woks?
No, we’re not describing a summer blockbuster—we’re talking about cooking in a wok. Watching vegetables, meat, and aromatics go from raw to crisp in seconds makes stir-frying in a wok a wicked way to cook. Yet so often, cooking in a wok reduces ingredients to a floppy, goopy mess. Why? Because we tend to treat woks like they're skillets.
How many pounds of meat can you cook in a wok?
Meats (brought to room temperature for even cooking) should never exceed a pound at a time. If your wok is 12 inches, you shouldn’t be cooking more than 12 ounces of beef, 1 pound of pork, 12 ounces of lamb, or 1 pound of chicken. “If a wok is overcrowded, the temperature drops,” Grace says, “and ingredients begin to braise rather than stir fry.”
How to get stir fry cooked evenly?
Rocking the wok and turning your ingredients is key to getting your stir fry cooked evenly. “Each time I cook in a skillet, I’m just chasing the food, pushing it around” says Young. “But if I put it in the wok, I can actually lift all of the food and tumble it.”
Why do woks cook so quickly?
Part of the reason food cooks so quickly in a restaurant kitchen wok is because of the constant high heat. To recreate stir fry at home, where the heat is tamer, set the wok on medium-high, with nothing in it. This’ll preheat the wok and bring the surface up to temperature for quick sears. How long should the empty wok sit over the flame? Until it passes Young’s water test. Oh, you don’t know about the water test? Flick a little water at the wok—if it evaporates the second it makes contact, it's ready to go.
Why does my wok steam?
Even slightly damp ingredients will alter the wok' temperature, turn down the volume on the sizzling sound that ingredients make in oil, and cause your food to steam instead of sear.
How to keep a wok from becoming non-stick?
To maintain the seasoning (natural nonstick surface) of a wok, keep the surface very dry and lightly oiled between uses. After cooking, immediately wash and dry the wok. Drizzle a small amount of oil into the wok and use a paper towel or dish towel to rub the oil over the carbon steel surface.
What is the most useful tool for cooking Thai food at home?
We’re diving headfirst into the second half of Thai Food Month, and I thought I’d pause for a moment to talk about the most useful tool for cooking Thai food at home – the wok ! Woks have become fairly common in home kitchens all over the world, but if you’re not from a culture where they are used daily, it can feel a little intimidating.
How to prepare a new wok for cooking?
So you’ve bought a new wok and you want to get it ready for its inaugural recipe. You’ll want to prepare your wok for cooking by cleaning, drying, and seasoning it. Here’s how: Wash the wok with hot water and dish soap.
How many handles does a wok have?
Two Handles – Any wok you buy should have two handles. Some have matching, short handles on each side (Cantonese-style). Others have one short handle and one long handle. The short handle makes the pan easy to pick up and the long handle makes it easy to shake and move the pan as foods are cooking (while keeping your hands away from the heat). I think woks with one short and one long handle are the most versatile for home cooking, but personal preference comes into play here.
What is the best tool to use to move ingredients around the base of a wok?
Wok Spatula – This inexpensive tool is the perfect shape for moving ingredients around the base and rounded sides of a wok. Once you’ve cooked something in a wok with this type of spatula, you’ll never go back to using a regular spatula, wooden spoon, or whatever other tool you might have tried.
How to get oil out of a wok?
Use a paper towel or dish towel to rub cooking oil over the entire inside surface of the wok. Place the wok over a burner turned to high heat. Heat the wok, slowly rotating and tipping it to expose the entire outer surface to the heat. (The oil may smoke slightly.) Remove wok from heat and allow it to cool completely.
What is a wok?
A wok is a great tool for making fast, flavorful weeknight meals, but if you’ve ever had questions about how to cook with a wok, this guide is for you! Included are step-by-step instructions for cooking in a wok and tips for selecting and seasoning a wok to make the most of its natural nonstick surface. We’re diving headfirst into the second half ...
Why are the sides of a wok so high?
The high sides allow the ingredients for wok recipes to be tossed up in the air and back down safely into the pan, while the large size make woks more than suitable for cooking up large quantities of food for your hungry friends and family!
How long to cook a wok in the oven?
This happens naturally when you cook with oil, but you can also add a layer of seasoning by coating the cooking surface of your pan in a light layer of oil after cleaning it before baking the wok in the oven at 400°F for one hour.
What is a wok pan?
Woks are those big, heavy pans that you most commonly see being used by chefs to flash-fry, or stir-fry, meat, and vegetables. Woks are deep dishes that have a huge surface area, which allows you to space heat evenly over the entire cooking area.
How to cook dumplings in a wok?
Simply take a suitable container, keep it covered, and place it in the bottom of the wok, semi-submerged in boiling water. When it's hot enough, add your dumplings to the steamer and let them cook. 3. Smoking. You can get really elaborate with your cooking too, and turn your wok into a home-made smoker for cooking up your favorite smoky-flavored ...
How to get a smoky taste in a wok?
Line the bottom of your wok with a layer of tin foil, and start heating up a few ingredients to give your food the smoky taste you're looking for (you can use anything from burnt rice to coffee beans!). Place a rack or grill over the foil and get cooking.
What are some good ways to cook in a wok?
Here are a few of our favorite ways to cook in a wok. 1. Deep-frying.
How to use a wok?
Flash-frying is the classic way to use a wok. Heat your wok up to a high temperature, add a drizzle of oil to the pan, and cook your stir-fry ingredients quicky, at a high temperature.
What Are BTUs?
BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. When it comes to cooking with gas, BTUs will tell you the power or heat output of a gas burner.
Household Cooktop vs. Wok Burner
When it comes to wok cooking at home, the easiest option is to simply use the stovetop that you already have. But, chances are you’re not going to have the BTUs (power) you need to get the most out of your wok.
Recovery Time
Part of the reason that high BTUs are important for wok cooking, is that you want to ensure your wok doesn’t cool down during the cooking process.
Batch Size
Batch size is the amount of food you cook in your wok at a time. And no matter how many BTUs you’re working with, batch size plays a role in the success of your wok cooking.
Ventilation
High-BTU wok burners put out a lot of heat and can also produce a lot of smoke. So it’s important to ensure you have proper ventilation in place.
Wok Material
The three most common materials for a wok are carbon steel, cast iron, and nonstick. And they all cook very differently.
What Are You Cooking?
High BTUs can be important for some types of wok cooking. But, a wok is no one-trick pony and can be used for a wide range of techniques, most of which can be done perfectly well on any stove.
What is stir fry in Chinese cooking?
Who doesn’t? Stir-frying is a Chinese cooking method where you cook small quantities of ingredients quickly by stirring them in very hot oil. Because the cooking oil gets hot under extreme heat, it’s recommended to use a wok.
What to do before stir fry?
Marinating should be the first step to consider doing before any stir-fry process. If you are cooking meaty foods, clean them , and then season with your favorite ingredients. Do this a few minutes before cook time and allow the flavors to lock in before adding them to the wok. Some of the common marinating ingredients include soy sauce, corn starch, a few tablespoons of oil, among others. Preparation beforehand is of paramount importance.
How to cook stir fry?
The moment you start cooking, increase the temperature. You should maintain this high heat throughout the cooking time. Using a clean wok in a fire will not make the food stick to its surfaces. The sides of the wok take time to heat up compared to the center, which gets the most heat. Not all works retain heat, and if you notice the wok getting extremely hot and smoking, you can reduce the heat.
What comes first in a stir fry?
Vegetables can come second before meaty ingredients. As aforementioned, the trick to getting a great stir-fried dish is by starting with foods that need low heat first, such as aromatics .
How long does it take to cook a wok?
The ingredients that need to go inside the wok first depend on the category of the food. Some proteins will take about 7 minutes, while vegetables will take less time. Hard ingredients will take a longer time compared to tender ones.
What oil is good for stir fry?
Not all oils are good when making a stir-fry. Some of the best cooking oil with high smoke points is peanut oil, vegetable oil, e.tc. Always have the best cooking oil in your pantry to withstand the high cooking temperatures and not burn your food. Soybean oil, olive oil, and coconut oil are good options to use. The recommended smoking point should be 400 F and above. For olive oil, use refined and avoid extra-virgin olive oil.
Can you use non-metallic spatulas in a wok?
It’s all about fast cooking while ensuring no food is sticking to the wok. Constantly stirring the ingredients gives you even cooking. Stir as quickly as possible to keep up with the heat. Non-metallic spatulas and spoons are the right recommendations for use in a wok. It does not cause damage to the wok’s patina.
