4 Ways to Cook in a Wok

A wok is great for more than just frying. You can steam, smoke, fry, and even deep-fry foods.

A wok is a versatile piece of cookware suitable for a wide variety of dishes. Its surface heats quickly and easily anywhere.

A wok is a Chinese utensil used in Chinese cuisine Woks have been used for over 2,000 years. They can be made of various materials, but carbon steel is considered the best. A carbon steel wok heats up quickly and cools down quickly. Moreover, like a cast iron frying pan, it forms a natural non-stick coating on its surface.

It's best if the wok has a wooden handle and a flat bottom. A flat bottom allows for stirring food directly on the stovetop and maximizes heat accumulation around the food.

To prolong the life of your wok, it's important to coat it with vegetable oil with ginger and onion before using it for the first time. This is a traditional Chinese method. The ginger and onion have cleansing properties, and the oil creates a natural protective coating on the metal pores.

Now, here are some ways to cook food in a wok:


1. Steaming

The wok's curved shape makes it ideal for steaming food. Water evaporates from the surface of the food, depositing on the sides and rolling off again, diluting the flavor and tenderizing the food.

Helpful tips:

– First bring the water in the wok to a boil and only then add the ingredients.

– Be careful when adding and removing food – the steam is very hot and can easily burn you. Wooden tongs can be used to stir the food.

If you haven't oiled your carbon steel wok beforehand, frying, steaming, or boiling food can remove its protective coating. This is okay. Simply oil the wok with a cloth dampened with vegetable oil after use, and that's it. Failure to do this can cause food to burn in the wok.


2. Smoking

Smoking is perhaps the most exotic process you can do in a wok. Unlike standard frying pans, a wok is deep and quite wide, allowing for better air circulation around the food.

The smoking process is very simple. Take tea leaves, sugar, and rice and place them in the bottom of the wok. The tea will create a fragrant steam, the sugar will caramelize and add color and a hint of sweetness to the dish, and the rice will act as a fuel source, causing the other ingredients to smoke.

Heat the wok until the mixture begins to smoke. Cover the wok with a metal mesh strainer coated with vegetable oil. Place the ingredients to be smoked, pre-salted and seasoned, on top of the mesh strainer. Close the wok with a lid to trap the steam and aromas of the food inside, along with a subtle smoky flavor.

This is one way. There are others.

Helpful tips:

Before you begin, make sure the wok is completely clean, both inside and out. If there are burnt-on food residues on it, they will continue to burn and ruin the flavor and aroma of the dish.

– If you smoke food for too long, it will become bitter.


3. Fritting

Deep-frying food in a wok is ideal because the wok's unique shape requires less vegetable oil than other types of cookware, and its large capacity allows you to fry a large amount of food at once.

Helpful tips:

– Never fill the wok more than half full with vegetable oil.

– Use a special deep-frying thermometer.

– The presence of moisture causes oil to splatter, so before placing washed products in the wok, they should be blotted with a paper towel.

– Place all ingredients into the wok at once, pouring them out of another container, otherwise they will stick together in clumps and fry unevenly.

– The Chinese use wooden chopsticks to remove food from the wok. The same can be done with a slotted spoon.


4. Stir-fry

The wok's flared shape allows heat to accumulate in the bottom of the pan, while the heat rises up the sides. Food can be quickly and evenly fried using a minimal amount of vegetable oil.

Wok Stir-Fry Recipes:
Okra with chili paste
Chicken and broccoli stir-fry with sweet sauce
Stir-fry with pork and rice noodles

Helpful tips:

Before adding oil to the wok, test the pan's heat by dropping a drop of water into it, which will immediately begin to sizzle and evaporate. If you place food in a very hot wok, it won't stick together or become stuck to the bottom.

If the wok is overheated, the oil will start smoking. A small amount of smoke is normal. A plume of smoke is not.

– Don’t put too many ingredients in the wok at once, this will lower the temperature and result in the food steaming rather than frying.

– When quickly frying food, it is better to turn it over with a metal spatula rather than a wooden one – a wooden one is too thick for this and is not always able to pick up pieces stuck to the bottom.

Author of the article: Natalia Semenova "TopCook"

Votes: 1