Does anyone else here cook in a wok?

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I ordered one last year.
A nice cast iron wok from a shop in San Francisco.
They got it to me real fast and threw in several goodies.

I have cooked with it on & off the past year and I really like it.

Tonight, I'm cooking chicken with broccoli, green bell pepper and garlic... along with seasoning.

I'm glad my daughter likes my cooking, making a pot of rice, then all that food, I need help getting rid of it!

Oh, and I am so grateful for a GAS stove!

i love watching cooking shows with woks in them

hmmm....i don't recall getting an invite...

*goes and checks mailbox*

nope...nothing.

*cries*



(i do love a good stirfry...next time, let me know! i'll pop over for dinner! lol!)

your mother would like a nice home-cooked meal!

"Cook in a wok" is such a great phrase. Yes, I love to cook in a wok!
This week, however, we are eating Thanksgiving leftovers only, until they are all gone.
Then we can start eating healthy again.
(Healthily, I should say).

Last edited by riverotter on 27 Nov 2007, 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

I need to check with mom before I invite any girls over





OH... hi mom! Uhhhh... sorry we didn't wait for you Oh, and I'll take out the garbage tonight just as soon as I get done posting on WP.... HONEST!

You can cook a turkey in a wok?

I BOW DOWN TO YOU OH MASTER OF THE WOK!

[quote="wsmac]You can cook a turkey in a wok?[/quote]
LOL
One could cook turkey in a wok, if it was sliced thinly enough (as I have done chicken). To do so would be inefficient.
To clarify, we are just eating different permutations of the leftover traditional unhealthy Thanksgiving dinner. No wokking until next week when they will be mercifully gone (I hope).

I used to have a wok but my mother sort of took it!! ! she used it more though so I let her

WHEW! wipes brow I thought you were gonna tan my hide ma!

Here's a link to the wok I have and the place I got it from.
They are really nice folks. At least from the experience I had from them.
I emailed them about something once and they came back with an answer.

--->THE WOK SHOP<---

Yeah, but I'm 6'2" and 200 pounds so it would have to be a pretty big wok.

I just had to throw mine out, but it wasn't too big a deal. I picked it up for 12 bucks, a cheapo aluminum thing with a nonstick coating, and it did its duty pretty well. In fact, I liked it better than a regular good quality pan, more versatile. The one drawback is that it couldn't take the high heat that a cast-iron pan could if it were empty, but I just added more oil in order to get the quick maillard reactions.

Of course, its no sub for a nice cast-iron one, but you could clean this thing spotless with 5 seconds of running water and a swipe with a paper towel.

One thing I won't skimp on in terms of quality is a good knife. I got a nice Geisser chef's knife for 45 bucks, and it has held up really well, really forgiving steel that's good for novice sharpeners. Their Japanese chef knife is nice too, too bad I lost it.

https://www.smico.ca/cart/catalog/index ... anguage=en

What I like about wok cooking is that it is not easy. You have to have a plan, to have things ready to go, you have to be quick but not rushed. Once you start, you have to keep going till its done.

One sauce I've been playing with is a pineapple sweet and sour sauce based on a roux-based sauce I found for pork and ham. Take a can of pineapple bits, drain and reserve the juice, and keep some of the bits for the sauce - you will need extra juice as well. Sub out the roux for cornstarch, add vinegar, sugar (maple syrup is nice, but can you really trust a Canadian's opinion on that? Any sweetener will do), hot pepper flakes and some water so that it doesn't burn when you toss it into the wok. Basically just add all this stuff together and put it on the food in the pan at the end until it thickens, sort of a half-reduction, half starch sauce.

A shot of Tequila and some lemon juice won't hurt either...you could even put some in the sauce!

HAHAHA Mystery... I was waiting for someone to come up with that, after I read my initial post.

I was also preparing myself for the 'wok the dog' joke!

Kurtz, you sound like a way more serious wok'r than I.
I hope to get to that point someday.

I know what you mean by it not being easy, but I tend to call it easier to cook with for the very reasons you list.

Once I plan it out and get everything ready, then it's a breeze to cook it all up.

I agree with the knife selections... I have a few nice Japanese knives that I find work very well for me, and I try to protect them.

Although I can sharpen knives, planer blades, chisel blades, etc. I'll probably take my kitchen knives to someone I know who does it professionally.
It's one thing I can afford to have done by someone I know is good and I get the extra time for something else.

Dude, if I was serious I would have a good one and a gas stove! The aluminum nonstick ones can't take the heat, so you can't do as many things, like dimsum.



What I like is the prep, I'm pretty OCD about cutting things up with Cordon-Bleu style trickery, and I find it meditative and relaxing to have everything just so, ready to cook.



No kidding! People have no respect for good knives, leaving them wet, soaking them, putting them in the dishwasher, tossing them loose in a drawer with a bunch of other metal utensils, Jesus.



I'm the opposite - I'm kinda paranoid about about tool blades, especially chisels and planers! I find it easier to hone a larger blade than a smaller one like on a chisel point, plus the steel on those is much easier for me to mess up. I can do axes and hatchets alright, though.

Plus I find that most kitchen knives can be brought back to life with a few passes on the back of another one. I don't like steels, but I have used a ceramic one that gave good results - a friend got one from Ikea for 8 bucks, after a few passes you could take hair off your arm.



What, you have better things to do?

Wok hei ftw Mine is pressed steel - big, cheap and fabulous! I have become addicted to char kway teow. Tonight I intend to do a simple summery stir-fry of tofu and broccolini, with garlic and probably lemongrass and chilli.

I need a new wok brush, though. Mine was past its prime and I tossed it.

I cook 90% of my food with a wok. I kid you not. Can't live without it. Miss gas.