The Wok

[Celery Man 21026]

After talking about this “Kenji” fellow from the cooking internet for much of last year, my wife for Christmas got me a wok and his book, The Wok. I’m going to cook a bunch of this shit. This thread is for that, or for anyone else to join in with wok dishes they like or have made recently.

 

First up, Pepper Steak.

Spoiler

I haven’t gone to the Asian market, so I’m still low on ingredients. I thought I had Shoyu, but was thinking of Tamari. I used Tamari with the marinade but just soy for the sauce. I don’t have the wine either. Closest I have from a ph perspective is balsamic. Feels not very Chinese, but…. decided it was an ok option. I didn’t rinse my rice like I usually do, that was a mistake.

 

Was actually really great. Too much black pepper for the toddler, which I should have realized. This is the first time I’ve cooked in a wok. Wasn’t sure how it would go with our standard glass top electric stove, but it worked pretty well. It does get hot AF. Obviously still getting the mechanics down and I fumbled with the meat a bit. Overall though, tasty. The actual cooking went quick. Can’t wait to get into more recipes.

[Rimbo 26429]

The most important thing to wok cooking is having a hot enough stove and keeping it hot. We had to look far and wide to find a stove hot enough for our wok. Ended up with a $2000 imported Italian thing (with the reliability you'd expect from Italian engineering) that does 18,000 BTU.

You can get away with less with a smaller wok.

[Celery Man 21026]

The book is great so far btw. Obviously lots of recipes, but there’s a lot of technique, explanation, discussion of ingredients, details  etc. For example discussing exactly that problem (wok cooking in your home kitchen with a stove that is not the temperature of the sun) he describes cooking in smaller batches as the general workaround.

 

 This go round I was trying to do the tossing thing and realized I was holding the pan off the stove for too long probably. It does get crazy hot though, oil jumping immediately upon hitting the wok.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Celery Man

[Sam Lin 3564]

Be aware that you really need a wok burner (as mentioned above) to properly use a wok. The strength of a wok is that you always have very hot surface and you are always transitioning the food to a new, hot region of the wok. Outdoor turkey fryer burner works well for this. Indoor burner or stove doesn't do this well, it applies heat to too small a portion of the wok surface.

[dcbc 14568]

I've been eying this book, but I've barely made a dent in his Food Lab cookbook.  But I'll be watching this thread closely.  Pepper steak looks great!

Edited December 28, 2022 by dcbc

[Celery Man 21026]

I had held off on buying this/a wok even though these are the kinds of meals that hit my flavorful checkbox, my wife’s various picky eater checkboxes, and the toddler’s bite size pieces checkbox for the reasons listed above. Whether I can use this as a true wok or not, I’m excited about how this went compared to when I made… moo shu pork not long ago in a le creuset skillet. We’ll see how it goes, but the book I think is written for the home cook in a standard western kitchen and has this to say

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Celery Man

[4th&Five 41701]

“Wok this way” would have been a better thread title. 

[Texzilla58 4745]

Good luck. I’ve never had much success with a wok on a home range, especially my electric smooth top. I usually go for more heat over the shape so usually just use a cast iron skillet. Don’t like the flat bottom woks.

My dream kitchen would have a double wok burner that would go to a jillion degrees. In the meantime im going to try a outdoor burner.

[gsoda3 3285]

honestly like others have said unless you have at a minimum a 20,000 BTU burner you'll eventually find yourself frustrated with wok cooking.  (we use a turkey fryer burner on the patio.)  it's not how hot your wok gets when you initially put in the ingredients, it's how hot the wok can *stay* as you're tossing and flipping.  only direct flame, and lots of it, can do the job.  

 

there are some work arounds though.  if you're frying rice you can do it on MEDIUM HIGH for about 20 minutes and achieve almost the same results.  don't use high, you'll actually burn the rice.  counterintuitive, i know.  this method won't work for foods that have a tenderness component to them (meat and vegetables) but for stuff like noodles and rice it's fine.  

 

another strategy is to get the wok heated like normal and throw your ingredients in for a minute or two and then take it out, heat up your wok again, and throw the ingredients back in.  do small batches though.  you don't want the food resting outside of the wok for longer than a couple minutes otherwise it changes the tenderness profile.  

 

keep on cooking, interested in seeing your pictures.

[CooterBrown 18089]

I have a spider basket to hold the wok on my Big Green Egg. I only stir fry on it to avoid smoking out the house. I’m sure there something similar for a kettle grill.

[tigol 2421]

I have a spider basket to hold the wok on my Big Green Egg. I only stir fry on it to avoid smoking out the house. I’m sure there something similar for a kettle grill.

This.

[Grimas 671]

I picked up a similar burner in Asia from a shop that built street food cart stands. It gets up to 100k BTU and makes my wok glow red. Same wok on an gas cook top sucks...Wok burner

Edited December 28, 2022 by Grimas

[PRONG HORN 3165]

23 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Be aware that you really need a wok burner (as mentioned above) to properly use a wok. The strength of a wok is that you always have very hot surface and you are always transitioning the food to a new, hot region of the wok. Outdoor turkey fryer burner works well for this. Indoor burner or stove doesn't do this well, it applies heat to too small a portion of the wok surface.

 

Listen to the Asian dude bro.  

 

https://www.google.com/search?q="portable+gas+burner"+wok&lr=&safe=images&as_qdr=all&ei=cPqsY8a4HaytqtsP6_C0iAc&ved=0ahUKEwjGsJuD4538AhWslmoFHWs4DXEQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq="portable+gas+burner"+wok&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIGCAAQCBAeMgYIABAIEB4yBggAEAgQHjIFCAAQhgM6CggAEEcQ1gQQsAM6BwgAEIAEEA06CAgAEAgQBxAeOgYIABAeEA06CAgAEAUQHhANOggIABAIEB4QDToNCAAQBRAeEA8Q8QQQDToLCAAQCBAeEPEEEA1KBAhBGABKBAhGGABQxQ1YmiVgqShoAnABeACAAXGIAfsFkgEDOS4xmAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

[Celery Man 21026]

Alright tomorrow is sesame chicken, I figure doing the double fry thing might make things a bit easier tomorrow, so starting tonight.

Spoiler

 

[Trey3216 15380]

Do the Wok, do the Wok of Life.  Yeah we do the Wok of Life.  

[Celery Man 21026]

 

Good. I’m done trying to cook rice in the instant pot though. Never have problems in a saucepan and it’s been a sticky mess both times. Sugar chicken was a win with the kid.

[Rimbo 26429]

On 12/27/2022 at 7:06 PM, Sam Lin said:

Be aware that you really need a wok burner (as mentioned above) to properly use a wok. The strength of a wok is that you always have very hot surface and you are always transitioning the food to a new, hot region of the wok. Outdoor turkey fryer burner works well for this. Indoor burner or stove doesn't do this well, it applies heat to too small a portion of the wok surface.

Actually, you usually want a smaller surface area getting most of the heat, right on that bottom center part of the wok. Focusing all the heat on that small area, then letting the thin metal transmit that heat around.

And you can do it indoors with (1) a great vent a hood overhead, (2) a hot enough but not too hot stove, and (3) the right size of wok (not too small or too big).

We have an 18k. central double-ringed burner, a Kobe vent a hood, 10.5" wok. Works great.

☝️ central burner on full blast with wok and hood visible

Notice that the outer ring is about the same diameter as the flat portion of the wok's bottom. The inner ring is not optional -- you want a big blast of heat in the center.

10.5" is a pretty small wok so we can't make a ton of food at once, but we can make enough to feed the family.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Rimbo

[Celery Man 21026]

Mixed success with a black bean pan fried tofu recipe. Or mixed failure. I couldn’t find douchi (Asian market was more like a Korean market) and I think what I used was saltier. And this looked like death, and the kid wouldn’t eat it. But it was actually pretty tasty cut with rice, and the texture of the tofu was great.

Spoiler

Won’t make it again probably, but will use the boiled water method to prep tofu for pan frying.

 

what was a hit was canned biscuit donuts I made over the weekend with the used cooking oil from sesame chicken. Not a wok recipe but it is a pretty good frying vessel 😃

 

[HouTex 1901]

My favorite Asian cookbook.   

[SimonBolivar 10961]

If I could learn to make the chicken from Mala Sichuan in Houston then I'd never eat anything else ever again. 

 

I've tried making laziji and it just never turns out right. Maybe I need a Wok to get it right.

[Celery Man 21026]

16 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

If I could learn to make the chicken from Mala Sichuan in Houston then I'd never eat anything else ever again. 

 

I've tried making laziji and it just never turns out right. Maybe I need a Wok to get it right.

Looks interesting. unfortunately I have a toddler and someone who thinks pepperoni is hot at the table, so I’m a bit afraid to explore spicier stuff. Maybe I’ll figure out how to do some of these in spicy/non spicy batches 

Spoiler

 

[gsoda3 3285]

20 hours ago, Celery Man said:

 

you did well with the seasoning on the wok.  

 

after these pics of your food you must realize you're not living up to your name.

[Grimas 671]

https://omnivorescookbook.com/mala-chicken/

Found a Sichuan place in the Woodlands that makes the chicken similar to Mala Sichuan but the link above is what I used to use when I made it myself...

[Celery Man 21026]

Now I want Chef Chan’s.

[Grimas 671]

Wok glowing red last night for stir fry - sichuan salt and pepper shrimp.

[Celery Man 21026]

Need to get an outdoor burner when it warms up or a torch for the kitchen. Read an interesting page in the book that a shortcut to replicate the smoky flavor where you absolutely need the flames is to toast the salt in the (seasoned) carbon steel wok.

[Celery Man 21026]

Cheesy scallion pancakes

Spoiler

This looked good and so I thought I’d whip it up for lunch. Seemed easy enough.

fuck

actually not that bad, kitchen is already put back together. I’m just the worst at doing things efficiently when it is my first time. This was actually my first time making dough in the food processor. Should have tried to wrap the pancakes tighter and rolled them wider. Should have gone one at a time instead of assembly line, just for the counter space to roll.

Pretty good. Doughy, cheesy, oniony. That’s about right.

 

I’m kinda intrigued by carbon steel now - I was able to just wipe out the pan. Which, given how poor I did containing everything in the dough, surprising. Like gsoda said - seasoning worked well. Although maybe it is simply cooking in a lot of oil.

 

will probably make again

[Sam Lin 3564]

A traditional scallion pancake is one of the great joys in life. Stripe of Lao Gan Ma crispy chili oil to take it to 11.

[FartingMonk 3608]

My favorite cookbook is 99 ways to wok your dog

[SimonBolivar 10961]

On 1/14/2023 at 11:19 PM, Sam Lin said:

 Stripe of Lao Gan Ma crispy chili oil to take it to 11.

Yeah but that's true for pretty much anything.

[Celery Man 21026]

Yakisoba

Quote

My wife makes an… okonomiyaki (sp?) Trevor that I like and that has changed my opinion about cabbage. This lookedneasy, up that alley, and worth a try. I used bagged coleslaw because we had some and it hit the cabbage/carrot requirement. Couldn’t find the specific noodles called for, but figured fresh (frozen) ramen should work. 
 

 

things went a little sideways with the ramen

 

but… it turned out ok

 

 

actually turned out quite good. Not as heavy on bacon taste as I was expecting, just noodle cabbage sauce goodness. Definitely having this for lunch tomorrow. Very easy. I should have shaken out the ramen noodles a bit immediately before adding them and I think needed to add more oil back into the wok to avoid the sticky dough ball mess I had going on for a minute.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Celery Man

[Celery Man 21026]

Off topic, this recipe is another one that changed my mind on cabbage

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/278396/indian-fried-cabbage

i think we’ve made it as a side with this

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ajwaini-paneer-tikka-skewers

which is a whole fuckin meal. That chutney recipe in the paneer recipe is legit.

[Grimas 671]

VIETNAMESE SHAKING BEEF (BÒ LÚC LẮC)
 

just made this…

[Grimas 671]

Beef tenderloin marinated in soy and oyster sauce.  Put Hot meat on bed of mixed green and tomatoes and then covered by pickled red onions and rice wine vinegar and side of white pepper and lime dipping sauce.  Do this every few weeks and everyone destroys it…

Edited February 1, 2023 by Grimas

[South Austin 52687]

Don’t wok away, Renee.

[Grimas 671]

8 minutes ago, Grimas said:

Beef tenderloin marinated in soy and oyster sauce.  Put Hot meat on bed of mixed green and tomatoes and then covered by pickled red onions and rice wine vinegar and side of white pepper and lime dipping sauce.  Do this every few weeks and everyone destroys it…

Fyi you can get tenderloins at Asian markets for $20-25 bucks... Who cares if its choice when you are stir-frying it... Its still tender as F... I pick up several whenever I go into town and load the freezer...

[Sam Lin 3564]

Re: cabbage

Fairly well known Thai restaurant Supanniga Eating Room has a really famous riff on a normal Thai dish, cabbage stir fried with fish sauce. Theirs is wonderful, if expensive. During Covid they sold "cook at home" sets and released this little YT short showing how to cook it. Flash fry/blanch, then quick wok fry with fish sauce.

 

[Celery Man 21026]

The beef and broccoli recipe from this book causes arguments over leftovers