Kitchen Tidbits

Woks are not just for stir frying. Woks are popular in Asian cooking for preparing your meal using various cooking techniques. Chinese cuisine and other Asian cuisines use the wok in everyday meal preparation. Every kitchen has a wok and it is a very prized possession in Chinese homes.

Woks are cooking vessels with a rounded bottom and sloping sides that aids the cooking process. The origination of the wok came out of necessity. The shortage of fuel for longer cooking processes was a problem. The wok cooks at extremely high temperatures for a short time. The secret is intense heat, but controllable heat.

Today woks are made with flat bottoms as well as the ancient rounded bottom types. The flat bottom woks are better on electric stoves or glass type stove tops, while the rounded bottoms are great with gas stoves.

Your choices for woks, whether they are made of cast iron or stainless steel, need to be your consideration. The materials used should all produce a good effect because the design remains the same.

Many Asian cooks swear by the old family cast iron wok. Modern glass top stoves work well for the iron enamel wok, but this wok does well on the gas stove too. Typically, a carbon steel wok sets costs about ?50 and the stainless steel sets are about ?70. The stainless steel wok is 5 ply with 3 ply of it inner layers being aluminium. Aluminium is known for its heat conducting qualities. Cast iron woks, 14″ in diameter at the top, sell from about ?10 USD. They will need to be seasoned, but they will outlive most of the family.

What is so special about wok cooking? The shorter cooking times seal in juices, save energy and create delicious flavours. The lean Asians are a testimony to the wok cooking with its low cholesterol cuisine. In wok cooking you can steam, stir fry, simmer and deep fry. Even in the deep frying you will be able to avoid the longer cooking times which lead to more oil absorption meaning higher calories. Various accessories can be purchased along with your wok to insure that your new cooking techniques are done properly. For instance, your steamer basket should be 12″ in diameter to fit a 14″ wok.

Wok cooking is a process of two separate events. The first is the preparation of the raw ingredients. You will be chopping and slicing ingredients for transferring into your prepared wok. The second part of the process is the actual cooking. Follow the directions in your new cook book to the letter in order to be successful with wok cooking techniques.

Healthy meals, faster overall preparation, and delicious flavours are three advantages to using a wok in your kitchen for making your family’s meals. Since this new utensil does so many chores in meal making, you may find that it is time to let go of some of those old pots and pans. Good luck in finding the best wok for you.