Cigar Weekly

N8DCJ · 03-17-2019, 12:01 PM

I am getting a Wok burner and and wok next week ....

anyone here regularly use a wok ?

any tips , recipes etc...

Dan

grtrx · 03-17-2019, 05:02 PM

Nope. Never really got into woks. Feel I can do same or better with cast steel sauté pans

Mad Dawg · 03-18-2019, 07:44 AM

Yep. Assuming it's steel and not nonstick, cure it and treat it much the same way you would cast iron.

High heat is the ticket, but you're going to have to do some learning. Cook meats separately from vegetables. I usually do meat first, then veggies. Sequence adding the veggies so that they all get appropriately cooked (broccoli before scallions, etc.) at the same finish time. Sometimes you need to lower the heat a little for the veggies or you'll just burn them on the outside without cooking them well. Adding a few tablespoons of water can help with that...cool the wok a little and generate steam to help cook the veggies without burning them.

BigO · 03-18-2019, 08:16 AM

Very good advice, Dawg.

Most of the arguments for flat bottomed pans vs a wok boils down (pun intended) to heat. On a modern stove, heat levels top out at about 17K BTUs. Wok rigs in restaurants top out at about 70K BTUs and have a gas jet that warms the sides of the wok as much as the bottom. This is crucial to successful Asian cooking.

If I relied on my skillets to cook Asian food, it would take forever. Instead, I invested $75 in an outdoor rig (much like a crab pot or turkey frying rig) to serve the same purpose. I rarely have much in the way of leftovers when I cook Asian, so the volume of the wok is better suited.

You and I have discussed this and you know where my vote goes.

Mad Dawg · 03-18-2019, 04:00 PM

I should have added: Just as the veggies approach done, the meat goes back in, quick toss to mix, then any sauce you may be using. Stir like hell for the 3-5 seconds it'll take the sauce to thicken and remove from the heat before it burns. Mix thoroughly and serve.

BigO · 03-18-2019, 06:48 PM

Also, cornstarch in your sauce (bottled or homemade) will help thicken it. You have to bring it to a boil to maximize its thickening effect.

The veggies are going to release moisture as they cool. If you bring your sauce back to a boil, the extra water will become more sauce.

03-17-2019, 12:01 PM	#1
N8DCJ Club Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Mansfield , Ohio Posts: 1,348	anyone use a Wok ? I am getting a Wok burner and and wok next week .... anyone here regularly use a wok ? any tips , recipes etc... Dan __________________ "Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

03-17-2019, 05:02 PM	#2
grtrx Contributing Editor Herf God Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Naperville IL Posts: 44,579	Nope. Never really got into woks. Feel I can do same or better with cast steel sauté pans __________________ "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Sir Winston Churchill "A sick thought can devour the body's flesh more than fever or consumption." - Guy de Maupassant

03-18-2019, 07:44 AM	#3
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	Yep. Assuming it's steel and not nonstick, cure it and treat it much the same way you would cast iron. High heat is the ticket, but you're going to have to do some learning. Cook meats separately from vegetables. I usually do meat first, then veggies. Sequence adding the veggies so that they all get appropriately cooked (broccoli before scallions, etc.) at the same finish time. Sometimes you need to lower the heat a little for the veggies or you'll just burn them on the outside without cooking them well. Adding a few tablespoons of water can help with that...cool the wok a little and generate steam to help cook the veggies without burning them. __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.

03-18-2019, 08:16 AM	#4
BigO Publisher/Owner El Chefé BBQ Guru Herf God Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Atlanta. Posts: 55,778	Very good advice, Dawg. Most of the arguments for flat bottomed pans vs a wok boils down (pun intended) to heat. On a modern stove, heat levels top out at about 17K BTUs. Wok rigs in restaurants top out at about 70K BTUs and have a gas jet that warms the sides of the wok as much as the bottom. This is crucial to successful Asian cooking. If I relied on my skillets to cook Asian food, it would take forever. Instead, I invested $75 in an outdoor rig (much like a crab pot or turkey frying rig) to serve the same purpose. I rarely have much in the way of leftovers when I cook Asian, so the volume of the wok is better suited. You and I have discussed this and you know where my vote goes. __________________ Every time you think you've become too cynical, the world finds a way to teach you that the real problem is that you haven't become cynical enough Free speech is free speech is free speech. There is no qualifier. If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention. Never attribute malice to that what can be explained as stupidity. Unborn lives matter too.

03-18-2019, 04:00 PM	#5
Mad Dawg Administrator Herf Dog Herf God Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 34,199	I should have added: Just as the veggies approach done, the meat goes back in, quick toss to mix, then any sauce you may be using. Stir like hell for the 3-5 seconds it'll take the sauce to thicken and remove from the heat before it burns. Mix thoroughly and serve. __________________ Gone, But Never Forgotten. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ That which does not kill me....has made a grave tactical error.

03-18-2019, 06:48 PM	#6
BigO Publisher/Owner El Chefé BBQ Guru Herf God Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Atlanta. Posts: 55,778	Also, cornstarch in your sauce (bottled or homemade) will help thicken it. You have to bring it to a boil to maximize its thickening effect. The veggies are going to release moisture as they cool. If you bring your sauce back to a boil, the extra water will become more sauce. __________________ Every time you think you've become too cynical, the world finds a way to teach you that the real problem is that you haven't become cynical enough Free speech is free speech is free speech. There is no qualifier. If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention. Never attribute malice to that what can be explained as stupidity. Unborn lives matter too.