School of Wok
Grace Young just laughs when she sees glitzy name-brand woks selling for more than a hundred bucks. The best woks, she says, cost about one-fourth of that.
“You don’t need to spend more than $20 or $30. Some of those expensive woks, when you try to stir-fry in them, the food will stick because they’re not made from carbon steel,” the Chinese food expert and cookbook author explains.
Young’s newest book, “The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore” (Simon and Schuster), won this year’s award for best international cookbook from the International Association of Cooking Professionals.
Young has spent years studying wok-cooking techniques from Chinese master chefs and cooks. In addition, she was the test kitchen director for 17 years for more than 40 cookbooks published by Time-Life Books. That is clearly why, when it comes to cooking advice, she keeps things direct and simple.
For successful stir-frying, she says, cooks need to know these five basic rules:
• Use a 14-inch, flat-bottom, carbon steel wok. It’s the best for Western stoves, whether they’re gas or electric. Why carbon steel? It heats quickly and evenly. Stainless steel or anodized aluminum woks will not work as well.
“Target, Kmart, Sur La Table, Martha Stewart, any Asian supermarket — they all have carbon steel woks,” she says. The 14-inch size is ideal; 12 inches is too small and food won’t fit, and 16 inches is too large and won’t heat fast enough.
And, she warns, “Don’t get nonstick. If you do things properly, food won’t stick in a regular wok. With nonstick, it doesn’t sear the food and you don’t get the proper stir-frying effect.”
• Hot wok, cold oil. You want to heat the wok until a drop of water on the surface evaporates in one to two seconds. Then add the oil and tilt the wok so the oil coats evenly. If the wok is hot when the oil is added, the food won’t stick.
• Add the meat, spread it out, then don’t touch it for 30 seconds to a minute. “This is crucial,” Young says. “If you let the meat sear this way, it won’t stick when you do start stir-frying it.”
•Don’t add too much. “No more than 3/4 pound of beef or 1 pound of chicken or 4 cups of vegetables. People tend to use way too much,” and then the food can’t get hot enough to cook quickly, she says.
• Dry your vegetables. “Vegetables have to be bone-dry when they’re added to the oil. Any moisture and they’ll steam instead of being stir-fried,” Young says. After washing the vegetables, use paper towels or a clean kitchen towel to soak up as much moisture as possible before adding them to the wok.
Snow Peas, Tomatoes and Chili Pepper Stir-Fry
This spicy, sauce-free dish originated with Liang Nian Xiu, a farmer who lives in Guangxi province in China. She uses chopped pork belly, but bacon adds a similar richness.
Adapted from “The Breath of a Wok,” by Grace Young and Alan Richardson (Simon and Schuster, 2004).
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped uncooked bacon
2 tablespoons minced ginger root
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 Thai chili pepper, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound snow peas, strings removed
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Place a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the bacon, ginger, garlic, chili pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the snow peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomato, sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and stir-fry until vegetables are tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot.
Yield: 4 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 141 calories, 7 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 6 grams protein, 14 grams carbohydrate, 6 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams dietary fiber, 413 milligrams sodium.