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So, I bought a wok...

post #1 of 32
6/9/07 at 9:31pm
Thread Starter 
on impulse while looking around at a Sur La Table today. It has some elaborate instructions on treating the wok with oil and such. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or should I just follow the instructions? I'm excited though. This is my first wok.
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post #2 of 32
6/9/07 at 9:39pm
Wok's are really convenient for stir-fry. My mom has one she brought with her from the motherland.

Shake it fast.
Show us what u wok-in wit.
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post #3 of 32
6/9/07 at 11:57pm
The treatment is called seasoning. Do it: It starts off your wok's journey to becoming totally nonstick. Follow their instructions on cleaning it too.And if you do it on a turkey fryer or other chinese-restaurant-worthy surface, you get a badass patina formed from the seasoning. Follow their instructions on cleaning it too. Stirfry's a damn easy way to make some good food.
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post #4 of 32
6/9/07 at 11:58pm
I've been using the same wok for about ten years now, so it's well "seasoned". I can't really remember what I did with it when I first bought it, but I seem to remember that it involved slathering it in oil, wiping most of the oil off, and then heating the wok up, letting it cool, wiping the oil off with a paper towel and then hanging the wok up. I haven't washed the wok in the decade that I've owned it - I simply wipe it clean with paper towels after I've used it. Interestingly, a similar approach was used by Anthony Bourdain in "Kitchen Confidential", where he notes (if I recall correctly) that he doesn't wash woks or teflon-coated non-stick pans - he just gives them a good wiping.
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post #5 of 32
6/10/07 at 1:32am
Here are two suggestions for using and maintaining your wok:

1) Don't be bashful in heating it up even to the point of smoking; this is where most people fail to get the most out of the wok. Stir frying is all about searing and the wok's surface area has a sweet spot at the bottom where it gets incredibly hot; stirring distributes the ingredients to prevent charring. A gas flame stove is essential. If you have an electric top, you're out of luck.

2) I've always cleaned my wok by just rinsing it under the tap while the wok is still very hot and lighly scrubbing with a firm brislt brush - no dishwashing liquid - never! This strips the oily residue while keeping the wok seasoned.
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post #6 of 32
6/10/07 at 2:00am
Look up care instructions for cast iron skillets on the internet. You will get seasoning and cleaning instructions.
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post #7 of 32
6/10/07 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkNWorn View Post
WTF is your problem?

Thanks to everyone else for your input. Looks like I'll go through the treatment today. I'll wok something up for dinner tonight.

Just a note on the seasoning of your wok.

Don't be surprised if it take a while for the seasoning to take hold. This is a continuing process and for a while food will stick. Be patient and use nothing stronger than water and a soft plastic bristle brush to clean it (you may want to scrape heavy stuck particle off). Over several months the inside turns black and just about as non-stick as Teflon.

Enjoy!
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post #8 of 32
6/10/07 at 1:06pm
Bear in mind the properties of different oils when wok cooking... coconut oil is great for Thai cooking, but has a very low smoke point and is fatty, fatty death. Sesame oil is another good flavour with a somewhat higher smoke point. Avocado oil is excellent for wok cooking, it's flavour is extremely unobtrusive, it's extremely low in saturates and it has an incredibly high smoke point (270 degrees centigrade). In general it's worth having around as your staple all-rounder cooking oil, with the other oils with more prominent flavours kept for particular dishes.
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post #9 of 32
6/10/07 at 1:19pm
Most fast food take out Chinese use soy bean oil. I find peanut oil more to my liking and it also has a high smoke point.

As others have stated, you want to get the inside of the wok dark. There is a Chinese Cantonese term which roughly translated is wok's breath - to convey the contribution of the wok's seasoning to every dish cooked within. Just like a treasured cast iron skillet's seasoning, get the wok black.
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post #10 of 32
6/10/07 at 1:47pm
Be creative with the oil.....peanut has a relatively benign flavor, so you can mix in some sesame or chili oil for flavor but keep the high smokepoint qualities from the peanut.
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post #11 of 32
6/10/07 at 2:42pm
A Pictorial Guide To Seasoning a Brand New Wok
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post #12 of 32
6/10/07 at 3:25pm
How about a little time out, Volta...
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post #13 of 32
6/10/07 at 6:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChicagoRon View Post
Be creative with the oil.....peanut has a relatively benign flavor, so you can mix in some sesame or chili oil for flavor but keep the high smokepoint qualities from the peanut.
You should bear in mind that there are two ways of using oil in wok cooking. One is as the cooking agent...the one in which you stir-fry the meat, vegetables and other ingredients. Two is as a flavoring agent...added in small quantities to enhance the taste of the dish. Using toasted sesame oil as a cooking agent would, aside from costing a great deal, impart to dominant a sesame flavor to the dish, a little sesame oil goes a long way. The same would be true of chili oil and most other "flavoring" oils. Try to find a mildly flavored "cooking agent" oil with a high smoke point.
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post #14 of 32
6/11/07 at 2:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tonylumpkin View Post
Try to find a mildly flavored "cooking agent" oil with a high smoke point.

I've started to cook with canola oil more often recently. Sometimes I also add a bit of butter in the oil at the end and make some sauce out of it. Yeah, as for the sesame oil, a little goes a long way. I've been cooking with it for a while now. The avocado oil idea sounds interesting, I'll pick some up next time I go to Trader Joe's. For stir frying, I use veggie oil most of the time. If I want something a bit lighter, then some olive oil. What do you guys normally use for stir fries?
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post #15 of 32
6/11/07 at 5:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkNWorn View Post
What do you guys normally use for stir fries?


When I first started using my wok, I used to make quite a lot of Indonesian-style fried rice in it (nasi goreng).

For variety, I started to use sesame oil when making nasi goreng, but had a horrible incident where I was making it as a side dish for a dinner party and I simply used too much oil - the stuff was damn near inedible as a result as the sesame flavour absolutely overpowered all the other ingredients. As people above have said - a little sesame oil goes a long way.

Nowadays, I tend to use canola oil, and I sometimes add a little chilli oil for some bite/additional flavour. If I use sesame oil, it's only a few drops!

Re: Seasoning the wok - As noted by other posters above, after using it several times my wok developed a distinct, dark patina at the bottom that slowly spread a bit further up the sides as it was used further. As I noted in my earlier post, I never used any detergent or other cleaning agent on the wok - simply paper towels or kitchen cloth.

Cheers,
JH
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