This is really weird. I cook loads of things in a wok, have done for years. There’s really no great mystery to it! And the idea of having to have a vast arsenal of specialist ingredients on hand is a bit of a surprise too: dried noodles and rice keep for years, as do bottles of soy sauce/sesame oil/rice wine (etc.)…and then you just need easily available veg to chop up and make a pretty respectable dish. Add honey, lemon juice, toasted sesame seeds…it’s really easy to make entirely delicious things with minimal effort. I make a point of over-catering whenever I roast pork so I can chop up the remainder into fried rice.
Hot wok, everything chopped: fry, keep tossing!
And no, I haven’t the faintest drop of Oriental heritage.
Woks are primarily used for two things, steaming and stir-frying.
Woks are easier to use if you have the right tools.
•Skimmer: The tool of choice for lifting and draining dumplings, wontons or vegetables from hot oil or liquid.
•Ladle: Ideally shaped for stir-frying, serving broth and dishing out sauce-rich food, with a curved shape that reaches into the rounded bottom of a wok.
•Turner: Specially shaped for turning and scooping food in a wok.
And you don’t need high heat, especially if you’re just starting out. Use medium heat and cook smaller portions. And stir. A lot. If you experiencing sticking, or burning, it’s because you’re not stirring often enough. Cause equals effect.
You also need some convenient tool to add oil around the upper edge of the wok. A squirt bottle, measuring cup with a spout or lip, small-necked bottle, etc… I use olive oil, or sesame oil, or peanut oil. Each one adds a distinctive flavor to the finished dish. Your choice.
Hard vegetables, like carrots, take longer to heat than soft peas. Test small samples to see if they are cooked to your liking. Frozen foods are a definite NO-NO. Adding water, in any form, to hot oil creates instant boiling water which will splash hot oil over everything. Ouch.
I cut up all vegetables and meats before I heat the wok. Lots of individual bowls. Once I apply heat, I add a trickle of oil all the way around the upper edge. I know what the hot oil smells like (experience), but you could use a chopstick to add ONE drop of water to the oil. If it boils immediately, you’re ready to stir-fry. Cook one ingredient at a time. Keep stirring. When the items are cooked, scoop them into some convenient container that’s large enough to hold the entire meal. Add another trickle of oil around the edge before adding the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th ingredient. Stir. Keep stirring. Don’t stop stirring. More stirring is better than less stirring. It’s called stir-fry for a reason.
p.s. Harder foods should be cooked first. They hold heat longer.
Thanks for the responses. For the most part I’m probably just lazy. As dalej42 mentioned there’s a ton of Asian takeout spots in Chicago. When I crave Thai, I have my spot 4 blocks away that’s terrific and cheap. When I crave Chinese, I want some sticky, spicy, unhealthy General’s chicken (haven’t found a go-to take out spot, much to my frustration). More often than I will admit I crave Panda Express.
Making Pad Thai properly has like 90 ingredients. While I’m not terrible in the kitchen and I’m sure I could follow the recipe, I don’t frequent Asain markets and I doubt it will be cheaper or better than takeout.
Making most of my favorite Chinese entrees requires deep frying. Which I don’t really do at home due to the nuisance of storing the oil and having a poor ventilation system. If I were ever to use the wok regularly it would probably be as a deep fryer for hot wings, french fries and maybe the occasional Chinese entree…but then again, bars have awesome hot wings and fries with zero cleanup.
Making fried rice and/or chow mein is probably pretty achievable but to me those are side dishes, which seems kinda pointless without the entree.
Compounding the problem is probably my childish aversion to most vegetables, I hate the broccoli that crowds my General’s container and those little baby corns creep me the fuck out.
I have a big-ass pile of left-over rice from dinner tonight. Maybe I’ll use the 2-day old rice to give fried rice a shot for once.