I just bought a wok. Now what do I do with it?
General tips? Recipes?
Stir fried veggies and/or meat & lots of spices! Tempura! Curried anything! I love my wok, it’s sooooo 70’s, versatile too. Try doing a “wok recipe” search on google or something.
Cure that wok before you cook anything, else everything will stick!
First, Make sure you break it in (or seasoning) by frying up with a light coat of oil after heating it up real hot. Oops - probably too late to mention that.
Darn useful those woks - of course, it helps to love stir-fry
I love my wok. I think I don’t get it out as often as I should.
First of all, you need to season your wok by heating it, and lightly coating it with oil. Treat your wok like a good cast iron skillet. Don’t put it in the dishwasher, and when you do wash it, use only a tiny bit of soap, and re-season it after you dry it.
Rather than give you actual recipes, I’ll give you a list of ingredients that you can use, mixing or deleting to your tastes. It’s to your best interest to play around with some of the stuff and find what you like best.
Meats:
[li] dark meat chicken (breast meat dries out too quickly)[/li][li] peeled & deveined shrimp[/li][li] beef (you can use a cheaper cut of meat, and cut against the grain to tenderize it)[/li][li] tofu (ok, technically not a meat… but, you should try Baked Tofu in a stirfry, it has great flavor)[/li]
Flavorings/Seasonings:
[li] soy sauce (I find this the most important in stir fry, no matter what you’re using)[/li][li] peanut oil (I prefer to use this as the sauté oil)[/li][li] sesame oil (drizzle a little at the end of the stir fry for flavor)[/li][li] chopped fresh garlic[/li][li] grated fresh ginger (don’t use the powdered ginger–it’s a huge difference)[/li][li] Mirin or sake (japanese rice wines–adds flavor–but you can use a dry white wine in a pinch)[/li][li] Chinese 5 spice (a pinch of this works really well in a sweet & sour dish)[/li][li] Thai Fish Sauce & Shrimp Paste (excellent if you want to go for a Thai flavor in your stir fry)[/li]
Vegetables and Other Goodies:
[li] Snow peas[/li][li] Bell peppers (not just green–red, yellow & orange make for a nice color combination)[/li][li] Shredded carrots[/li][li] Broccoli[/li][li] Summer Squash & Zucchini[/li][li] Asparagus[/li][li] Japanese Eggplant[/li][li] Daikon radish (sprouts are a nice touch at the end–don’t cook them)[/li][li] Green onions (put these in at the last minute)[/li][li] Pineapple (essential for a sweet & sour dish)[/li][li] Peanuts (for when you’re going Thai)[/li]
Best way to put together a stirfry:
- Heat up about a tablespoon of oil in your wok.
- Start to cook your meats/tofu, when nearly done, with your spoon or paddle, push the items up onto the side of your wok.
- Add your vegetables & flavorings, cook until almost tender, then mix in your meats. Deglaze with a little wine/mirin/sake, and drizzle in a little sesame oil.
- Don’t forget to serve with sticky rice.
Here’s a direct link to instructions on how to season cast iron. All of the basics will apply to your wok as well. You will find the pan seasoning instructions buried in my omelette critique. Feel free to peruse the clickable recipe archive in my sig line for many excellent Chinese and Asian recipes.
PS: JavaMaven’s recommendations are excellent.
And make sure you use an oil that works well at really high temperatures. Not all of them do. Ummm…my bottle of stir-fry oil says it’s made with canola, and peanut oil gets mentioned in a lot of recipes.
I find it easier to remove the meat entirely before a put in the vegetables, and then put it back in when I’m ready to add the sauce. Also, remember that vegetables cook at different rates, longer for broccoli, shorter for say, snow peas. So it’s a good idea to stagger them a little so nothing gets overcooked (of course with stir fry we’re talking a difference of a minute or so.)
See if you have an Asian grocery in your area. Not only can you get fish sauce and five spice powder there, but walking around an Asian grocery can be very inspiring. Stir fry-wise.