Smart - THE COMPLETE WOK COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNERS: Simple And Satisfying Recipes For Wok Cooking For Beginners

Copyright 2021 WILLIAMS SMART All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. ContentsINTRODUCTION One of th mt vrtl kng pans in th world, th simple dgn of wk rgntd n Chn and are nw ud the wrld over. Th come n a vrt f mtrl and frm, but the gntur tl of th round kng n is useful as it rgnzbl. Wth trng Asian roots, th wk dates ll the w bk t th Chn Hn dynasty. Trdtnll t a round-bottomed, hgh-wlld n, lthugh flt-bttmd versions r gnng ulrt they n b ud on tndrd ranges. It is commonly dgnd wth thr two side hndl r n long hndl.

A wk, d t a traditional frng n, distributes ht a lt more evenly. Th occurs because f th nv h with sloping d, as well th ntur f the mtrl woks are made f. Wth bttr ht distribution you rv less ht/ld t, and nur that vrthng n th wok fnhd kng t th same tm. Al, bu f t h, tossing fd such as tr fr is a lot simpler nd llw fr th ngrdnt t fll back nt th wk. When ud rrl a wk can take ur r t th nxt level nd dd a lvl of flvr otherwise mbl. WOK A wk (Chinese: ; Cantonese wohk; Mndrn: hu) a rund-bttmd kng pot tht rgntd in China.

It is mmn n China and mlr n are fund in rt f Et, Suth nd Sutht A wll becoming popular n other parts f the world. Wk r ud n a range f Chn cooking thnu, including stir frying, tmng, n frng, deep frng, hng, boiling, brng, searing, twng, mkng soup, mkng nd roasting nuts. Wok cooking ftn dn with utnl called hhn (tul) r hk (ldl) wh long hndl protect k from hgh ht. HISTORY OF WOK Th wok has a lng history n Chn. It thought t hv been introduced durng th Hn dynasty f Chn, whr it w first ud to dr grains. It w durng th Ming dnt f China that th wok bm ulrl used fr stir frng.

Wok a Cantonese word; the Mndrn Ku. The wk r t b a rthr recent utn Chn kthn furniture g; t h bn rund fr nl two thund r. Th frt wk I know f are lttl ttr mdl n the pottery tv models n Hn Dnt tmb. Sn th m rt f pan universal in India nd Sutht Asia, whr t known a Kuali in several languages, I trngl ut borrowing (probably from India v Cntrl Asia)--kuo mut hv vlvd from m wrd l t Kuali. FEATURES OF WOK A wk nd krh n a Wtrn-tl tv. Note that th karahi (rght) is ttng on an rdnr burnr vr, whl the rund-bttmd wok balanced on a wk-rng Th wok's mt dtnguhng ftur t h.

Cl woks hv a rundd bottom.[2] Hand-hammered wk r mtm flipped nd ut ftr bng hd, gvng th wk a gntl flare t th dg tht mk t r t uh fd u nt the d of th wok. Woks ld in Wtrn countries r mtm fund with flt bottomsthis mk thm more mlr t a d frying n. The flat bttm llw the wok to be used n an electric tv, whr a rounded wk would not b bl t fully ntt th tv' htng lmnt. A rund bttm wk nbl the trdtnl rund spatula or ldl t pick ll th food up t the bttm f th wok nd t it rund l; th is dffult wth a flt bottom. Wth a g hb, or trdtnl t tv, th bttm of a rund wk n gt httr than a flt wk nd so bttr fr tr frng. Most woks rng from 300 to 360 mm (12 to 14 n) or more n dmtr.

Wk of 360 mm (14 n) (suitable for a family f 3 r 4) are th mt mmn, but hm wk n b fund small 200 mm (8 in) nd lrg as 910 mm (36 n). Smllr wk are typically ud for uk kng thnu t high ht uh as tr frying (Chn: ; pinyin: h). Lrg woks vr a mtr wd r mnl used b restaurants r community kthn fr kng r r soup, r for boiling wtr.[ttn ndd] MATERIALS USED IN MAKING WOK Th mt mmn materials ud n mkng woks td r carbon tl nd cast iron. Althugh th latter w th mt mmn t ud n th past, cooks tnd t be divided n whthr carbon tl r cast rn wk r urr. Crbn tl Currntl, rbn tl th mt wdl used mtrl, being rltvl inexpensive mrd with thr mtrl, relatively light in weight, rvdng uk ht ndutn it h a lw ht t, and hvng reasonable durblt. Thr lght wght mk them easier to lift and ukr to heat.

Crbn steel woks, hwvr, tnd t b more dffult t n thn th md f t-rn ('seasoning', r carbonizing th cooking urf f a wk, required t rvnt fd from tkng nd t rmv mtll tt nd odors). Crbn tl wk vr widely n r, tl, and ult, whh bd n ply nd frmng thnu. The lowest quality tl woks tnd to be tmd b mhn from a single 'l' r piece f tmd tl. Less expensive woks have a higher tndn to dfrm and mh. Cooking with lower quality woks also more difficult nd rru n th often hv a "ht spot". Hghr quality, m-rdud woks r md of hv gauge (14-gug r thicker) steel, nd r either mhn-hmmrd r made f spun steel.

The best quality woks r lmt lw hnd-md, being undd into h b hnd ("hand hammered") frm two r mr ht f rbn tl which r shaped into fnl form b a ring-forming r hnd-frgng process. Ct iron Two t f t rn woks n b found in th market. Chinese-made t iron wk r very thn (3 mm (0.12 n)), wghng only a little more thn a carbon tl wk of mlr z, whl t iron woks tll produced n th Wt tend t b much thkr (9 mm (0.35 n)), nd vr heavy. Bu of th thkn of th t iron, Wtrn-tl t iron woks tk muh lngr t brng up t cooking temperature, and thr weight also makes stir-frying nd b thnu dffult. Ct iron wk frm a mr stable rbnzd lr of nng which makes it l prone to fd sticking n th n. While cast iron woks are urr t rbn tl wk n ht rtntn nd uniform heat dtrbutn, th rnd slowly t ht djutmnt nd are slow t l n tkn ff the fr.

Bu of this, fd kd in a cast iron wk mut be promptly rmvd frm th wk n t is dn t prevent overcooking. Chn-tl t iron wk, although relatively lght, r frgl and r prone t shattering f dropped or mhndld. Nn-tk Stl woks td wth nn-tk tng such PFA nd Teflon, a dvlmnt rgntd n Wtrn untr, are now ulr n Asia as wll. Th wk nnt b ud wth mtl utensils, nd fd kd n non-stick wk tnd t rtn juices ntd of brwnng n th n. A th nrl lk th rbnzng or seasoning f th classic tl or rn wok, nn-tk wk do nt impart the dtntv tt r sensation of "wk hei". Th newest nonstick tng wll wthtnd tmrtur f up t 260 C (500 F), uffnt fr tr-frng.

Woks r l now bng introduced wth clad r fv-lr construction, whh sandwich a thk lr of lumnum r copper between two ht f tnl steel Cld wk can cost five t ten tm th r f a trdtnl carbon steel or t-rn wk, t cook no better; for this rn th are not ud in most professional restaurant kthn. Cld wk are also slower t ht thn trdtnl wk nd not nearly as efficient fr tr-frng. Alumnum Woks n l b made from lumnum. Although n excellent ndutr f heat, t has mwht nfrr thrml capacity as cast rn r rbn tl, t loses heat t nvtn much ftr than rbn steel, nd t m b ntrutd muh thinner thn t rn. Although ndzd lumnum ll can tnd u to ntnt use, ln aluminium wk r t ft nd dmg l. Handles A tk-hndld flt-bttmd "Peking pan". Handles A tk-hndld flt-bttmd "Peking pan".

Whl the surface lk lk Tfln, it tull wll-nd rbn tl Th handles fr wk m n two styles: l nd tk. L handles mounted n t sides f the wk r tl n southern Chn. Th twin small l hndl r the mt common hndl t for wk f ll types nd mtrl, nd r uull md f bare mtl. Ck ndng t hld th wk t toss th food n cooking do b hldng a l hndl with a thk towel (though some woks hv l-hd wdn or lt vr over th mtl f th hndl). Cooking wth th tossing tn in loop-handled wk rur a lrg munt f hand, rm nd wrist strength. Loop hndl tll m n r on the wok nd r riveted, wldd or xtndd frm the wok bn.

Stk hndl r long, md f tl, nd are usually welded r riveted to the wk bn, or r n actual direct extension f th metal f th bn. Stk hndl are ulr in northern China, whr food in th wok fruntl turnd wth a tng mtn f th arm nd wrt when tr-frng fd. The l tk handle made of hllw hammered tl, but thr materials m be used, nludng wood or lt-vrd hnd gr. Bu of thr ulrt n nrthrn Chn, tk-hndld wk are ftn referred to " woks" or "Pkng n". Stk handles are nrmll nt fund n t-rn wk n th wk either too hv fr th handle r th metal too thin t handle th tnl tr xrtd b th hndl. Larger-diameter woks wth tk-t hndl fruntl nrrt a "hlr" hndl ntng of a loop n th opposite d f th wk, whh aids in hndlng.

COOKING METHODS FOR WOK Th wk can b ud n a lrg numbr of cooking mthd. Before th ntrdutn of Wtrn kwr, it w often used for ll kng techniques including: Blng: Fr boiling wtr, u, dumlng, or r. In th latter case, gub ftn frm. Brng: Brd dh r commonly made ung wk. Brng uful whn rdung u. D frng: This is uull accomplished wth larger wk t rdu splashing, but fr d frng of l fd r small fd tm, mll wk r l ud.