Chinese Cooking - Learning, Wok Question
 

One of my projects for this fall is to start learning how to cook Chinese food.

So far I have produced a passable hot and sour soup and an edible chicken with honey-roasted walnuts. Well, that's progress.

But I'm having trouble stabilizing a round-bottom wok on my gas range. I tried one of those stamped steel wok rings ($2.39 at the local Asian supermarket) and it slides right off the grate. If I remove the grate and place the wok ring directly on the range top, the burner goes out. Frigidaire does not make a special "wok ring grate" for my range, as the higher-end ranges (Wolf, DCS, etc) do. I think I need a wok ring with notches to "lock" it to the grate.

Has anyone seen a product like that?

More generally, any other tips, thoughts, lessons having to do with Chinese cooking would be appreciated.

(Other than making dumplings and setting up a hot pot meal, I know zip about cooking the food that I have been eating all my life - this seems lame, so I am doing something about it.)

I won't be much help, I'm afraid, but I'd think that 15-30 minutes with a file or dremel and you'd have a "stamped steel wok ring with notches". Just an idea

I thought of that but the diameter is wrong - hard to describe but it wouldn't work well - and the stamped wok rings at the local Asian groceries all seem to be the same size. If worst comes to it I will try to fabricate something, but I'd rather spend $10 and be done with it.

I remember hearing about the book "101 way to wok your dog" :)

modify your wok ring to fit the burner opening... I haven't used mine in ages but basically I took some tin snips and did a little cutting and bending so I have three tabs that locate the ring over the burner

Post picture of ring and grate? I bet we can figure something out. If you were closer to me I'd volunteer for a good Chinese meal.

dunno much about chinese food but have a few favorite ingredients;
-chili garlic puree
-certain brands of hoisin
-sesame oil (lots of the flavor that distinguishes carry out chinese food is found here)

also have noted that when woking veggie/meat combos you don't just throw it all in at the same time.

When the burner goes out there might not be enough oxygen getting to the flame.
If the ring doesn't have holes drilled in it, then make some.


All the rules I've learned about wok cooking are:
-a mild steel wok, well seasoned, is easy to work with
-chop everything in small pieces
-get the wok hot, keep the wok hot
-add ingredients according to bacterial danger/size/material/water content/flavor
-add many sauces last
-stir,stir,stir

Wok's work best with high btu burners, really commercial stuff. If you dont have enough heat the pan cools down when you add the food, steaming it, and the pan never recovers. Your best bet is to use a quality frying pan, assuming you have a traditional American range.

I have a WOK with a flat bottom, is that bad? it seems to work for me, but I have an electric stove top.

what if you just put a different grate on the range?

re cooling - it can be an issue -- just cook small amounts of food at a time

my worst problem is smoke...

Hold on to the wok. That's how they do it. My mother never had a wok ring. I know how you feel when you wrote your sentence.

Cut notches in your wok ring.

Do above for wok ring.

For cooking. I like hand hammered iron woks.
Generally speaking this is how I do it...get it very hot before putting in the oil, like a cast iron pan, followed by the pungent spices like garlic, chili, scallions, let brown to season the oil then some sake so it does not burn. This might flame but do not be bothered by it. Then toss in the meat, let cook halfway then the veges and stir in the sauce/salt/seasoning. Follow up with a sesame oil glaze. Serve.

Chinese cooking with the wok is perhaps the simplest way to cook a meal and you only need to clean up one thing.

+1

Yup it's got to be very hot and not loose any temperature, and keep stiring so it doesn't burn.

+1

A typical house range might put out 10-15,000 BTUs, where a wok range in a chinese restaurant will put out 10 times that, easily. So, you'll never have enough heat. A thicker wok, or a cast iron pan would work better. Heat it until you think it's going to melt, then start cooking. Small batches work best. Follow the directions in the recipe, which often has you cooking some part of the dish, then removing it temporarily while you cook another component.

Back to the wok ring question, the make the notched ones, so keep looking. You may wish to make one (any decent sheet metal shop could do it) as you want the wok as close to the fire as you can get it, so a custom one may be better.

JR

when i use my wok, i do it in my charcoal grill. the reason is that on a stove top, it never gets hot enough. I found that the hotter the wok, the better the food, so i devised this method . works great and the neighbors get impressed ;)

take the charcoal, make a nice mound and then use the wok as a press to make a nice little stand, take the wok out, kick the charcoal going and in 15 minutes set the wok onbaord and let it heat for like 3-5 minutes....when it is smoking hot, you are ready to go!

I part time chef'ed at a Chinese place to pay the bills at college (and get free food). Flame below the wok was about 3 feet tall, it was recessed about 2 feet below the wok and still spewed out about a foot when on full. Cooked most dishes in under 2 minutes. The whole range was water cooled.

If left the wok alone on full heat it will turn red in about 3 mins and white in about 5 mins. That is how we seasoned them and we went through them pretty quick due to the intense heat and constant handling. Everything was cooked in the same wok, when done with an order we'd run it with some water and give it a quick scrub on the range and sweat it with the flame for 10 seconds---and like cast iron no soap. Just heat, carbon and oil and next order.

Never got used to wok cooking at home after that, it was slow, cold and boring...I still sneak into commercial kitchens from time to time to get my fix with real wok cooking.

exactly...most people just don't realize that woks cook best at REALLY high temps...

Anyone have, or seen, a home kitchen with a high BTU wok burner? I wonder if it would be practical? (Just gathering ideas for an eventual kitchen re-do.)

of you want to spend a little money you can get a dedicated wok range.
plenty of heat.




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