COOKING 'OUTSIDE THE WOK'

Along my delightful journey of cooking, I have tried different types of cooking methods: stir frying, deep frying, braising, and even slow cooking (all inside the wok) but so far never try ‘baking’.


Why not baking?

I thought I am not a baking type of a person and I did not even know how to handle the oven. I am the type of a person who prefers simple, easy and free style cooking, and to me baking sounds rather intimidating. For so long, I have been comfortable with cooking inside the wok …….

Until one morning …….

while sipping my coffee, I was craving for oatmeal cookies which I once bought at Star Buck. But I didn’t feel like going out that day and the nearest Star Buck Coffee is around 5 km away from my home …..then I said to myself ‘why not trying to make my own oatmeal cookies?’

But…it means I have to bake.

‘So what if you have to bake’, I challenged myself. The worst thing could happen is I screw-up the cookies. After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to give it a try and start ‘cooking outside the wok’ – get out my comfort zone and start to bake

I checked my kitchen cabinet and yes, I found a bag of oatmeal, brown sugar and unsalted butter. I thought these 3 ingredients were sufficient to create the cookies. I got excited…and here was my simple oatmeal cookies experiment

Ingredients

• 100 gram quick cook oatmeal
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 50 gram unsalted butter – leave at room temperature to melt
• 5 tablespoons water

Method

• Combine the oats, brown sugar, water and melted butter
• Mix the combined ingredients thoroughly into a dough (note: it would be nicer if the dough is added with raisins coz raisins will give more flavor to the cookies).

• Take 1 tablepoon of the dough and shape it into a cookie-form
• Repeat until no dough remains and you will get around 24 cookies
• Cover the base of a baking pan with aluminum foil
• Arrange the cookies on the pan

• Bake in pre-heated oven at 150 degree Celsius (or 300 degree F or Mark 2) with both upper and bottom flame for 30 minutes.

Hey, finally I can bake… and it’s not as intimidating as I thought. And my invented oatmeal cookies were not bad at all …. I love the cookies and it goes very well as ‘the companion of a cup of hot coffee’.

WALK TO WOK

Along my journey of cooking, one of the questions I have asked myself was: Do I really need a WOK to cook Chinese food?


Let’s hear what the expert said:

According to Rhonda Parkinson @about.com, we don’t absolutely need a WOK to create satisfying Chinese meals. However, the WOK has several advantages – it spreads heat evenly, uses less oil for deep-frying than a traditional deep-fat fryer, and ensures that food tossed during stir-frying lands back in the pan and not on the stove. A good WOK will make it easier to cook Chinese food.

So I decided to add a WOK to my kitchen equipments and I want to shop around to choose the best model. But before I shop around, I checked it out first by browsing the internet.

And that was how I started my “WALK to WOK”.

Step 1: What Type Should I Buy?

Remember that old adage “You get what you pay for?” This is one of those rare cases where it doesn’t apply. There is no substitute for a good carbon steel WOK. Not only is it relatively inexpensive, but it conducts heat evenly.. While there many other types of WOKs on the market today – aluminum, stainless steel, even copper – every article on WOK I’ve read so far still consider carbon steel as the best choice, and I have to agree.

I read in Wikipedia that WOK is most often used for stir frying, but can also be used many other ways, such as in steaming, deep frying, braising, stewing, smoking or making soup. It is commonly, almost exclusively, cooked with a long handled chahn (spatula) or hoak (ladle). The long extension of these utensils allows the cook to work with the food without burning the hand.

Traditionally, the WOK came with two metal handles, making it easy to lift in and out of the stove. However, I prefer the modern WOKs that have one long wooden handle, like a skillet. As Barbara Tropp points out in The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking, the long handle “eliminates the need to work with a potholder or mitt, and gives you wonderful leverage for tilting the pot.

Step 2: Flat or Round Bottom?

If you are cooking with a western electric range your best option is to use a flat bottom WOK. Round bottom WOKs can reflect heat back on the element, damaging it. A flat bottomed WOK can also be used on gas stoves.

Step 3: Size matters

WOKs come in a variety of sizes – restaurants may use WOKs that are several feet across. The size of WOK you choose will depend on several factors, including your own preferences, the type of stove you have, and the depth of the WOK. A 14 inch WOK is a good size for home use.

Step 4: Where to buy a WOK?

The best thing would be to buy a WOK in the nearest Chinatown. WOKs there tend to be inexpensive. As a bonus we get the advice of the seller who more than likely would be happy to advise us not only on materials, weight and seasoning your WOK but would also help us with a ‘pantry list’ to get started.

Step 5: Purchasing a WOK

The traditional style of WOK made of carbon steel is higly recommended. It is an excellent conductor of heat, therefore respond very quickly to temperature changes. It is relatively inexpensive but must be seasoned before use to prevent foods from sticking and to prevent them from rusting. Stainless Steel WOKs won’t rust and heat quickly, but won’t respond as well to temperature changes. WOKs with a non-stick coating need to be treated carefully so as not to scratch or damage the surface.

Step 6: Seasoning the WOK

It is very important to season the WOK before trying it out for the first time. Why is this necessary? Seasoning removes the preservative oil manufacturers place on the WOK to prevent it from rusting, replacing it with a light coating of cooking oil. It is also important to properly clean the WOK after each use.

Step 7: Cooking with a WOK

Cooking in a WOK is a healthy way of cooking. Usually, only a small amount of oil (1 to 3 spoons) is enough. We should heat the WOK before adding the oil under full burner heat. Pre-heating before adding oil will prevent food from sticking. It will also ensure that the oil does not burn and smoke up our kitchen before the upper surface of the WOK is heated. Most recipes require fresh chopped ginger and garlic to flavor the oil. We should add them once the oil is hot and we might scoop them out before they turn brown or burn So, remember:

• Heat the WOK
• Add the oil
• When oil is hot add the flavorings (garlic/ginger/chilies)
• Start cooking your meal.