Chinese food wok
The Chinese food wok, the rounded bottom is a flat cooking versatile, native to China. It is
used primarily in the east and south east Asia. The latter region also
frequently used a similar dish, karahi.
The Chinese food wok is often used for cooking stir-fry (seared), but also for other forms of
cooking: steam, the stew, smoking, frying or in soups. Generally, a large
spatula or ladle because of their length, which allows to handle food without
burning is used.
REGIONAL
VARIATIONS
Standard
Mandarin uses a different character 锅 Guo (literally a
baking dish), or the word Guozi 锅子, or chǎo Cai Guo 炒菜 锅. In Indonesia the wok is called penggorengan; Malaysia, Kuali (small wok) or kwa (large wok),
the Philippines, kawali or
wadjang; Japan: chuckanabe;
and India,
karahi.
FEATURES
The
main feature of the Chinese food wok is its shape. Conventional woks have a rounded bottom.
The hammer wok facts, after being shaped, to receive short bursts inside
outwards, giving the flat rounded on the sides, which allows food put aside
more easily. Woks sold in the West sometimes have flat bottoms, they look more
like fryers. The flat bottom allows you to use the Chinese food wok on electric plates,
which is not really the case with round bottom, because it would not be fully
in contact with the heat. But the round bottom makes it easier to mix with a
ladle, unlike flat bottom. And when the Chinese food wok is used on gas burners or the
traditional stove, round bottom allows hotter than the dish, and is therefore
best suited for cooking stir-fry.
Chinese food wok have a diameter between 30 cm
and 2 meters or more. Woks 36cm
(enough for a family of 3-4 people) is the most common. Family woks are
generally 20 small woks are used for fast cooking at high heat, such as
stir-fry (chǎo,
炒 or bao, 爆). Large woks with a diameter
exceeding one meter are generally used in restaurants or community kitchens to
prepare rice, soup or broth.
SLEEVES
There
are two kinds two rounds: the handles (handles) or tails. Bare metal handles
are common on all types of Chinese food wok, whatever their material. To lift the wok in preparation,
a small towel is used to avoid burning with the handle. However, many of them,
today, are covered with a protection of Chinese food wood or plastic. Mix lifting the wok
with a handle, requires great strength in the hand, arm and wristel. the wok
are usually equipped with two handles, one on each side. They are either bolted
or welded or in the continuity of the dish.
The
queues are long and made of steel, and as the
handles, they can be screwed, welded or continuation of the dish, and they can
also be covered with wood or plastic. This kind of handle makes mixing akin to
“jumping” Western. Normally, the tail is not made of cast iron, as
the wok would be too heavy to handle, or the metal would be too thin to
withstand high mechanical stress exerted by the handle. The large Chinese food woks with a
tail usually also not handle at the other end, which helps balance the weight
when lifting the wok.
MATERIALS
Chinese food woks are usually made of cast iron or steel.
Currently,
steel is the most common. Steel woks are affordable (usually) fairly light,
heat quickly, and are relatively resistant. However, they are inefficient
regarding the non-stick coating, food easily sticks to the wok. Price may vary
depending on the style and quality (thickness and shape). The bottom woks have
a range of thickness and are derived from a single piece of steel. These woks
tend to deform. Because of their irregularities and imperfections, it is more
difficult to cook with. The wok is made of better quality hammer and composed
of two steel sheets. The manufacturing hammer creates small ridges on the walls
of the wok, which are very useful during cooking.
There
are two kinds of cast iron wok. The Chinese food wok cast are thin (about 3mm) and have almost the same weight than
steel. While Western iron woks are an average of 9mm, they are heavy and take time to warm up. The cast
iron woks are superior keep warm and evenly distribute heat. It is the
non-stick steel wok, so the food is less sticky. However, the two types of cast
iron woks has disadvantages. The Chinese food wok, quick to heat and light, is
fragile and may break if dropped. Western wok, is slow to heat and cool, the
temperature control is not clear. Moreover, because of its weight, it is very
difficult to deal with for the stir-fry mixture.
It
is easy to find non-stick woks (teflon coating) today in the West. The coating
is quickly damaged and is not suitable for high heat too, so we can not cook
stir-fry in this kind of wok. At 350 °, the burnt coating broadcast vapors that
cause fever. Xylan coatings fool stronger but not support either excessive
heat. Chinese food woks which the coating is composed of an aluminum layer trapped between
two stainless steel sheets, are more rare. They last a long time and remain in
good condition (inside and out), and usually they can go in the dishwasher.
Wok
may also be made of aluminum. Aluminum
is a good conductor of heat, but do not hold as effectively as can do steel or
cast iron. Only woks anodized aluminum alloys can be used regularly as simple
aluminum woks are too fragile and easily damaged. Aluminium is used instead to
covers.
COOKING
Poured
a small amount (1-3 teaspoons) of peanut oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil or
sunflower oil in the wok is allowed to heat up. Then we add freshly cut garlic
and ginger for flavor, but they are removed quickly before they turn black. Is
generally placed first sliced meat in hot oil, then set
it aside in the wok, oil can leak and continue to cook the meat. We can repeat
this step several times until the cooked meat. Small bones made hammer, are then very useful to avoid the meat
slides into the bottom of the wok.
Once
cooked, the meat is removed using a Chinese strainer to put it on a plate. The
procedure is the same for vegetables. And finally, it puts all the ingredients
in the wok with sauces, seasonings, etc.. … mixed and put the lid for the
last stage of cooking, which ends when the smoke begins to escape. Using this
technique, the cook can control the cooking time of each ingredient, not
immersed in the oil throughout the preparation.
The Chinese food wok hei flavor is extracted from the hot wok for stir-fry. For the wok hei
comes out, the food must be cooked in a wok at high temperatures, and be back
and be mixed quickly. Hei the wok is actually the result of chemical
caramelization of the Maillard reaction and the partial combustion of the oil.
COOKERS
FOR WOKS
The
traditional stove
Woks,
by their shape, are made to cook went on a ground, the heat from the fuel is
routed directly to the bottom of the wok and can not escape through the sides.
Formerly, we used coal or wood to make it work, but now the range is more like
the gas stove with burners built from below, in order to encompass all the wok.
Homes stove are curved so that the wok is well maintained. We can cook food at
a very high temperature (stir-fry), so high that it can sometimes distort the
wok. This type of stove is typically used by restaurants, in fact, thanks to
its heat capacity, we can extract the wok hei famous.
Traditional Chinese food woks (form) can still be used on gas cooker, you just remove the top of the
burner and replace it with a special wok ring, which will ensure the stability
of the wok and facilitate the concentration of heat. This does not apply to
traditional stoves, but is sufficient for personal use.
Gas
cookers
They
have become increasingly popular in homes. Several manufacturers have decided
to include in their equipment for a special fire wok.
However,
these changes are costly, without any account the smoke in the kitchen, several
have preferred to use their wok outdoors on fire heated with propane. Propane
cylinders are cheap, and enable a higher heat than that obtained with a simple
stove.
The
hotplates
Cooking
stir-fry in a wok round bottom or flat, does not work on an electric plate.
They do not produce the necessary heat quantity. However there are electric
curved plates, corresponding to the shape of the wok, which can heat the bottom
and right sides. A flat bottom wok is best suited for electric hobs.
The
dishes that need to be fried tend to turn into puree and boil when there is too
much in the wok so you can not extract the wok hei.
By
cons, electric cooking plates suitable for some who require more time as the
stew, steaming or braising.
In
terms of cooking stir-fry, Chinese with electric hob, use a cast iron skillet.
There
are new woks that do not need to cook, just plug them. These non-stick woks can
not endure such high temperatures as traditional woks.
BENEFITS
The
main advantage of the wok, apart from its material is its shape. This unique
shape allows the food to be seized high heat with little fuel. With
wide-brimmed, one can easily move from the solid and fine food without
splashing.
The
curved shape gives a larger area “cuisinable” unlike Western pots and
pans, which have vertical edges. The pieces already have basically can be
reduced on the cooler side to continue cooking them slowly, and others may be
pushed to the bottom to cook faster. The bottom warhead can collect a large
amount of oil. Large parts shall be superficially fried, while garlic, peppers,
onions and finely chopped ginger can be fried in little oil.
 |
by Raw |
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