Wok cooking Was Re: [Sca-cooks] I'm back

[Gorgeous Muiredach]

Greetings, and welcome back.

>I need some help learning to make Chinese food, or at the very
>least, how to cook with a wok.  If there is anyone who will be
>at Pennsic (or who lives near Baltimore) that is willing to give
>me lessons, I will be very grateful.  I'll be going to China for
>10 months and I want to be able to cook local.  Asian cuisine
>has always been one of those things that reasonably priced
>resteraunts do so much better than I, that I have never bothered
>to learn.

Chances are, you won't be able to cook local, until you're there, but
chances are you'll pick things up right quick like.  There is not much to
using a wok to cook.  Recipes and flavour combinations, I can't really
teach you, and I'd say 95% of what you'll find on this side of the pond is
not quite what it is out in China.

A few things to keep in mind when cooking with a wok.  You can *never* have
too much heat under the wok.  One principle you want is "burning wok, hot
oil".  That is, let the wok heat up until you think it's real hot, then let
it heat up some more.  *then* pour your oil in, and do your cooking.  The
temperature difference will help in your food not sticking to the wok.

You want to have all your ingredients cut the same sizes.  Usualy, thiner
rather than thicker.  Sometimes you'll need to pre-cook some of the
stuff.  Often vegetables get "blanched", though typically in oil rather
than water.  So you cut all your stuff ahead, you pre-cook some.  Then at
the last minute, everything comes together.

Chinese dishes tend to use much less meat than what we're used to here.

I worked for a year at the Taoist Tai-Chi Conference Center in Orangeville,
Ontatio.  I was cooking mostly my "French" stuff, but worked alongside a
chef from Hong Kong.  I was lucky enough that he showed me lots.  It was
good, he didn't speak much English at all, but he seemed to respect and
appreciate my knowledge in the kitchen, and I think he kinda took me under
his wing.  He didn't treat me like an apprentice, it felt like I was
treated like an equal.

Anyway, we would prepare "jai" banquets for up to 5,000 people every three
or four months.  That's Taoist vegetarian cooking.  It was logistically
challenging, but *really* interesting to see.  We'd prep for a week or so,
two or three people, then on the day of, we'd have 5 or 6 cooks, and TONS
of helpers to help dish the stuff out.  And out it went!  Fun.

Hope you have lots of fun in China.  Whereabouts will you be going?


Gorgeous Muiredach
Rokkehealden Shire
Middle Kingdom
aka
Nicolas Steenhout
"You must deal with me as I think of myself" J. Hockenberry