At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat bottomed)
that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove. Anyone???? Thank
you for any and all info!!!
lori

Lori LO wrote:
>
> At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat bottomed)
> that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
> possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
> so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove. Anyone???? Thank
> you for any and all info!!!
> lori

Is it a Peking pan? Basically a wok with the bottom 1/4 cut off, making
a small flat area in the center?
blacksalt

(Lori LO) wrote
> Is it possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
> so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove.

I like to call it wok chi ('hey' is the cantonese pronunciation, 'chi'
is mandarin, and is the same 'chi' as in energy). It comes from the
high heat stoves used in restaurents. You won't get it from a regular
gas stove at home. Plus the flat bottomed ones are meant for flat
heating surfaces such as an electric coil element; with a gas stove (I
assume the flame is in a ring) a round bottomed one would be best.

"Lori LO" > wrote in message
...
> At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat bottomed)
> that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
> possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil?

I think you just need to start cooking or stir frying with it. The carbon
steel will develop that dark blackish patina (which I assume delivers the
wok hey...) I'd clean it and dry it each time, but don't scrub or use
anything harsh to clean it. Some hot soapy water will do. Imagine my
heartbreak after several months of developing the seasoning, I found my
husband had done me a "favor" one day by scrubbing every last bit of
seasoning off the pan with Comet. ARGH!!!

To achieve this, you will require restaurant grade burners for the simple
fact that the woks aren't designed to retain heat and the restaurant burners
can give a higher BTU ouput at shorter notice. However, at home make sure
prior to cooking the ingredients, make sure everything for the dish is
prepped and at hand, this will avoid the 'lower the heat I need to chop some
.........' scenario. Prior to cooking, fire her up till it's very very hot
and quickly run the wok under a cold tap to take of surface residue. I tend
to do this a bout 3 times if the woks aren't used regularly. Just make sure
the wok is very hot all round when cooking and try to move the ingredients
all over the wok to soak up the heat in any redundant areas. Finally to
clean carbon staeel woks, use only a steel scourer and warm water, no
detergents as these are 'absorbed' onto the cooking surface.


"Lori LO" > wrote in message
...
> At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat bottomed)
> that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
> possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
> so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove. Anyone???? Thank
> you for any and all info!!!
> lori
>

On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:51:50 -0000, "Chef!" >
wrote:
>
>"Lori LO" > wrote

>> At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat bottomed)
>> that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
>> possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
>> so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove.
>
>To achieve this, you will require restaurant grade burners for the simple
>fact that the woks aren't designed to retain heat and the restaurant burners
>can give a higher BTU ouput at shorter notice.

At the risk of opening an old (sore) subject, I fail to understand why
a zippety-zillion BTU restaurant-style gas burner is required for
*any* essential facet of Chinese cooking. Are all people in China
prevented from making authentic dishes because they have a small
propane single-burner hotplate or a tray of charcoal to cook on? It
ain't rocket science. It's an ancient cuisine practiced by billions of
people without restaurant stoves. If the flippin' wok catches on fire
when unattended for 2 minutes on a common or garden gas burner,
exactly how much hotter does it have to be?!!

[Don't know anything about the or chi, but the interior of my wok is
black and clean and things don't stick.]

The extra 'horsepower' on these burners allow flexibility of instant heat
spread across the base of the pan, whereas domestic burners would take
longer heat up the woks to that degree needed to achieve the 'wok hey' which
was asked. If constant heat is not achieved, the ingredients can cook
differently e.g. not sealing properly or sweating too much. Incidently, the
LPG cookers used in domestic situations have higher BTU ratings than
domestic Western cookers, this is also a fact recognised by the major cooker
manufacturers as the modern ones incorperate a 'wok burner' in the higher
end spec models. It is also acknowledged by the Orientals that dishes
cooked at home, and some restaurants, cannot achieve the 'wok hey' they aim
for. It is a combination of BTU output and the skill of the chefs stir fry
skills.


"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:51:50 -0000, "Chef!" >
> wrote:
> >
> >"Lori LO" > wrote
>
> >> At Xmas I was given a 12 inch carbon steel stir fry pan (flat
bottomed)
> >> that is to be seasoned and used like a regular 14 inch wok. Is it
> >> possible to get a wok hey or wok flavor from this cooking utensil? If
> >> so, how do I go about it? I have a regular gas stove.
> >
> >To achieve this, you will require restaurant grade burners for the simple
> >fact that the woks aren't designed to retain heat and the restaurant
burners
> >can give a higher BTU ouput at shorter notice.
>
> At the risk of opening an old (sore) subject, I fail to understand why
> a zippety-zillion BTU restaurant-style gas burner is required for
> *any* essential facet of Chinese cooking. Are all people in China
> prevented from making authentic dishes because they have a small
> propane single-burner hotplate or a tray of charcoal to cook on? It
> ain't rocket science. It's an ancient cuisine practiced by billions of
> people without restaurant stoves. If the flippin' wok catches on fire
> when unattended for 2 minutes on a common or garden gas burner,
> exactly how much hotter does it have to be?!!
>
> [Don't know anything about the or chi, but the interior of my wok is
> black and clean and things don't stick.]