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Eeyo posted:I'm planning on getting one of those outdoor wok burners. Probably still overkill but then I won't have to worry about smoke/flare ups. I can't use it during the cooler months, but then I'd rather have like soups anyway. Premade mixes are used even in restaurants.
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Jan 8, 2022 21:42
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I've been upping my pad Thai/pad see ew game and I think I need to get a real wok now, is there a go to favorite for price:quality ratio if I don't want to spend a ton? I want not huge and also need flat bottom cause I have an electric cooktop. I was looking around trying to stick to like a $50 budget cause most of my kitchen is $4 goodwill stuff but this seems like the thing to be worth getting actual good quality
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Jan 17, 2022 20:08
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You really don't need to spend much on a wok. Main things to decide are do you want cast iron or carbon steel, and what style of handles are you into? I got the Joyce Chen flat bottom 14 inch and it works fine for me. I have gas though and don't know if electric needs something special.
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Jan 17, 2022 20:17
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I've a flat bottomed wok on electric and it works pretty well. I also have a Joyce Chen I think but even with electric I find it pretty responsive and so long as you don't overload the wok by adding too many ingredients all at once, you can get some decent heat and sear.
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Jan 17, 2022 20:29
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I have a huge cast-iron flat-bottomed wok, and I feel like cooking with a wok is more about the burner than the wok. Meaning, that unless you happen to have a jet engine in your kitchen or patio then just get as big of a wok as you can comfortably handle, for as cheap as possible, because the only thing you'll be getting out of it is the convenience of tall sloped edges when stir frying. Also, get a lid, it's great for popcorn.
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Jan 17, 2022 20:36
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Carillon posted:so long as you don't overload the wok by adding too many ingredients all at once, you can get some decent heat and sear. Yeah this is something you'll figure out through trial and error. Don't be resistant to cooking in batches or doing ingredients separately then combining them. Especially things that spit out a lot of moisture like cabbage.
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Jan 17, 2022 20:39
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Grand Fromage posted:Yeah this is something you'll figure out through trial and error. Don't be resistant to cooking in batches or doing ingredients separately then combining them. Especially things that spit out a lot of moisture like cabbage. I do cook everything separately and add it back together when I’m on my electric inside. Proteins first with a piping hot wok, empty and then start with the veg. I add most aromatics with the second batch of things so that any liquid left gets to them right away. I only get wisps of smoke a short way up the side off the flat, but it does well enough. Nothing compared to big gas burner outside, but it still tastes good and the textures can be made right.
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Jan 17, 2022 20:46
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I found a decent looking cast iron wok that claims to be pre-seasoned, is that something to be suspicious of? Idk anything about this stuff but seems like something that could be untrustworthy
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Jan 18, 2022 01:13
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I don't think you can buy a cast iron anything that is not preseasoned. It would rust as soon as you got it wet.
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Jan 18, 2022 01:24
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thotsky posted:I don't think you can buy a cast iron anything that is not preseasoned. It would rust as soon as you got it wet. They used to all ship sprayed with machine oil they had to be scrubbed off before you immediately seasoned it. Now they do some sort of vegetable based spray and bake it to give it a base seasoning. In my experience it’s fine as a starter seasoning but YMMV.
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Jan 18, 2022 01:26
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My cast iron wok is s thing of beauty. I rescued it as a rusty mess from the side of the road, restored and gave it a base season, but having cooked a lot of popcorn in it has given it a very nice seasoning. I like touching it after it's been rinsed out with hot water. 
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Jan 18, 2022 02:01
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It helps a lot knowing that it is borderline impossible to destroy one as long as I don’t dry/rust it badly. I’m so used to using cheap non stick Teflon (I had a Teflon wok I got for free years ago and using it went badly I did not know how to cook) so seeing people scraping crust off with metal spatulas and steel wool was off putting at first
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Jan 18, 2022 05:43
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Yeah that's the fun part of cast iron or carbon steel. No babying required, short of snapping it in half somehow you can't break it. The only care I do is after I wash I put it on the stove to dry and rub a bit of oil around the inside. Just like any cast iron pan.
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Jan 18, 2022 05:49
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Grand Fromage posted:Yeah that's the fun part of cast iron or carbon steel. No babying required, short of snapping it in half somehow you can't break it. You say that as a joke about their durability, but here I am thinking of having to go out to buy a new wok after exactly that happened.
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Jan 19, 2022 03:11
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howd you snap a wok in half?
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Jan 19, 2022 05:02
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I managed to buy the only flat bottom cast iron wok at either of the Asian groceries I went to(they had a thousand cheap marble/aluminum woks and the huge 3 foot wide round ones and little in between), and also got a metal wok spatula. I noticed after I got home that the wok says it is cast iron and non stick, advising against using metal utensils. Can I just ignore that, since underneath any lovely non stick coating is cast iron? It seems like a confusing decision.
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Jan 19, 2022 07:42
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I like to use my bamboo spatula in my wok because all the clanging annoys the poo poo out of me. It's not as good at scraping unfortunately but I like that I can rest it on the rim of the wok without it getting more than like a tiny bit warm. Also no clanging if I hadn't mentioned that before.
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Jan 19, 2022 08:22
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fart simpson posted:howd you snap a wok in half? Heat shock is the best guess I've got, but that shouldn't be enough to do it either so I'd expect some unknown confluence of somehows.
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Jan 19, 2022 08:50
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fart simpson posted:howd you snap a wok in half?
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Jan 19, 2022 12:54
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Wowporn posted:I managed to buy the only flat bottom cast iron wok at either of the Asian groceries I went to(they had a thousand cheap marble/aluminum woks and the huge 3 foot wide round ones and little in between), and also got a metal wok spatula. I noticed after I got home that the wok says it is cast iron and non stick, advising against using metal utensils. Can I just ignore that, since underneath any lovely non stick coating is cast iron? It seems like a confusing decision. If it's actually nonstick (coated in like teflon or something similar) then I think it would be best to avoid metal utensils. What you're worried about is teflon/nonstick shavings getting into your food. Not sure of the prospects of just stripping it off; presumably it's not too hard, but safety/environmental effects would be an issue. If it's "nonstick" because it's just pre-seasoned then it should be ok.
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Jan 19, 2022 19:04
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Wowporn posted:I managed to buy the only flat bottom cast iron wok at either of the Asian groceries I went to(they had a thousand cheap marble/aluminum woks and the huge 3 foot wide round ones and little in between), and also got a metal wok spatula. I noticed after I got home that the wok says it is cast iron and non stick, advising against using metal utensils. Can I just ignore that, since underneath any lovely non stick coating is cast iron? It seems like a confusing decision. The factory seasoning on cast iron is "non-stick", as far as not sticking goes. If it's heavy and looks a lot like a black cast iron pan, then you're good to go with using it as such. If it's glossy and shiny, then it may have a glaze on it and you'll want wood utensils. If you post a picture of the inside I'm sure someone can identify which it is. If you've never used cast iron, then just get it nice and hot, get some oil on it first, and then use it. Contrary to popular belief, you can absolutely scrub it with your dish soap, but you still want to dry it and make sure it's entirely dry. It should be really nice for getting and staying hot, so have fun with it.
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Jan 19, 2022 20:46
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More digging and it's definitely a Teflon or something, the inside is way smoother/shinier than the outside. I guess I'll just treat it like a normal non stick pan until the coating starts to get bad and then strip it off and just have a normal cast iron pan Anyways wow that's a lotta smoke, I'm glad I don't have smoke detectors anymore. Very nice to use compared to a normal shaped pan though, like it a lot
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Jan 20, 2022 03:55
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I genuinely do not understand why non-stick woks exist. A normal wok becomes almost entirely non-stick from ordinary usage, and as far as I know non-stick coatings cannot handle high heat, which I would have thought was a fundamental problem for a wok. However, I know very little about modern non-stick since I haven't had any in the house in 20 year because I have birds, and overheated non-stick coatings will kill them in minutes.
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Jan 20, 2022 20:07
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Pookah posted:I genuinely do not understand why non-stick woks exist. A normal wok becomes almost entirely non-stick from ordinary usage, and as far as I know non-stick coatings cannot handle high heat, which I would have thought was a fundamental problem for a wok. Because random people who don’t know any better want to buy a wok at Target. And they don’t know how it works anyway. Carbon steel sauté pans, cast iron, and even stainless are really all non stick. Unless you don’t know how to use them and then you have a sticky mess because you didn’t preheat your cookware.
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Jan 20, 2022 20:15
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I have a non-stick wok entirely for making quick fried rice - and that's it. I also use a non-stick sauce pan for doing eggs. I have cast iron, stainless, etc. but this is just a lot easier for those two specific things.
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Jan 20, 2022 20:24
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I have a non-stick wok because it was in the cabinet and sometimes it has its place, cooking something at low heat where the tall sides are handy. But for actual wok stuff yeah, I wouldn't use anything with teflon on it.
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Jan 20, 2022 20:34
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totalnewbie posted:I have a non-stick wok entirely for making quick fried rice - and that's it. I also use a non-stick sauce pan for doing eggs. why for fried rice? i've never had much problem with sticking in a normal wok while frying rice
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Jan 21, 2022 03:00
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I'm trying to figure out what kind of wok ring this guy replaced the original setup with- does anyone have any ideas? Looking to pick up an outdoor wok burner and evaluating what options are out there.
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Feb 1, 2022 23:14
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Can anyone recommend any uses for Chinese bacon besides cooking it with rice?
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Feb 3, 2022 22:26
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Laocius posted:Can anyone recommend any uses for Chinese bacon besides cooking it with rice? i like it in carbonara
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Feb 3, 2022 23:28
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Scrambled with eggs.
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Feb 4, 2022 00:39
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Laocius posted:Can anyone recommend any uses for Chinese bacon besides cooking it with rice? what do you mean by chinese bacon? post a pic?
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Feb 4, 2022 03:18
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In the US I'd assume anything labelled "Chinese bacon" without any qualifiers is probably 广式腊肉.
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Feb 4, 2022 03:44
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my wife's cousin sent us some cured smoked pork she made this year at her village in guangxi. what we like to do most with it is cut off a chunk, steam it for a few minutes, then thinly slice it and stir fry it with some green vegetables. i usually fry it a bit first to render out some of the fat to use as the cooking oil and also to let the meat crisp up a bit. it's very salty and smoky so a little goes a long way and i dont add any soy sauce or salt or anything else
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Feb 4, 2022 04:09
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im moving back to the us after ??? time here what ingredients should i bring back that are expensive/hard to find in the us?
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Feb 21, 2022 05:22
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Ailumao posted:im moving back to the us after ??? time here what ingredients should i bring back that are expensive/hard to find in the us? Whoa I didn't think you were ever leaving. I cannot think of anything you can't find online here. There are fresh veggies and stuff that aren't around but like Sichuan pantry ingredients that you could bring, nothing comes to mind tbh. Even the fabled pickled erjingtiao are available here now. There might be stuff from other regions that isn't available but Sichuan's covered and I imagine you also will mostly be cooking that. E: If you're into the exotic Laoganma that is unavailable. You can only get the basic, black bean, and peanut/tofu ones easily here. None of the interesting ones with dried meats are available anywhere I can find. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Feb 21, 2022 |
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Feb 21, 2022 05:49
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Pookah posted:I genuinely do not understand why non-stick woks exist. A normal wok becomes almost entirely non-stick from ordinary usage, and as far as I know non-stick coatings cannot handle high heat, which I would have thought was a fundamental problem for a wok. If the fumes will kill birds in minutes then what does that mean for people who breathe the fumes and subsequently eat the food cooked in it?  I got a 14'' carbon steel wok from Binging with Babish's brand (Branding with Babish). It's weird I've lived long enough to see Wolfgang Puck and Emeril branded poo poo in the 90s and now youtube chefs are getting stuff too. The build quality is pretty solid though. I'm loving this thing. It was only 50 bux too. I'm probably going to use it to cook everything because tossing is how I prefer to cook anyway, except now I won't be throwing half the food on the floor.
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Mar 17, 2022 22:41
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I'm pretty decent at tossing in a frying pan but it's somehow way harder in my wok. Stuff just seems to bounce off the bottom after I toss and then bounce right out of the pan.
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Mar 18, 2022 04:34
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Ailumao posted:im moving back to the us after ??? time here what ingredients should i bring back that are expensive/hard to find in the us? Good huajiao. Good. Especially green. I seem to be able to get hold of the purple kind somewhat on the reg. But they will degrade in time, so. If I had to make a choice, I would try to get a couple of good, big pickling jars back with me. Also jiuqi is nice to have, they keep well.
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Mar 18, 2022 13:31
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Honestly the huajiao sold by Mala Market, 50 Hertz, and Fly by Jing is better than anything I ever bought in Chengdu.
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Mar 18, 2022 17:41
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