As you know as a lover of Japanese cuisine: a wok is more than just a domed pan. The universal kitchen utensil is used for frying, steaming, boiling, roasting and deep-frying. Let's dig deeper.
Forms and shapes
Larger than a normal frying pan, a wok is already a real eye-catcher. Because of its rounded shape, it has the hottest spot in the middle. Because you can achieve high temperatures with a wok, it's great for searing meat hot in the center while heating vegetables around the edges of the wok. The high power results in a short cooking time of food and also allows special aromas and flavors to develop. Woks can be made of different materials. We recommend our woks made of iron steel for beginners and lovers of Japanese cuisine.
How to use a wok
The order of the used ingredients is dependenant, of course, from their cooking times. If you’ve watched someone cooking with a wok in a professional kitchen, you may have seen them throwing all ingredients together, toss it, and transfer it to a plate. These professional cooks are often using stoves and woks that are very hot – likely much hotter than you will ever get at home - so please, don't worry. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get everything to cook properly in your home kitchen. Simply cook them in the following order:
1. Oil: Use 1 tbsp of canola or peanut oil and rotate.
2. Proteins (from 3 to 6 minutes) / Then move them aside in the wok.
3. Add oil again and spices (1 minute) / Don't burn. They will develope flavour.
4. Vegetables (1 to 7 minutes). Let them cook and stirr / shake.
5. Sauce (2 minutes) / Add soy sauce, sesame sauce etc and combine everything together!
Thousands of dishes in one wok
With a wok, you can very easily prepare Asian dishes, but also European dishes. In Japan, of course, the wok is a classic for noodle dishes, such as udon. Almost all types of vegetables can be heated and sautéed in the wok. Tofu, meat and fish get a very special flavor in the wok, which often cannot be achieved with a normal stove. Do you like katsudon, for example? The rice dish impresses with a breaded pork cutlet and a beaten egg. Or do you love kaarage-style chicken? Then you can easily use your wok for deep frying. In fact, if you double-fry the chicken thighs, the dish will be twice as delicious. Or would you prefer a delicious Japanese curry and our good Koshihikari rice from the rice stove? Everything is possible.
Hearty and sweet
Of course, many dishes can be prepared with eggs in the wok, whether savory or sweet. As you can imagine, the ideas for a wok are by no means at an end. Even desserts turn out really well in the hot iron: The famous Dorayaki, Japanese pancakes with filling, for example, can be prepared perfectly in a wok. Cook and fry with a wok and be amazed at the variety of dishes! In addition, your food will develop a very special aroma.
MYCONBINI tip: For gas stoves we recommend the round bottom professional wok made of iron steel, for electric and induction stoves the handy flat bottom wok - both are Made in Japan. See here also for instructions how to season it.
