The Chinese wok pan was invented hundreds of years ago. It is used for frying on the move and quick cooking over the fire. The wok is perfect for a modern woman who cares about her body, has no time to sit in the kitchen and values he althy food.
The shape ofwokdiffers from a traditional pan and is fried differently in it. It has a small diameter bottom, and high and sloping sides. This structure allows you to prepare meals with a minimum amount of fat; just a tablespoon of oil will cover the entire bottom. Fried pieces of meat or vegetables are moved to the sides, where they soften at a slightly lower temperature, but without fat. However, in theChinese pan , not only can you fry it, it is also suitable for steaming andstewingdishes. Choosing a good wok is important. Its walls should have a rough surface so that the fried pieces do not slip off. The bottom of the pan should be thick, thanks to which it will keep the temperature for a long time. A good wok should have a properly selected lid. The preparation of the dish takes a short time, so there is no time to search for spices or chop garlic during frying. The ingredients should be cut into pieces of a similar size, because only then will they fry evenly and will have a similar consistency.
Frying in a wok
- The first and most important step is to heat the pan strongly.
- When preparing a meat dish, pour 5 tablespoons of oil or olive oil into the hot wok. Add the pieces of meat and, stirring constantly, fry for about 90 seconds. The meat should be lightly golden.
- Put the contents of the pan on the sieve (grid) placed on the bowl. Leave a tablespoon of fat in the wok (discard the rest). Prepared in this way, the pan is ready to fry the remaining ingredients of the dish. Throw vegetables in batches, starting with the hardest, requiring longer heat treatment.
- Finally, add the pre-fried meat. Heat it up for about 5 minutes.
- Add spices 20 seconds before the end of frying. You have to remember that the high temperature in the wok causes the aroma of the spices to be released very quickly and the flavor is intense.
Steam cooking
- The Chinese have mastered steaming. In this way, they prepare meat, fish, vegetables, dumplings and rice.
- Pour a glass of water into the wok. Above it, place a special cooking basket onsteam wood and grass or a metal insert.
- Put the cabbage leaves (if you cook beef or pork), rosemary sprigs (pork and fish), onion slices (pork, fish) or lettuce leaves (rice, pasta) on the bottom of the basket or insert.
- Only put the products into the wok prepared in this way. Cover the dish and cook for 10-20 minutes.
Wok stew
- If you are cooking meat dishes, fry pieces of beef, pork or poultry and then put them on a sieve. Then, after pouring excess fat from the wok, add the vegetables and fry for 30 seconds, then add the meat.
- Reduce the heat under the pan, put a lid on it. It must fit very tightly to the edges of the wok. It should also have a convex shape so that the steam can circulate in the vessel.
- After a minute of stewing over low heat, the Chinese put a wet cloth on the lid, causing the steam to condense. The operation of cooling the lid is repeated 2-3 times.
- Depending on the type of meat, the dish is stewed for 10 minutes (poultry) to 30 minutes (beef).
- The exquisite taste of dishes stewed in a wok is the result of, among others, short cooking time. Finely chopped meat becomes softer quickly but does not dry out.