Comments on: How to “Season” a Wok, Part I

By: Eleanor Hoh (WokStar)

Eleanor Hoh (WokStar) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:27:31 +0000

Your beautiful website, your logic and your sense of humor is great. It’s lovely how you share your love of food with all your friends. Fabulous you found lightweight, cast iron woks and “seasoned” with your unique style.

I had a Google alert for cast iron wok and that’s how I found your site.

Because there are so many misconceptions about woks and the technique of stir frying, I started teaching wok cooking in Florida, America and also market a Wok Star Kit. I “preseason” the woks so people don’t have to go through what you did. Many sites and books say it’s so easy until you have to spend a good few hours doing it. You experienced the unpleasant “smells” which they don’t tell you about. Many I know have ruined their woks or never got round to doing it at all. By “preseasoning” woks, people can focus on just having fun cooking.

I hope you’ll use your wok for cooking everything and not just Asian stir frys, this will build up the patina faster. It’s the perfect, adjustable size “pan” for cooking a lot or little. Your daughter will inherit your beautiful wok like I did from my mother. Even my American husband is a Wok Star, he makes “breakfasts” in it. You might find some useful wok tips in my blog. I will take a look more at your wonderful site.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:10:44 +0000

Marketfan, hahaha, you should have said hello. No, I have had this book for over a year I think. But I did find a real bargain yesterday. For roughly PHP370 ($7-8) with my discount card, I got an Escoffier cookbook with 2,000 basic recipes designed for the home cook. No photos, just printed recipes, and many of them things I wouldn’t necessarily do, but for the price of a modest meal, it’s nice to have so many basic french recipes in one little book! :) The Teen was getting a couple of books, that’s why we were there… :)

By: Marketfan

Marketfan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:58:12 +0000

MM,is that a newly purchased book? Because I saw you browsing over at Fully Booked in Rockwell yesterday ha ha. Didn’t say hello because you looked very much engrossed.
MF

By: Hershey

Hershey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:05:11 +0000

Oh, that book is really nice! I also have a copy of that and I had difficulty finding one. Good work in seasoning MM. I also have my own cast iron and sadly, the wok I have at home is just from quiapo and it was darker and full of grease, obviously it was a mass production type of wok :D

By: terrey

terrey — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:24:50 +0000

in bangkok too they used walis ting-ting to clean the woks after cooking.

By: betty q,

betty q, — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:58:59 +0000

Yup, MM…the flowering garlic chives have a more rounded stem than flat blades. There is a site…www. practicallyedible.com…they are all related to one another…called NIra in Japanese,Gau choy in chinese. But since we are talking the sulphur compounds which is necessary to the wokking seasoning, maybe the garlic greens when the chives are not available will work as well. I am no botanist…Maybe Kurzhaar can shed some light.

Say for instance, celery…there is also the Chinese celery (kinchay) which is not readily available here. However, if I want the kinchay taste in Pancit, I usually use the celery heart with the young leaves. I know, my logic is weird!….hahahaha

By: Bubut

Bubut — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:59:17 +0000

i remember my mom, when she buys a caldero that she needs for cooking rice, she would first cook paksiw na bangus or any type of fish, it is to baptize the caldero with the vinegar. after few cooking of paksiw thats that only time she will cook rice in it. If she didnt do these, any rice that will be cooked in this caldero will have a rancid smell/ taste (panis) after the rice is cooked and cooled for few hours.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:21:37 +0000

bettyq, I think these differ from the flowering garlic chives with the little buds at the end. Or at least I was made to believe they were different when I looked at them side by side. Once it is seasoned, most Chinese restaurants DO NOT wash with soap or detergent. Do not use steel wool I am advised, just a softish sponge after you have boiled water in the used wok to loosen any bits. ted, the bamboo brush is used in large restaurants, again less recommended for home use since if it is used improperly, you could actually take off the developing patina of your wok. Anyone serious about maintaining a wok needs to get the book “The Breath of a Wok” or similar guide to maintaining one’s prized cooking vessel. :)

By: marcial bonifacio

marcial bonifacio — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:18:09 +0000

..a walis ting-ting type of brush, indeed..”

By: ted

ted — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:11:46 +0000

@Ariel, i dont think they even use steel wool, i think they just have this small walis tingting type contraption that they use to remove the food residue while swishing them with warm water.