Conference turris::cooks

	To tell you the truth, I've never even been satisfied with my
electric wok's performance.  In that PBS series about the restaurants of
New Orleans, an oriental chef said that his gas woks achieved temperatures
of over 800 degrees.  Using gas has always been better for me, so I guess
that the much higher temperatures combined with the faster heat recovery
rate must be what does the trick.  Otherwise, you end up sort of braising
what wou're trying to cook with the juices you were trying to seal in by
searing.

-joet

	I've found that the following combo tastes good on stir-fried
anything:

	1/4 c soy sauce
	2 Tbsp cooking sherry (or white wine - it's a good excuse to open
		a bottle)
	1 Tbsp honey (NOT sugar)
	garlic to taste (I use a large clove)
	ginger to taste (I use 1/4 tsp if dried, or a chunk about the
		same size as the garlic, minced VERY finely, if fresh)

If you want more, increase the measurements.  You can add some oil, if
you want.  Also, if you want it to become lots of thick sauce so you can pile
the stir-fries on some rice and have enough sauce for the rice, add some
water and whisk in some corn-starch or arrowroot. (Flour isn't as good
because you have to use more and it tastes floury).  Sometimes the honey
will mix in better if you heat the mixture before pouring it on your
stir-fries.  I usually fry up the veggies and meat, pour on the sauce,
cover, and turn off the heat and let the sauce cook in for a minute or two.

Here is a tasty veggie stir fry that doesn't take too long to prepare and is a
visual delight at the table.  The longer you let the chili peppers cook, the
hotter the dish will be.  The pan should be as hot as you can make it.  Don't
add the garlic until after the broccoli, or else the very hot oil will burn
the garlic and leave the disk tasting bitter. 

Spicy Broccoli Stir Fry:

	3/4 cu	veggie or peanut oil
	10	whole dried 1" chili peppers
	1	medium head of broccoli
	5	cloves of garlic
	2	peppers, red and/or yellow
	6	scallions
	1/2 lb	small mushroom
	1/4 cu	light soy

Advance preparation:
Cut up the broccoli so that each piece has a small floret and a long, slender
stem.  Thinly slice the garlic.  Slice the peppers lengthwise into 1/4 inch
pieces.  Cut the scallions (greens and white) into 2 inch pieces.

Stir-fry:
Place a wok on a burner on the highest setting until drops of water sizzle.  
Then add oil and swirl it to coat the wok.  Immediately, add the chili peppers 
and stand ready with the broccoli.  When the chili peppers turn dark brown 
(don't breathe the fumes), add all of the broccoli.  Toss the broccoli to coat 
it with oil.  When the broccoli turns bright green, add the garlic, toss, and 
add the peppers.  Toss for 1 minute, add the scallions and mushrooms.  Toss to 
coat the entire mixture with oil.  Remove the wok from the heat, add the soy 
and toss again.  Cover the wok to let the vegetables steam for no more than 5 
minutes, less depending on your crunch preference.  Serve immediately over 
rice or as a vegetable side dish.  Serves 5-10.  Can be drained and reheated 
in a microwave or wok.  The chili peppers should be removed before serving or 
by individuals before eating.


							- JP

    re electric woks
    
    I have one and am NOT pleased.  On occasion the teflon (or whatever
    it is) coating on the wok peels off, leaving metal pieces in my
    food.  It happened once a few months ago, stopped, and then started
    again the other night.  Guess it's time to chuck it.
    
    I know the gas ones are better, but I have an electric stove.  Can
    you put a wok on an electric burner and get good results?
    
    Sharon
     

  We've used a wok on an electric range with moderately good results. I
  think all woks must come with the metal ring which supports them. If
  you place it with the large diameter at the top, the wok will sit as
  close to the burner as is possible. Use the highest heat setting on
  the largest burner that the ring will fit over without touching the
  burner itself. Even so, it doesn't come back up to cooking temperature
  after putting the food in as fast as on a gas burner. I still find a
  top quality frying pan works better on an electric range.
  
  - Mike

    We don't buy ANYTHING with a coating, teflon or silverstone or
    anything, for just this reason.  Either it peels off, or they
    find out that it's cancer causing.  I'll stick with my uncoated
    pots and cast iron skillets!
    
    Woks don't do too great over electric stoves, but they *are* 
    usable.  The problem, I think, is that you can't get the concentrated
    heat in the middle.  Also, you don't have the ability to get quick
    results when you change the heat setting, so you can't turn it up
    for a moment to thicken the sauce, etc.  We didn't have natural
    gas lines on our street, so we got the propane folks to put in
    a pair of tanks just for the stove.  Works fine, though the heat
    is a little different than natural gas - I can't remember if it's
    cooler or hotter.  The stove was adjustable for either fuel source,
    which the propane company did for us.
    
    --Louise

    A friend of mine who REALLY did a lot of oriental cooking (more
    than we do, even -- nearly every night) LOVED his electric stove
    and had trouble cooking on my gas stove.  He had two small woks
    which had flat bottoms in the center (I think these are actually
    authentic enough, and are used in northern China), so that the center
    touched the electric burner.  I prefer my "normal" wok, which is
    much larger, but sometimes it is still impossible to achieve a high enough
    temperature for something like "flash-fried" lamb -- especially
    in the winter (I suppose because the furnace and water heater are
    using gas) -- you need a special stove with real wok burners (I
    know someone who actually bought a single-burner wok stove, which
    runs off a propane tank, for this reason).

    Jenn-Air sells a wok with a replacement electric burner coil which
    curves to fit the wok bottom pretty snugly.  Seems to develop the
    high heat at the center pretty well, but of course, there's still
    the problem of slow adjustment of heat level.  Also struck me as
    being a bit on the expensive side, but I don't remember the price
    right now.
    
    Julie

Williams-sonoma gourmet cooking store catalog carries the flat
bottomed woks.  They work on electric better than the regular
ones.  To change heat fast, lift wok off burner for a few
seconds while temp resets, hassle as it is, I find it works
pretty well.  The wok comes with a long wooden handle for easy
movement.

W-S is based in San Francisco, I think, and could probably be
located through information (415) area code.  I'm sure they'll
be happy to send catalog.

    Thanks so much for the information on Williams-Sonoma!
    I'm moving to a house that has an electric stove and I'm
    really bummed. I cook chineese fairly often on a propane
    gas stove. I've cooked on electric stoves and thought it
    was just ok.
    
    Williams-Sonoma's phone number is 415-982-0295
    They are sending me the current catalogue which does have
    the flat bottom wok in it. The price is $22.
    
    Linda
    

    I used my WOK on an electric stove while in college, and the trick
    to it seemed to be inverting the heating ring.  Which ever way they
    tell you to use it on a gas stove, turn it the other way.  By doing
    this, the heat is evenly distributed throughout the wok, and cooking
    is not a problem.  Gas is still the best way, however.
    
    
    Aline

A couple of points:

To get the best results on an electric stove, DON'T use the ring at all.  Just 
balance the wok in the center of the coil when you aren't holding it.  It's 
easier than it sounds, and pretty stable (although I wouldn't deep fry this 
way).

On a gas stove, many stoves have a set screw adjustment that you can make your 
self.  To find the screw, remove the knob (with the burner lit).  The knob 
shaft is usually a hollow tube shaped like a C.  Inside this tube is the set 
screw.  Insert a small screwdriver, and turn (one way turns the flame down, 
the other turns it up).  Adjust the screw for a high flame on the one burner 
where you use the wok.  Then NEVER use this burner for low heat cooking.  (The 
normal adjustment is to set the burner on low, and turn down the flame until 
it's as low as it can get without blowing out.  This is a great setting for 
sauces, etc, but not stir fries and sautees.)

Lastly, there is a Williams Sonoma in Boston in Copley whatever.  However, if 
you really want to go overboard, Jordan Marsh carries the Caphalon wok for 
about $150 or so.

						     
							- JP

Re: < Note 13.12 by PARSEC::PESENTI "Support Fundamentally Oral Bill" >
                             -< A few comments... >-

>To get the best results on an electric stove, DON'T use the ring at all.

I did try this, and it worked better, but the balancing act wasn't too
easy, and my arm got real tired. Also, it was annoying having one hand
tied up on keeping the thing in place. Maybe the problem was my burner -
we have those solid flat "european" style burners, which all electric
ranges here (france) come with. 

On that subject, by the way, we've had this stove for 4 years now, and I
see no advantage whatsoever over the old coil burners. Not only that, 
but they have a whole bunch of disadvantages, such as: 

o They change temperature more slowly.
o They're harder, not easier, to clean, because spilled food bakes rock
  solid on the edges (the literature says don't let stuff drip on them,
  but that's impossible).
o They pit badly after a few years use, which looks ugly, makes them
  even harder to clean, and they don't work as well, since they don't
  contact the bottom of the pan as well.
o You have to use stove polish on them every few months to make them
  look nice, reduce pitting, and improve heat transfer.
o You can't easily replace them (which you'd like to do when they get
  badly pitted, even though the marketing literature says you never have
  to).

I've seen them advertised in magazines like Gourmet, with all the slick
marketing hype and the word "europe" sprinkled all over. I have no idea
why they're "standard" in Europe, but I see no benefit, and would
certainly avoid them in the States, where I presume they cost more than
coil burners.

RE: "European" style burners

    I imagine that these are patterned after the solid, flat cooking surfaces
    found on wood stoves.  They are preferable in one sense in that they
    distribute heat more evenly across the bottom of the pan.


RE: electric woks and woks on electric stoves

    Preference for gas or electric stoves seems pretty much a matter of personal
    taste and what you're used to.  My own preference, especially for wok
    cookery, is gas, because of the instantly-responding heat control you get.
    Nonetheless, electric stoves work just fine for wok cookery.  I set the
    wok directly on the heating element, using no wok ring.  This works well
    for stir-frying.  For steaming, boiling, or deep frying, I'd use a wok
    ring to avoid dangerous disasters.
    
    My own preference for steaming and deep-frying is to use a teflon-coated
    electric wok--the kind that stand alone with their own heating element.
    The teflon coating is good when steaming (prevents rusting of the wok).
    The thermostat on heating element is nice for deep frying, as you don't
    have to worry about the temperature getting out of range.  However, I don't
    recommend electric woks for stir-frying.  They don't get hot enough.
    
--PSW

    I use the sort of wok ring that is supposed to be used for electric
    stoves on my gas stove because it keeps the wok steadier - you still
    have to be careful if there is a lot of liquid or something inside
    though.  That is, I use one that is a short cylinder with parallel
    sides.  I also have one that is supposed to be used for gas stoves,
    which tapers towards the top (seems to hold the wok at about the
    same distance from the gas flames, though) so much that my wok doesn't
    balance very well on it - I use a big wok (big enough that you can't
    use other stove burners safely when it is in use - a small teakettle
    will fit on the diagonally-opposite burner, but that's about it).
    
    I'll have to try this trick of adjusting the flame for the burner
    I usually use.  I have taken the knobs off several times for cleaning,
    but never noticed that there is any obvious adjustment under one
    - I think I may have to open the top of the stove and remove the
    drip plate that fits under where the knobs go, which will make it
    bit hard to see what the effect is on the flame - maybe I can then
    put the stovetop together without that plate, if there is anything
    under there to adjust, and see.

    the electric skillet has to be extremely hot, do not have any water
    on the vegies, and try sesame oil instead.  I am told that is what they
    use in Chinese restaurants, also, a little sake is mixed in with the
    soy sauce when you go to the Japanese steak house places.
    

RE: .16

Sesame oil burns easily and so it isn't usually used as a frying oil.  Use 
peanut oil for the stir-frying, and just put a few drops of sesame oil on the 
food at the final toss just before serving, to provide that nice flavor and 
aroma.

--PSW