How to care for your wok

Posted in Tips for cooking killer chinese food at home on 03/18/2009 01:15 am by admin

Taking care of your wok is very easy and just uses some common sense.  There is really no need to “season” your wok.  Often times when you purchase a dutch oven it will give you lengthy instructions on how to season it. While you can season it you really don’t need to.

The first thing you need to do is give it a good wash. Often times when you purchase a wok from an asain or oriental store it is going to packaged in some type of plastic and in the plastic you will see a little oil that was used to protect it from rust during the shipping process.  If your wok didn’t come with any plastic packaging it is ok.  Alot of wok manufactures are getting a lot more clean with packaging. Your wok may not include any packaging at all, other than a tag.

Once you have the wok out of the package just give it a good wash with warm water and soap.  Make sure any debris that was on it to protect it during shipping is wiped clean.  You may need to scrub it good a couple of times to get it clean.  Once clean dry it good with a dry cloth and set it on the stove.  You are ready to cook!  It is important that after every use you dry to wok well.  Often times I will turn the stove on for a short minute to dry all the water.  If you do this MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER YOU TURNED THE STOVE ON, there have been times when I finished the dishes and left and forgot that I had the stove on.  So, just be careful.  Once the water is dry just store the wok away, or leave it on the stove.

Next step, we start cooking! 

If you have a party or wedding coming up you may want to consider custom fortune cookies from www.tankinz.com.  Our cookies are made fresh with your customized message magically placed inside.  Thanks!

Rufus
www.tankinz.com
www.customfortunecookies.net
www.fortunecookieguru.com

 

Tip #1 Get yourself a good wok.

Posted in Tips for cooking killer chinese food at home on 03/17/2009 12:50 am by admin

The biggest question I get regarding Chinese food in a restaurant compared to cooking it at home is the “flavor” is different.  One thing you need to understand is that the restaurants use extremely hot cooking surfaces. In fact you can take the heat that your electric or gas stove at home kicks out and muliply it by 10.  That’s how hot the surface is that the Chinese restaurants work with. In fact, it is not a cooktop at all, it’s basically a hollowed out drum that shoots flames up through it and the wok sits on top of the drum.  That is why the food in the resturant has the “smokey” flavor.

While it would break all home safety code violations to actually install one of these in your home, you can make due. The first thing you need is a good wok.  Don’t go to the local big box store and purchase one of those fancy woks with the wooden handles, these are inexpensive because they are junk.  I would suggest  going to your local asain grocery store and check out thier selection.  There are two styles of wok’s.  A one handle, which basically looks like a frying pan handle. The other is a two handle wok, with small handles on each side.  Either will work, it is really personal preference.  Most of the restaurants use the two handle variety, however; I favor the one handle.  It is much easier to manuver and keeps your hands away from the heat.  But, you decide, either will work.

The next thing to consider is the weight of the wok. Most of the woks you find in the asiann stores will be made of hardend steel, when choosing one remember this:  THE HEAVIER THE BETTER!  The heavier the wok the better it will retain heat and the longer it will last.  Now we are not going to be flipping the wok all over the place like you see the chefs do on tv, so don’t worry if it feels too heavy.  Go with the heaviest wok they have, if you choose correctly you will be able to hand it down from generation to generation.  

You might be surprised with how affordable the wok will be.  You shouldn’t have to pay more than $20-$30, if they are asking more than that, try another store.  Once you purchase the wok bring it home and read my next post, there we will cover what to do next!

Remember, if you ever need custom fortune cookies for your next party or event, look me up! Have any questions about this post shoot me a comment or reach me at customerservice@tankinz.com.

Rufus
www.tankinz.com
www.customfortunecookies.net
www.fortunecookieguru.com

 

Why I started this blog

Posted in Why this blog? on 03/15/2009 10:16 pm by admin

While I have been out of the Chinese restaurant business for more than five years now it is still my passion. I am a 6′4 American who lived 2 years in Hong Kong and fell in love with the food. The restaurant biz is tough, you have to be of that perfect mold to make it work and being young with a young family the hours were brutal.  So we sold our small restaurant and found something else to do. But for the 2 years we ran the restaurant I learned all the tricks of the trade from our Chefs, so well in fact that for more than a year I became the chef. So here I am to share all that I learned.

Today my wife and I make fortune cookies for a living.  A majority of our business comes from the internet giving our customers the option to tell us what messages to put in the cookies. I know, I know, it sounds crazy but it is actually a fun business.  From weddings to bridal showers to corporate trade shows we supply them all.  It is actually a pretty good marketing tool once you think about it.  So from time to time you might me refer to fortune cookies, that ’s the reason why.

My passion is still with cooking and Chinese food and I want to share all that I have with you. For now the plan it have each post be a small secret to art of cooking killer Chinese food at home. If you have some input or questions feel free to contact me anytime via email customerservice@tankinz.com , I welcome your questions.  So stay tuned, I really think you will enjoy this blog.

Rufus
www.tankinz.com
www.customfortunecookies.net
www.fortunecookieguru.com