Cooking on a wok without oil?
The unique shape of the wok allows you to use a very small amount of oil, typically only a tablespoon or two. Don't use olive oil, though, because it flavors the food drastically. Try Canola (rapeseed) oil, peanut oil, or even corn oil instead.
Help making non-stick pans non-stick again?
Hate to say this but I think you may need some new ones if they are that old. But you can try heating oil (olive) until it starts to smoke. Add kosher salt to the pan. Take a heavy duty rubber spatula and push the salt around with a little force but not grinding. Once it starts to smoke again, dump the oil and salt out. Take a soft cloth and wipe it out. Try to fry an egg in the pan to see it worked. Good Luck!!
Is it safe to cook food with a wok if the non-stick coating is badly scraped at the bottom?
First, let me say what the Collapsed Answer said - you should not use a wok with non stick coating. You use a wok for stir frying. That means heating the wok to very high temperatures to put as fast a sear as possible on your meats, veggies, noodles, etc.Non-stick coatings are not stable at those temperatures, so you can't heat them up as high as you'd like. Result? Either you use a somewhat lower heat and lose the quick caramelization and other goodness of the stir fry, or you heat the heck out of it and risk it offgassing or - best case - simply breaking down.Whitford, the largest manufacturer of fluoropolymers (a class of materials that includes nonstick coating for cookware) has this to say about using pots and pans coated with their coatings (and believe me, they are *very* optimistic and even a bit buoyant about most aspects of cooking with non-stick coated cookware):"Always observe the rules of sensible cooking and never let food or an empty nonstick pan overheat. Both may cause fumes which, while not dangerous to humans or other household pets, may harm or kill pet birds." Here's a link: Page on whitfordww.comThe *way* you're supposed to cook with a wok is you put the wok on the heat, turn on the heat, and when the empty wok is good and hot, add a small amount of oil and start wokkin'. To answer your question, though: You do not have to worry about cooking with a wok that has scratched or scraped nonstick coating. The material, despite its inability to withstand the very high temperatures needed for wok frying, is inert. If you inadvertently ingested some, it would. . .pass through. Aside from any questions of safety, you may find that if the coating is badly damaged, the heat conduction will be different, as the bare metal will be hotter. I doubt this will make a big difference, but there it is.Finally, as a practical matter, since wokking involves a lot of sliding your kitchen tools (big spoons or spatulas or what have you) around in the wok, tossing and frying the food, if you have large, badly gouged or scraped areas, they will not get better. Instead, they will "catch" the edges of your implements and will likely become even worse over time.My recommendation is to find an inexpensive carbon steel wok, buy it, season it according to the directions, and enjoy a lifetime of essentially trouble free wokking. Hope that helps and hope it is also responsive to your question.
What's this sticky residue on my wok?
I wok a couple of times a month and your wok simply needs to be reseasoned Woks are prone to rust marks and sticky food build-up if they are not seasoned before use. This article explains how to season a wok to prevent food build-up, discoloration and rusting Scrub the wok with a nylon Doobie (available at grocery stores) ... never use steel wool or anything that can scratch. Heat the wok over high heat. The wok will discolor and probably smoke, but this is normal ... so open the windows and turn on the fan. Wipe the hot wok using kitchen paper towel that has been covered in vegetable oil. Use tongs or a wok spatula to run the paper around the wok. Turn the heat to low and allow the wok to sit on low heat for about quarter of an hour. This will allow the oil time to work its way into the wok and act like a "glaze" on the wok Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Wash with warm water and wipe it with a sponge. Dry thoroughly using kitchen towels and add a little vegetable oil to coat it. A wok should never be washed in detergent. Instead, wash only in hot water and use a sponge to remove burnt on particles. A number of chefs recommend using a bamboo brush to keep the wok clean in between seasonings, but you can use a tablespoon of kosher salt and lightly damp paper towel to scrub any stuck on food off. Dry well with paper towels and season lightly with a coating of vegetable oil (I like peanut oil or safflower oil) When the wok begins to get sticky, reseason it as above.
Is buying a wok worth it?
I have had several woks and the best kind is n authentic wok that you would get in an Asian market. Don't worry about beauty, it will get very 'seasoned' looking but that's ok. I have had electric woks (not good), non stick woks (not good), designer woks (not good). Get a plain heavy steel wok and you will love it. Happy cooking!
Do you heat a wok before adding oil?
I'm sorry but I can't let my silence be responsible for someone's kitchen fires or bad wok handling habits.Hot wok, cold oil. This is a well-established principle of wok cooking. Heating the wok opens the pores in the metal, releasing some of the built up flavor. The wok must be heated to operating temperature (just wait until the wok starts to smoke). Then add the oil. Use either a tool or a swirling technique to coat the bottom half of the wok in the oil. Be quick, because immediately after the oil has coated the wok, it's imperative that you start cooking. Otherwise, the oil may burn and you will possibly face a kitchen fire if you let it go long enough.If you do the cold oil cold wok thing, your food WILL stick to the pan. These techniques apply to cast iron skillets as well. Not sure where the mistaken habits are coming from, but now you know.=====Sources (took all of 5 minutes to compile)http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com...http://consults.blogs.nytimes.co...http://chinesefood.about.com/od/...http://www.foodservicewarehouse....http://realcoolstore.com/downloa...http://www.tastes-ofchina.com/ar...http://www.ehow.com/list_7211632...http://www.foodservicewarehouse....http://www.luxuryweb.com/html/th...
Is there a particular name for a wok that isn't non-stick, it would make my search easier!
A cast iron wok (as some here has suggested) would be excellent but you will break your arm using it since it is much heavier than regular wok. It's also more expensive. Just as good, cheaper, and no where near as heavy is a CARBON STEEL WOK. That is what most Asian chefs use for cooking. Amazon has a ton of them for cheap. So search for that.
The nonstick coating seems to be coming off my pan. Is there a way to fix it or at least to get food not to stick?
I would be wary of using a pan if the nonstick coating is already beginning to come off. The Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/Teflon that is used for nonstick coatings is not toxic unless vaporized through high heat, but I still don't think it'd make a good addition to scrambled eggs.If you have to save this pan no matter what, scrub it with a brillo pad to get all of the nonstick coating off, then use it like a normal stainless steel or aluminum pan. To fry eggs, liberally coat the bottom of the pan with oil or fat, fry the eggs, then quickly evacuate the eggs to a paper towel to get rid of most of the fat.If you have a few dollars to spend, I recommend getting a new nonstick pan or even a decent cast iron pan. Shouldn't cost more than $30.
My mom never cleans her frying pans after cooking and every time I use them there's usually black ash all over them. She sometimes cooks with the black residue on it as well. Is this sanitary?
A good cook / chef knows that you should never wash your frying pans / woks / skillets etc.First, you need to season them.This involves setting half a day aside if you're going to do it properly.And, here's how to do it:Throw in a good amount of rock salt, cracked pepper corns, chopped ginger, scallions and crushed garlic.Add a good glug of cooking oil.Heat wok on your highest heat setting and rub the above around covering the entire surface until it's smoking.Remove from heat, wipe with kitchen tissue and allow to cool.Two things have now happened. When you heated the wok, the pores of the metal opened up (just like our skin when we get hot and sweat) and the oil seeps inside. When it cools, the pores close again trapping that oil inside.Repeat the above cycle until the entire wok has turned from its brand new silver to jet black.The black is just carbon.Now, you will find a huge improvement in the taste of your food. For example, you know that smokey taste in fried rice we get from the local Chinese restaurant? That's because their woks are seasoned to perfection.Once your wok is seasoned properly, you should NEVER need to wash it. It will be completely non-stick, and whatever you cook in it, you should only need to wipe it out with tissue.If you cook something heavy like a stew, use a little water but NEVER use soap.