this Book by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is about cooking with Wok. I have an inductive electric wok, and I have Kenji's The Food Lab cookbook which i want to read one of these days soon too.
Introduction
buy a 14" flat-bottom carbon-steel wok, around 2mm thick.
season it with neutral oil, don't scrub it, rinse and rubdown after you cook. rub vegetable oil on it after your'd one to vapor-proof it. seasoning a wok is more about building up layers of oxide rather than polymerized oils
accessories
- chuan spatula
- bowls for mise en place, do your prep work before you get crazy with the wok.
- bamboo brush
- spider for simmering and deep frying
- steamer baskets
- hoak ladle
- japanese-style mandoline to mjake cutting veg easier
wok-friendly pantry:
these recipes sure do love their sauces and small-quantity ingredients
INPROGRESS cooking is hard, let's go shopping :)
sauces
- usukuchi shoyu from Yamasa, rarely used
- Koikuchi shoyu from Kikkoman or so, essential
- San-j Tamari essential for gluten-free
- Chinese Dark Soy Sauce, Pearl River Bridge, essential
- Oyster sauce, Lee Kum Kee or so, essential [2022-04-08]
- Doubanjiang (sichuan broad bean chile sauce), Juan Cheng Pixia, Dan, or any brand made in Pixian essential, [2022-04-08]
- Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce, essential [2022-04-08]
- Tianmianjiang (sweet fermented bean paste), Koon Chun Bean Sauce intermediate usage
- Lee Kum Kee's black bean garlic sauce, intermediate usage
- Gochujang, essential
- fish sauce, essential [2022-04-08]
- Miso, essential
- Doenjang similar to dark miso made 100% from soybeans, advanced
- Huy Fong Sambal Oelek as a condiment
- Tahini or Huy Fong roasted sesame paste, intermediate
- Me Chua Tamarind, intermediate (but essential for things like pad thai)
- Distilled white vinegar intermediate
- Marukan Rice vinegar, essential [2022-04-08]
- Black Vinegar
- a deep-fry oil, sesame or canola or soybean (see page 45) essential (duh)
- Kadoya Raosted sesame oil, essential
- Clear Chile oil, Rayu, etc, intermediate
- Crispy chile oil, Lao Gan Ma, Fly By Jing, etc, intermediate [2022-04-08]
- shaoxing wine, essential [2022-04-08]
- Junmai sake, intermedia Ozeki Dry, Sho Chiku Bai, etc… (try to not drink it!)
- Mirin or at least aji-mirin from Kikkoman or so, intermediate usage
oh ho ho… it just doesn't stop. I'm gonna need grocy lol.
Aromatics
- bay leave
- cardamon
- coriander seeds
- cumin
- cloves
- cinnamon
- fennel
- roasted peanuts
- white peppercorns
- black peppercorns
- pine nuts
- roasted or raw sesame seeds
- ground turmeric
some more aromatics:
- sichuan peppercorns, probably red ones
- star anise
- whole dried chiles [2022-04-08]
- ground thai chiles
- palm sugar (probably the nuggets not the paste)
- dried lily buds
- Wood Ear mushrooms
- dried shrimp, fish, or scallops
- kombu [2022-04-08]