There are so many uses for a wok even when you’re not cooking any of the traditional Asian dishes that wok got popular for. And while the common types of wok are just singular pans which you’ll need to power with the help of a stove or gas, there is also electricity-powered wok. Here is a list of electric powered wok you can try out.
The type of pan was made popular in Asia and has since grown in popularity around the world with people using it when preparing Asian food. The problem is a lot of wok pans are underutilized in non-Asian families that cook Asian meals sparingly. The pan is left lying there till the need for Asian food arises.
There are so many other things you can do with your wok and after reading this article, you’ll start using your wok even more.
If you don’t know what wok is, here’s what you need to know:
What is Wok?
Wok is a deep round bottom pan first used in China. The pan has distinct slanting sides and a round bottom. The material for making these pans can vary from aluminum to ceramic. Whichever cooking material you’re comfortable with.
One of the major advantages and uses for a wok is its heat distribution. This is due to its slanting sides and pan material that helps food cook more evenly. With wok, the oil is also evenly distributed on the pan.
Other Things You Can Do With Wok
As stated earlier, you do not have to wait till you’re making an Asian cuisine before you bring out your wok pan. Here are several other things you can use your wok for:
Mix Your Batter
Good news for bakers here. Your wok may just be what you need to mix your batter and also knead your dough easily. The shape of the pan will make mixing batter easier as it moves effortlessly around the slant sides.
Better than Fondue Pots?
An electric wok might just be even better than fondue pots when making fondue. While electric fondue pots emit an unpleasant burning alcohol smell, uses for a wok pan will bring out none of that. Its larger surface area than fondue pots will also bring about an even cook.
Smoking Foods
You can smoke your food with a wok. Although, because of its size only moderate-sized foods can be smoked comfortably in a wok.
To add flavor to your meal through smoking, place the work on low heat and spread foil in it. You can then add the flavors you would want to smoke with on the foil and leave the heat to do its magic. After some minutes, just place a rack on the wok and the food on the rack. Cover the food with foil to allow proper smoking.
Allow smoking for some minutes before taking it off.
Braising Foods
Braising your food with wok gives a whole new meaning to what you may have already been used to when braising with other pots. While using other pots to braise will simply convert collagen to gelatin in tough meat under low heat, using wok will give you a simmered meal.
The sides of the wok will also make it easier to both turn the food when braising and also pour it out to a server easily.
Roasting Green Coffee Beans
Green coffee beans can be roasted using your wok to great effect, but you should bear in mind that this produces a lot of smoke, and doing this outside where the smoke can clear out quickly will be ideal. You do not want to get choked with smoke in your kitchen.
Flash Frying Foods
Flash frying also known as velveting in some climes, is a technique used to fry that puts it in the middle of deep-frying and stir-frying. Here the oil used is lower than the oil you’ll typically use when deep frying but more than the oil you’ll use when stir-frying.
The aim is to turn the color to slight brown as fast as possible, not to cook it. You can cook it properly after you must have finished with other ingredients.
Summary
With these, your wok should no longer be wasting in your cupboards as you can use it for so many things aside from cooking Asian food. Get to work and experiment with so many other things and you’ll be surprised at how many more things you can do with your wok even outside the kitchen.
