Wok Hay: The Breath of a Wok

Chiu Chow-Style Pork Spring Moon from The Breath of a Wok

I've been seeing Grace Young's The Breath of a Wok around for several years now, but had always skipped over it. Though I do love a good Hong Kong style meal, when I'm cooking Asian dinners at home my preferences lean toward Sichuan and Hunan (and, of course, the spicy cuisines of Thailand and Korea). I picked it up at a bookstore and was quickly captivated by Grace Young's tale of her quest for "wok culture" and wok hay, that elusive seared taste that can only be achieved in a well-seasoned wok.

Young guides her reader on a trip across China, touring a factory where skilled craftsmen fashion  increasingly hard to find hand-hammered woks, seeking out street vendors with their woks set over portable stoves, visiting a village where an immense communal wok set over a stone hearth is use for everything from boiling soybeans for tofu to water for washing for clothes, and venturing into restaurant kitchens with their high powered wok stoves. (I want one!) All of this is fascinating reading in itself — a mix of cooking tips and culinary travelogue. The home chef will appreciate the detailed descriptions of types of woks, how to season and clean them, and cooking tips for achieving wok hay. Before reading this, I hadn't realized that there was a reason some woks have a single long handle and others have two "ear"-like handles (it's a Northern vs. Southern thing relating to cooking technique), or that there was even such a thing as a cast iron wok (but don't drop them on a hard surface because they'll crack!).

The recipes include both traditional and contemporary ones, including a few influenced by American ingredients. They're adapted from a large group of chefs including Ming Tsai, Martin Yan, Florence Lin, Ken Hom, and a host of other highly skilled professionals, as well as her own family and friends and author Amy Tan. If you're wanting a detailed, authentic exploration of Sichuan or Hunan regional cuisines, I recommend Fuchsia Dunlop. If you want to see a pleasing range of dishes from Northern China down to Hong Kong, with a focus on the more subtly flavored side of Chinese cuisine, and you want to understand the techniques of wok use, The Breath of a Wok is a good place to start. And if you're serious about Chinese cooking, you should have both.

All her recipes call for flat-bottomed woks — probably out of the assumption that most American kitchens are not equipped with a gas stove that can supply the heat needed for a round-bottomed wok. If you're lucky enough — as we are — to have a powerful gas stove with a good wok grate that holds the wok close over the flames, a flat-bottomed wok isn't necessary. (Wok rings that sit on top of your regular grate don't get the wok close enough to the flames.) If you aren't, you can still do this stuff, but you probably will need a flat-bottomed wok. And don't bother with electric woks; they aren't powerful enough and are mostly non-stick, which believe it or not messes up the flavor by preventing the food from caramelizing properly. (Though a brief search suggests that this 1500 Watt one might prove me wrong on the power issue...)

Recipe in the extended post...

Chiu Chow-Style Pork Spring Moon
from The Breath of a Wok

This is Young's adaptation of a dish she had at the Spring Moon restaurant in Hong Kong. It's probably one of the milder and more subtly-flavored dishes in the book. If you like simply-flavored fried rice, then this dish should definitely appeal. I was drawn to make it because of the bean thread noodles, which I adore. The minced ginger is the star, and when I made it I doubled the ginger. (I might even use more.) The amounts given below are amounts listed in the book.

One 1.76 oz package of cellophane noodles (in my experience individual bundles weigh approx 2 oz.)
1/2 C chicken broth
2 tsp Shao Hsing (ShaoXing) rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp salt
2 C mung bean sprouts
2 large eggs
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp minced ginger (I used at least double the amount)
4 oz ground pork (~ 1/2 C)

Cover the cellophane noodles in cold water and soak for 15 minutes or until softened. (They need to be pliable, but not completely soft since they will be cooked.) Drain and set aside.

In a wok, combine the broth, 1 tsp of the rice wine, the soy sauce, 1/4 tsp of the salt, the bean sprouts and the noodles. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring, 2 -3 minutes or until the noodles and bean sprouts are just cooked through. Transfer to a bowl or plate. Rinse the wok and wipe it dry.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with 1/4 tsp of the salt and the white pepper.

Heat the wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 - 2 seconds. Swirl in the oil. Add ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add the pork, spreading it evenly in the wok. Let it cook undisturbed for about 20 seconds, until the pork begins to brown. Add the remaining 1 tsp of rice wine. Stir-fry the pork while breaking it up, until it is no longer pink. Add the bean sprouts and noodles and rthe emaining 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir-fry about another 15 seconds. Swirl in the eggs and stir-fry another 15 seconds. Remove from heat and continue stir-frying until the eggs are just set and the pork is cooked through.

Kitchen Chick's notes: as previously mentioned, I used more ginger. I really wanted the ginger to stand out, and I think I might try a tablespoon next time. I also used a touch less salt. Finally, I don't like overly mushy bean sprouts and was concerned about overcooking them, so I added the noodles first and after the stock came to a boil I added the bean sprouts.

Comments

[Jen of a2eatwrite]

This sounds like an absolutely fascinating book. I've been reading similar food/cultural history books on Italian American cooking for a writing project I'm working on, and I've been greatly enjoying the mix of recipes/history/culture.

[Eleanor Hoh]

Hi Lisa
I was Googling wok cooking blogs and came across your blog. Great to hear you like Asian cuisine. I think you would enjoy my delicious, homestyle,"no-recipe" Wok Star technique. It's totally different from recipe cookbooks. My lessons are on DVDs and I even have an audio cook-along so it's like having a private coach in your own home.

I have been teaching wok cooking for over 18 years and didn't realize there were so many misconceptions about wok cooking and the high heat required for a successful stir fry. So, I've developed my website to provide tons of information about these two topics.

In Asia, it's common to cook on a gas stove and I've got a great solution for all the electric stove owners - a 10,000 portable butane gas stove, safe for indoor use and can sit right on top of an electric coil or glass flat cooktop!

My mother introduced me to cast iron woks and I'm passionate about spreading the word. I have tried many when doing research and nothing touches cast iron for flavor and texture.

Wok parties are great because you can get your kids and guests to participate. My friends can always count on getting a free lesson when they come for dinner. Everyone enjoys learning tips on how to save time and yet make quick, easy, scrumptious dinners!

I'm working on a cookbook, titled Wok Star, all about my simple approach to wok cooking that's fun and fast.