Search the Community

The Week of March 30th, 2009 Tuesday in Le Fooding, Sebastien Demorand reviewed the Asiatic-influenced Yam'tcha, 4, rue Sauval in the 1st, 01 40 26 08 07, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, where he comments on the wok-cooked or vapored Korean mushrooms, omble, bok choy, oolong tea and wines; and soon dim sum. No a la carte; lunch menu is 30 €, dinner 45-65 €. Tuesday as well, in ANP gave two “world food” places 3/5 - Philippe Toinard reviewed the Italianate Samesa in the 17th and Jerome Berger the “special Chinese” Shan Gout in the 12th . Wednesday, Emmanuel Rubin in Figaroscope gave another of his rare ratings of 3/4 hearts to the afore-mentioned Yam’tcha, coordinates above, where he mentions the shrimp raviolis, duck and eggplant and biscuit with olive oil; and two hearts to three places: the Italian R-ital, in the 17th; the wine bistro Le Cru Rollin, 156 ave Ledru-Rollin in the 11th, 01.43.73.72.20, closed Sundays, with a light lunch menu at 14, a la carte 20-40 € for foie gras, tete de veau and fondant with chestnuts; and the 1980ish Soho Manhattanesque Balthazar et Cie, 35, rue Faidherbe in the 11th, 01.43.71.65.30, closed Sunday dinner and Mondays, which is in the old Purple space and with a formula at 14 and carte 25-35 € serves shrimp and banana chips, tartare and a Malabar cappuccino. The last place reviewed got a busted heart: the annex of the Maison de la Truffe called Truffes Folies, 37, rue Malar in the 7th, 01.44.18.05.41, closed Sundays where there’s the “pretext” of a 18 € menu at lunch but costs closer to 50 € for eggs with truffles and overcooked penne Perigord with four small strips of foie gras. In Figaroscope’s Dossier this week by Colette Monsat et al listed the Poissons d’avril it being April 1st as: Dover Sole L’Ecailler du Bistrot Pollack La Mercerie Mullot L’Ecaille de la Fontaine 35º Ouest Small sole Le 21 Turbot Les Fables de la Fontaine Daurade Uitr Bass La Maree Denfert Changes at Antoine Goumard La Maree. In his “Hache Menu,” Francois Simon reviewed the new place at the top: Enpente, 69, rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th, 01.57.08. 55.19, closed weekends, run by twins, where he paid 115 € for two for a Adria-like soup of foie gras powder that enlarged, rascasse and a dessert much like the liquid disinfectants that rub dry in a few seconds leaving just the scent. He says Go! Wednesday, Francois-Regis Gaudry in l’Express made Le Comptoir des Tontons in Beaune his restaurant of the week and the 27th had a review of the Rose Bakery-like La Cantine de Merci, 111, bd Beaumarchais, in the 3rd, 01-42-77-01-90, costing less than 15 €. Thursday/Friday in Le Monde Jean Claude Ribaut wrote about Jacques Genin and chocolate as well as asparagus and seasonal products. Saturday/Sunday, in Bonjour Paris, Margaret Kemp wrote about the Relais Plaza and Zebra Square and John Talbott wrote an essay entitled “Food Criticism and your favorite chef.” Please post comments here and not in the Digest thread.

They are not worth it. They cannot generate enough heat to wok properly. You'd be better off without it.

(I tried to search a dozen different ways and found no such topic.) I missed buying a second-hand electric Wok the other day and then wondered if they are really worth buying anyway. I have a regular wok...back home...of course...but none here. And you can't buy one here anyhow. This is Moab, land of red rocks and blue skies. Actually mountain bike capital of the world. Comments about electric woks most appreciated.

I have the carbonized steel wok at home although I have not used it for a long time. Shall re-season it when we get home. In the meantime, can someone please answer my question as to why I should not use the barbecue, especially as it has a separate burner on one end. Thanks.

They seem to be a conventional European approach to an Asian cooking utensil: good production but they so don't understand the concept. The use of very thin carbonised steel or cast iron is so that heat conductance is at a maximum. As we all know, stainless steel is a relatively poor conductor of heat, which is why aluminium or copper sheets are used in the bottom of saucepans. You are right to ask whether the woks have aluminium bottoms but even then the conductance is reduced over traditional equipment. While I'm having a rant about this, let's have a look at "non-stick" woks. Wok cooking is meant to occur at extremely high temperatures. Non-stick coatings break down at extremely high temperatures. Why oh why would you use these on a wok? Get the carbonised steel or cast iron wok and season it well: I always do mine over extremely high heat that reduces the oil to a black goo that bakes on the wok -- this is the non-stick surface that is so prized in wok cookery. It is likely to go against your instincts but black is the best. After doing this, do not ever wash it with soap and make sure you re-season it similarly to how you would treat cast iron cookware. To season, heat to very high then put a thin layer of oil in. Be careful about this as the oil will ignite readily if it goes anywhere near the flame. Let the oil bake in and then repeat several times until the surface is black.

DH has just entered the fray and wants to know about the stainless woks by Cuisinart and others? Do any have aluminum bottoms? Are they useful? Thanks.

Great uses for it but it really makes it sort of a half spherical electric frypan rather than a wok. ← That's true.

Great uses for it but it really makes it sort of a half spherical electric frypan rather than a wok.

I have an electric wok. I never use it to make stir-fries (that's what my wok on the rangetop is for). But I do use it to make & serve paella at the table (it's large enough) and to make & serve fondue! I don't like the one I have, however. I used to have one that was fully immersible in water once the electric cord was detached. When that kicked the bucket (due to falling from the top of the kitchen cabinet and getting bent completely out of shape), I bought the only one I could find locally. It can't be detached from its base and is a b**ch to clean.

For wok cooking, electric just doesn't cut it. Look, a proper Kwali range has gas jets, not only aimed at the bottom of the wok, but the sides too, heat is almost the same on the sides as the bottom. This basically doubles your cooking surface, which is why wok cooking is so fast. With electric, you'll only get heat on the bottom. Now, how about getting one of those outdoor propane gas stoves. You see them at CDN Tire and Costco sometimes called Turkey fryers or camp stoves, single burner jobbies, albeit with close to 60,000 BTU's, and they put out some serious heat. A wok will fit on it, and I wouldn't worry about all that piping in of gas and ventilation and stuff in your home--Wok outside!

Can you not get propane in Moab (or Cavan)? You'd have to have a professional run a line from the tank to the house, of course. You then can convert a conventional gas stove or cooktop to work with LP, a simple enough process. The stove still wouldn't be powerful enough for true wok heat, but for everything else, well...

Thanks for all that information. It gives me something to think about. Added: I think I'll just let it go until we get home. We're only a couple of hours from Toronto and our daughter lives in the Chinese section so perhaps we'll go to Toronto to find a thinner cast iron wok.

The problem with electric stove tops is similar to that seen with commercial household gas rings; they do not get hot enough to properly stir fry. As a consequence, food is quite often steamed rather than fried, which gives a very different outcome from commercial wok burners. A free-standing wok burner that has large pipes (see here for an example) is a satisfactory alternative but it is a very high heat product that can be dangerous if misused. In Australia we often have wok burners on our gas BBQs that put out a more respectable heat than domestic range wok burners. For an electric range if you have to use it, it is likely to be preferable to get a flat bottomed rather than a round bottomed wok as more of the heat can then hit the food at the same time. It is also more stable than the round based ones. Keep your range on extremely high heat all the time and keep the food moving. Another thread on eGullet has talked about cast iron woks. The link is here. These may be preferable to carbon steel as they are likely to retain their heat more and it is heat control that you are looking for. I'm not sure if they come in a flat bottomed version.

A wood-fired saj--of course! Makes me realize how easy it would be to rig up an upside-down wok in my fireplace, or on the Weber kettle. Bob, the bread on the saj in your photo is folded in half. Is it filled? If so, is the filling put on after the bread is put on the saj? Actually, I've been thinking about you, because I've been wondering whether saj and saz have the same root--possibly something to do with the dome shape? Do you know?

We, OTOH, used crock pots to dump our finished dishes into to keep them warm and it worked well. Still, what about the wok on the electric stove problem? It was great last week, we cooked on gas, but in my Moab house we have only electric and at home in Ontario we have only electric. Can't even get gas. Is there some method which makes cooking on an electric stove more satisfactory?

A wok is just a metal bowl--like a pot or pan, the heat comes froma Kwali, and the ones in most Oriental kitchens generate around 100,000 BTU's per burner, very serious heat. OTOH, I've been guilty of buying those cheap electric woks, but for entirerly different reasons. Stacking bamboo dim-sum baskets can sit in them and the wok does generate enough heat to quasi-steam dim sum, but I usualy pre- steam itmes and display/keep warm in baskets sitting on a cheap wok.

Welcome to eGullet, Steven! Here are a few topics on outdoor cooking equipment. Grill Recommendations: Gas, charcoal, both? Merged topic. Food Smokers: The Topic: What type to purchase? Wok Burners: The Topic Edited to add one more for the truly committed: Homemade Tandoor

I have the Cuisinart electric wok, from Amazon, and I LOVE it! It draws 1800 watts (!) and cooks super fast. It heats up in no time. One might need a dedicated outlet for it (I rewired my kitchen ages ago and everything like the micro and wok have their own breaker). DO NOT believe that all electric woks are the same! This Cuisinart is over the top. The only, and I really mean only, complaint is that the non-stick coating (over the stainless) is not super durable. But then I am very aggressive and others might find it OK. It could also have benifitted from an additional long handle on the side, for scooping the food directly into dish without use of a hand scoop. I would buy another of this model wok YESTERDAY if i needed it! It DOES heat uip enough to sear or do anything a regular wok does! Ray

An electric wok simply cannot supply the BTU's(heat) needed to cook with a wok, you end up stewing, rather than frying. Even with 15K BTU/hr burners on my Viking, its really not enough heat but I make do. You certainly can use the gas burner on your BBQ.-Dick

For last week's minor Chinese feast we had a gas stove, two carbon steel woks AND three crockpots and the crockpots acted as keep it warmers, particularly for the soups.

In general, as noted, electric woks aren't good at stir-frying, but they do have other good uses: - As noted above, it can make something remarkably like paella, even down to the crusty bottom. Actually, my electric wok is one of my favorite tools for rice dishes. - The shape and heat control on an electric wok makes it good for braises/stews. You can even sear the meat and braise it all in the same wok. - You can use it as a warmer/server/extra burner. It may not be ideal for every use, but (with a little creativity) it is remarkably flexible. I've used mine to mull cider, for instance.

It's important to differentiate between various "spicy" ingredients. Mustard, wasabi and horseradish, for instance, affect your nasal passages pretty directly -- take a hit of one of those and your eyes will water and your nose will run immediately. Whereas capsaicin, while hot on the tongue, doesn't really affect mucus membranes when you eat foods that contain it. The circumstances in which capsaicin come into play are if it's dispersed in cooking -- as when you lean over a wok when you're cooking chile flakes in hot oil -- or if you inadvertently sniff cayenne (well, yes, I have, in case you're wondering -- don't ask). Not to mention touching mucus membranes with capsaicin-covered hands. But just eating foods with chiles doesn't do much to your nasal passages.

That was one weird episode and I can't for the life of me see how Ashley got sent home. She is not my favorite, but dang. Ash did nothing and admitted it. Mike and Robin's stuff looked horrible and they were at each other's throats. Robin should have been gone looooong ago. My biggest beef is making them cook in the house on Macy's "Mr Wok" and such. Come on. And the preview looks like they get to do it again next week.

I vary the ingredients I add to my fried rice, but the one thing I don't ever vary is the technique I use for cooking the rice. I typically use Basmati rice--probably not the first choice of most home cooks. I prefer the long-grains and the earthy scent of Basmati rice. I soak and rinse the rice in at least 5 changes of water to remove as much starch as possible before I cook the rice in a basic rice steamer. After the rice cools down, I cover the rice and let it sit overnight to allow the rice to chill down and any remaining starch to set back down. On day two, I'll separate the chilled rice in my fingers so that I'm not faced with big chunky rice balls. I was getting frustrated in recent years when I cooked fried rice because it continually came out "soggy" and just didn't have the same texture as fried rice from a restaurant. (Obviously I didn't realize that it was probably due to the fact that I don't have a high-output flame heating the wok on my home stove). My cooking technique may sound a bit odd, but it seems to work for me in coming close to replicating the fried rice I find in restaurants. I heat a large, non-stick skillet over high heat. No oil, no butter no fat, just a dry, non-stick skillet. Then in goes the rice for a blast of dry heat. The rice gets a little crusty and a few black, charred bits on it--just the way I like it. I stir the rice around just for a minute or two, then in goes the garnishes--ham, egg, chinese sausage, shrimp, carrots, whatever. Next in the pan is a few dashes of sesame oil and a slug of soy sauce. On a rare occasion I'll add a dash of rice wine or Chinese black vinegar. I always finish my fried rice with a scattering of peas and chopped green onion.

At the restaurant I work at, whoever is doing the Meat/Fish station has to prepare family meal for the 2-3 dishwashers at the end of the night. Sometimes we have random bits of meat (sometimes hot dogs) that need to be used up. I often make the guys big plates of fried rice. I do it in a wok, like this: -High heat -squirt of oil -finely sliced red Anaheim chiles and scallions -spoonful of our Ginger Garlic Relish (raw ginger, garlic, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, and vegetable oil pureed coarsely) -healthy doses of both soy sauce and sweet soy (Kecap Manis) -leafy green vegetable that we have extra of...bok choy, water spinach, brussels sprouts leaves, etc. -diced meat -large amount of steamed rice -toss to combine -lift handle of wok to move everything to the other side, leaving an open space in the wok, and add 2-3 beaten eggs per serving -let the eggs scramble a little, then toss again to combine and coat the entire thing lightly in egg -empty onto plate, finish with a lot of Sriracha (our dishwashers are all from Ghana/Ivory Coast, so they like it SPICY)