How to Make Sizzlin' Stir Fry in a Wok

Chinese cooking has long been characterized by one tool: the wok. Woks are a versatile cookware, enabling a novice or a professional cook to create succulent food in an exciting manner over a high heat. A wok is shaped like a half-sphere to enable its wok-specific culinary techniques. In Western countries, the wok often has a flat bottom to rest on the typical stove-top burner. Smaller woks, like those people use in homes, usually have a bamboo handle that gives a sense of ancient authenticity, while larger, commercial-sized woks have to ring handles on diametrically-opposite sides. These larger woks do not simply sit on top of a burner, since they lack the flat bottom. Instead, they fit on a wok stand--a ring-shaped mount that allows the wok to be rotated around for cooking utility, or simply to fit on top of the flat burner.

The excitement of wok cooking comes from the rapid movements and fiery hot temperatures used in Chinese stir fry cooking. But do not fear, even the beginner can have fun with woks because their use is quite simple. To use a wok, you must know the different movement techniques and the proper way to use oil to cook with.

Wok Heating and Oil Use
Stir fry is cooked at a high heat, with the burner full-on. Food of all sorts is cooked in a bit of oil. Due to the lofty fahrenheits, one must use an oil with a high burning point, usually peanut oil or sesame oil. Be wary of people with food allergies to peanut oil, because cooking with it can trigger a reaction in those people. Pouring a few quick swigs of your preferred oil will usually suffice; a partial covering of the flat bottom is ideal. Once you've heated up your oil for a short period, about a minute or two, you are ready to add the food to the wok and begin to stir fry.

Wok Movements and Techniques
High heat dictates that cooks use certain techniques to avoid burning or unevenly cooking their food in the special curved cookware. Stir fry cooking prescribes constant movement of your food to ensure flavor and balanced degrees of cooking. Now, the method of keeping your food in constant rotation and relocation will vary based on skill level. Using a bamboo or plastic spoon or utensil(to protect the non-stick surface of your modern wok), beginners should merely keep the food flipping and moving with the utensil via swirling wrist motion. The proper techniques of experience Asian cooks are not recommended for beginners, since they are tricky, but impressive and flashy. With a small wok that most will use in their home, the technique is simple. You want to regularly flip and move your stir fry, so you utilize the curved nature of the wok. Using a small thrust forward, the contents of the wok will be hurled against the sloped side opposite you. Quickly perform this thrust and then stop the wok in place and your sizzling food will be lightly tossed into the air. Catch the contents to the acclaim of those watching you cook. Don't worry about a few pieces that do not land back in the wok, its part of the learning process and part of the fun.

Simple Stir fry Veggies
Stir fry vegetables are the easiest item to prepare in a wok. Here's a quick recipe:

Ingredients
Sesame oil
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Carrots
Salt and Pepper
Soy Sauce

Preparation
First, you want to cut up your veggies. Peel the carrots and cut them into circular disks, halving them if you want. Do the same with the zucchini and yellow squash, subdividing your circular pieces into fourths or eighths (the will then look like triangles).

Once these are prepared, turn the heat on medium-high to high under the wok and add a bit of sesame oil to the bottom of the pan. A few quick swigs will suffice. After a few minutes of warming the wok, add the veggies.

Cook the veggies on the high heat, constantly moving them with a wooden utensil and perhaps using the more advanced wok flip technique described above. As your veggies begin to soften under the heat, salt and pepper them to your particular taste. Don't use too much salt, because the soy sauce contains plenty. Also, liberally apply the soy sauce into the wok and continue to constantly move the veggies. Soy sauce gives the veggies their characteristic stir fry taste. Keep wok-in' it up until the vegetables are soft and tender. When they are, you should have tasted soy-sauce-seasoned stir fry vegetables that are healthy, tasty, and fun to cook.

Stir fry is easy in a wok, give it a try and you'll be well on your way to Asian culinary excellence!