Love at First Bite: Single Male Cooking With One Pan

You are suddenly single, and you're male. The stomach is growling.

The refrigerator is empty, your cabinets are empty, and your stove is nice and shiny and devoid of any utensils that can be used for cooking.

You give up this time and go to Denny's, but a steady diet of fast food and restaurant food will make your wallet skinnier and your belly larger.

You have to get cooking!

But it's a mystery. Maybe a lot of meal prep was done for you by your mother, girlfriend or wife. Now you're the man with no cooking plan.

Like most things in life it pays to start simple and work your way to the more elaborate, as your levels of confidence and experience grows.

My suggestion is to become a one pan man.

Get a wok.

Why a wok?

Simple. It's the one pan that can serve as a frying pan, a crock pot, and a boiler.

When you're looking for your wok, skip the fancy stainless steel ones and the electric ones. See if you can find yourself a cast iron one. Cast iron is great to cook with, as it holds the heat and is heavy enough to handle the tough jobs like brazing meats. A cast iron wok can also serve as your first means of self defense should anyone break into your new pad.

The currently empty wok has to be filled with something.

Because the wok lends itself to healthy eating due its shape (curved), why not load up on vegetables and have a go at stir fry? Sure, you can add beef or chicken or even pork. The juices and the fat will drain to the center due to the curved sides.

If you really want healthy you can go the tofu route. Be sure to buy the "firm" or "extra firm" type; marinate it, then cook on a high flame in the wok, then remove for the veggies. If this is too much "health" too soon, remember I did say to start slowly, so maybe tofu is for Wok 2.0.

The best veggies for stir frying at home are what you see at your favorite take out. The easiest way to make sure you don't screw it up and try to stir fry a squash, is to go to the frozen food aisle and buy the ready mix stir fry packages. Depending on the mix you will find, among other things, red peppers, watercress, pea pods, broccoli, mushrooms onions and green onions.

The truth is you can stir fry many things. The technique is simple.

Heat the wok on high.

Carefully add some peanut oil. Peanut oil smells like peanuts when uncooked, but when cooked it makes the dish have a distinctive taste.
Never stand with your face over the wok when adding oil. A splash of hot oil and the scars that result will not help your future dating adventures.

Toss in the heavier vegetables first, your peppers and onions. Toss in the lighter ones after. Keep the amounts of veggies small. Too much in the wok will keep the sides of the pan from doing its flash cooking job and you will have soggy veggies.

You can substitute water for oil if you are on a restricted fat diet, but will loose something in the flavor. You don't have to use a lot of oil, though, so is cheating so bad?

Next toss in the meat and cook that. Slice the meat to strips so as to take advantage of a broad cut and flat sides on the meat for cooking. Don't cube the meat.

The rest is up to you. You can add some commercial types of sauces for flavor or for hotness. These are available at your favorite store, usually near where the catsup and steak sauces are.

Add a little water to increase the volume of sauce, add a half tablespoon of cornstarch, and you will have a meal in a pan.

Don't worry if the first couple of attempts don't match the local Chinese joint. You'll get better.

The wok is adaptable, and if it's the only pan you buy,, you will find that it's good for your soup creations and boiling food as well.

Just know this. When you find yourself a suddenly single male, a dog is not man's best friend. A wok is. It will be love at first bite.