This is the beginning of our series on the cooking with the wok, as pulled from excerpts from Renegade Wok: New Dimensions in Wok Cooking. This book is perhaps the first epicure that addresses the Western Wok curiosities of where does one begin to understand (Wok Beginner) and where do we go from here (Wok Connoisseur).
In this series (and the source book), we will strive to further the art of cooking:
- By introducing to the beginner, the ABCs of using the wok, and thus better to prepare themselves for mastering any wok menu.
- By whetting the appetite of readers, who are already into wok cooking and are now confronted with exciting new challenges from China, USA, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Mexico, and others.
- By inspiring readers to understand, participate, and to promote a new dimension into wok enjoyment.
Our philosophy here is to teach the beginner and review with the connoisseur, on how to obtain the best flavor from the ingredients used. The knowledge gained here is the self confidence in one's ability to prepare any conventional and innovative wok food with a master chef's touch.
Do not fret if you do not see many conventional wok menus here. Our objective is to get you to "Wok Chef" status in the shortest possible way. Along the way, try reading other wok cook books, visiting your favorite Oriental kitchen, or have any wokker show you how the important steps are done.
You may then realize that the wok world is indeed exciting enough for you to participate and indulge further into.
The Making of Ingredients
This is the age of fast foods, fast cooking, and fast eating. All of these are possible as long as the items are on the limited menus.
The Renegade Wokker need not worry about this threat. We can still beat this mass feeding mania and have time for leisurely eating. Have you ever wondered how each Oriental kitchen can put out a seemingly endless stream of Oriental dishes in such a short period of time?
One theory of wok cooking evolved around the desire to improve the efficiency in the kitchen and thus reduce cooking time. In the old days, the lazy citizens were put to work in the kitchen because it was well known that they would find the fastest way to do things. This started the evolution of the chopping block and cleaver.
Long before refrigerators were conceived of, all food had to be cooked fresh or they would turn to funny colors or even taste bad. This required more food preparation time than cooking time. This dilemma was overcome by shortening the battle axe handle so that wok food could be prepared by a few chops or chopchop. Since this was a clever move, the new chopping tool was called a cleaver because it could reduce food preparation time.
A twenty-course dinner, used to require one-half day to eat, much to the delight of the guests. One reason the Oriental banquets is so popular is that the host must provide speeches, drinks, music and even entertainers, to keep the guest from getting hunger pangs between courses.
