Tips For Cooking Vegetables In The Wok

The wok or oriental pan has a concave and not flat design, which allows food to be sautéed quickly and with a minimum of oil. When we sauté with the wok, the food browns all over the surface, while inside it is juicy and crunchy.

This allows them to preserve their organoleptic properties very well and gives them a unique flavor, difficult to obtain with a more conventional frying pan. However, to achieve good results you need a certain technique and follow some basic rules.

How to chop vegetables to cook them in a wok

Vegetables can be chopped with different cutting styles and sizes and, although it is usually recommended that they be rather small, very showy sautees are obtained with medium-sized cuts.

The most important thing is that, whatever cut you choose, it has to be as homogeneous as possible so that the vegetables cook evenly.

In what order are the ingredients introduced

Once the ingredients are already cut, it is necessary to heat the wok until it is slightly tempered.

At that moment, one or two tablespoons of oil are added, and it is stirred well so that the walls are smeared. Then the wok is put on the fire and, before the oil begins to smoke, the food is added one by one: first the driest and that need more time to cook, such as the roots ( yang ), and lastly moment the most delicate and juicy, such as leaves or sprouts ( yin ).

The secret is in the intensity of the fire and the amount of ingredients

Since the wok has a concave base, the ingredients tend to clump together at the bottom, so they have to be turned frequently or constantly stirred with a wooden paddle. All this has to be done with medium-high heat and without removing it from the flame, so that the temperature remains constant at all times.

It is important not to overload the wok with many ingredients at the same time, because in addition to not being able to shake them easily, the oil would quickly drop in temperature and the characteristic texture that has made this kitchen utensil so famous would not be achieved.

Which oil is better to sauté in the wok

In the countries where the wok originates , peanut oil is usually used to cook the different recipes , but here olive oil, of moderate acidity, can be used perfectly , as long as it is of quality, since it supports very well the high temperatures of this cooking technique.