MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Any recommendation of where to buy a carbon steel wok? Also, how to tell the difference between carbon steel & stainless? There's obviously difference in cooking but not sure by sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RevImmigrant Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I got mine at Toyo in Guadalajara. I'm no expert, but I would think that the stainless steel would have a shiny finish like any stainless steel cooking pot (think Farberware as an example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artsnob Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I got mine at the Abasto market, but recently I saw them on sale at a little shop near the cow --pet store in Chapala.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Thank you very much! I've read they are very inexpensive...hope that's true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Is this Toyo correct? http://www.toyofoods.com.mx/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnivore Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Toyo is an Japanese supplier of Asian food products and cooking implements.. They have an extensive wholesale operation and a small retail location immediately across the street. They are located in Guadalajara at Manuel M. Dieguez No. 144 in Ladron de Guevara. The street runs one way (north) and Toyo is in the block between Calle Justo Sierra and Av. Mexico. If you're familiar with the antique market that's held every Sunday morning on Av. Mexico just east of Av. Americas in GDL Manuel M. Dieguez intersects Av. Mexico at just about where the antique market begins. To: MyHomeSweetHome - A carbon steel wok is black in colour and gives a far more authentic cooking result. It needs to be seasoned before using. (Wash completely, then coat the interior completely with vegetable oil and heat slowly on the stove (preferably gas) until the oil begins to smoke. Let the pan cool and simply wipe out with a paper towel. However, like a cast iron fying pan or pot you want to constantly maintain the oil sheen and try and avoid having to scrub with steel wool pads or harsh soaps as you'll have to season again if you want a proper finish. After a few uses you should find that your wok builds a "finish" that's easy to maintain. When you buy your wok it should have a definite weight and and feel somewhat heavy. If it's very lightweight then it might not be acceptable. A good wok will last a lifetime and is designed to accept very intense direct heat from an open flame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 A carbon steel wok is black in colour and gives a far more authentic cooking result. It needs to be seasoned before using. (Wash completely, then coat the interior completely with vegetable oil and heat slowly on the stove (preferably gas) until the oil begins to smoke. Let the pan cool and simply wipe out with a paper towel. However, like a cast iron fying pan or pot you want to constantly maintain the oil sheen and try and avoid having to scrub with steel wool pads or harsh soaps as you'll have to season again if you want a proper finish. After a few uses you should find that your wok builds a "finish" that's easy to maintain. When you buy your wok it should have a definite weight and and feel somewhat heavy. If it's very lightweight then it might not be acceptable. A good wok will last a lifetime and is designed to accept very intense direct heat from an open flame. What a wonderful explanation of the carbon steel wok. Thanks, Carnivore. For forty years and until recently, I used a carbon steel wok. However, for the last nearly six years I have converted to a cast iron wok--mine used to be made by LeCreuset, but now the company only makes cast iron woks that are enameled on the outside. Mine has no enamel. I confess that I love it dearly. It is the best wok I have ever used, with the most even heat, achieves the highest temperatures, and easily maintains the best seasoned surface. *love my wok* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmh Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I scrubb my carbon steel wok with kosher salt , rinse it and put it on the fire when it is dry I oil it and it is ready to use again. Nothing to it but you have to maintain it just like you would an old fashion cast iron pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 What are your must haves when cooking asian??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelperGuy Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Oyster sauce, sake cooking vinegar, ginger, dark and light soys, garlic, tapioca starch. And always onions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RevImmigrant Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Low salt soy sauce (the cardiologist has me on a no salt diet); rice vinegar; cooking sake; ginger; garlic; chili garlic sauce; hoisin sauce; chilies; sesame oil; Chinese and Japanese noodles. I also have a number of Chinese sauces in jars which I add to soy sauce to make some of the other sauces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 <ducks> Freshly rendered pork lard. So shoot me. Kenneth Lo, one of the great masters of Chinese cooking, recommended using pork lard rather than other kinds of oils/fats in many stir-fried dishes and I agree. The lard deepens and enriches the flavors of meat, seafood, chicken, and vegetables. His Tangerine Peel Szechuan Chicken is one of my go-to, all-time favorite dishes. Makes my mouth water to think of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 I bought my 14" black steel wok at Toyo this afternoon 312.70 pesos...sake 85.80 pesos 1lt. Now to figure out how to clean this thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelperGuy Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 For many years, I used Gloria Bley Miller's mega cookbook, The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook (the hardcover edition, and it cost a lot more than 25 bucks). Then I discovered a $5 rice-paper book at some corner store, simply called Stir Frying, and that gave me so many techniques that I basically don't need anything else... except when doing something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnivore Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 To: MyHomeSweetHome: Please go to the following web address for exact cleaning and care instructions: http://chinesefood.about.com/cs/cookingbasics/ht/seasonwokhowto.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelperGuy Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 To: MyHomeSweetHome: Please go to the following web address for exact cleaning and care instructions: http://chinesefood.a...sonwokhowto.htm Good idea, good info. There's also a great video here from the Wok shop that I refer to regularly, for seasoning your wok: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I've been using youtube for help, thank you...carnivore, maybe you can help me with my questions: My wok was black, non stick for sure, made in taiwan...so I came home, put it in hot water w/dish soap and scrubbed it w/a 3m pad...a royal, stinkin pain because I didn't have anything more abrasive to scrub with...I scrubbed and scrubbed and got most of the black off...is it suppose to be completely clean of the black before seasoning? Are we going to die or get sick because I didn't get it all off and then cooked with it?!?! I put the pan on the fire and watched it magically turn the bluish yellow color...even giddy when I added some sesame oil and the wok was a rich beautiful black/blue. I kept it on the heat until my paper towels were no longer wiping any black off of the wok & then I cooked in it! :-S Is the wok a regular carbon steel or a black carbon steel? I'm so glad there are a few people that understand my questions I google and youtube but haven't yet found these specific answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 For many years, I used Gloria Bley Miller's mega cookbook, The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook (the hardcover edition, and it cost a lot more than 25 bucks). Then I discovered a $5 rice-paper book at some corner store, simply called Stir Frying, and that gave me so many techniques that I basically don't need anything else... except when doing something special. In the 60s, I learned to cook Chinese from that book! It's still on my shelf, all these years later--spattered with everything from soy sauce to blood, taped together, and still revered. ((((Gloria Bley Miller)))) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I'm kind of leaning towards Japanese and Thai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmh Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 You may want to start with one or the other to save yourself from having to buy a bunch of ingredients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TioBob Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Helperguy, Thank you for the video. I still cook with tha same wok first demonstrated. I purchased it from the same wok store on Grant Ave. in SF Chinatown in 1988. It is a small world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeSweetHome Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 The wok shop didn't demonstrate a wok like what i bought yesterday...at least not the color...wonder if it was seasoned? Couldn't of been, smelt horrible...it's beautiful now. I didn't bake mine, i used the gas stove on it...it was fun to see it come to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelperGuy Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Helperguy, Thank you for the video. I still cook with tha same wok first demonstrated. I purchased it from the same wok store on Grant Ave. in SF Chinatown in 1988. It is a small world. No way! That's amazing. but I know what you mean about using the same wok. Everything I ever purchased in my Chinatown in Ottawa was still perfectly good when I left there for Mexico. And so inexpensive; I mean, really, one-piece steel cleavers for 5 bucks? A Solingen knives craftsman, from Germany, that I brought my cleaver to for sharpening told me he thought it was one of the fines pieces of blade work he'd ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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