When my family moved to Canada from Malaysia, my mother brought on the flight her cast iron wok. The burnished, well-oiled wok has provided our family with hundreds of exquisite Asian dishes from lemongrass crab to simple, crisp fried snow peas. It’s crucial to know how to make a proper stir-fry. The key factors are: heat, cold oil and the right amount of food to stir-fry.
When my family emigrated from Malaysia 30 years ago, my mother brought with her on the flight: a large packet of curry, her blue vinyl recipe book and her cast-iron wok. These were seen as essentials she could not live without in Canada. That wok has given birth to hundreds of sumptuous meals - most memorable is the crab stir-fried with lemongrass, egg and cumin. My mouth waters at the thought of sucking on those crab legs, crisp and savoury from the wok. It's a sublime pleasure.
As my mother is Cantonese, the wok is a priceless item. It must be well-seasoned enough to provide what her people call "wok hay" flavour. "Hay" meaning breath or energy.
Instructions
Some important tips to achieve the perfection of heat and ingredients for wok hay. First, make sure the wok is ready to welcome the food:
- Heat the wok until you can feel the warmth radiating from its bottom.
- Toss in a few beads of water and if they evaporate within a beat or two, the wok is ready for oil.
- The best wok hay can be achieved by adding cold oil to a hot wok. The cold oil should do a little jig on the wok and that's the key to preventing food from sticking to the surface (the real Ancient Chinese Secret!).
Now, that the wok is primed, it's time for the meat and veg:
- Always stir fry with fresh ingredients, which are uniformly sliced.
- Don't stir fry more than a large plate of items. An overloaded wok causes ingredients to steam rather than stir fry.
- Let meat sit in the wok at first for 30 seconds to a minute, then toss it around. Make sure the food is evenly distributed.
- If adding any liquids or sauce, drip them down the sides so the internal heat doesn't drop or you'll lose your wok hay.
By the way, my mother still has that wok. It's a family heirloom as far as I'm concerned. That and the blue vinyl recipe book brimming with good eats that have sustained my family for decades.
