My first blog: the ideal wok

After our last wok disintegrated whilst cooking a meal, I was recently forced to search for a new wok for our kitchen arsenal (I lasted for about a week without one before my sanity became questionable). Being a scientist, I did a bit a research and sampling before buying – it’s surprising how hard it is to find a decent wok these days! They appear to all come with a slathering of non-stick Teflon coating, and have a flattened bottom with some bullshit red-dot heating indicator on them. The main purpose of a wok is to sear foods at high temperatures, temperatures at which Teflon would decompose and release fluorinated hydrocarbons into your food. Nice! As I cook on a gas burner with indented grating on it, there’s no need for me to use a flat-bottomed wok. Even if an indented grating was not present, a wok’s centre of gravity should ensure it stays upright on a flat surface. The temperature indicator is also redundant, as you should always heat a wok up until its smoking before adding any oil, and then wait until the oil smokes before adding food. Simple as that.

So there I was, searching through all the cookery stores for a good quality, heavy, round-bottomed cast iron wok. Guess where I found one? From the “home-brand” section at K-mart! At just under $40, I found a bog standard 30″ cast iron wok with no bullshit coating. Its bottom surface was slightly flattened, but nowhere near to the extent of others I encountered. I’m a happy cook!

Next blog: loving your work