Is there any drawbacks to using a wok for Asian Soups versus a saucepan. I would rather use my wok.?

Answer 1

Although you can buy the stainless steel kind, woks are usually made of steel. Woks are generally used for quick stir frying -- or deep frying. After I cook my food in a wok I remove it asap. I have noticed that moist foods left in a wok will cause the wok to begin rusting; the rust quickly migrate to the food imparting an objectionable iron flavor to the food. Then you have to clean that off and spend some time properly seasoning the pot again.

For soups, those stoneware-type pots (generally found in the Asian food or cooking supply stores) are good. Get the type molded with a knob shaped so that is easy to grab. Benefit from my mistake in getting one that has a knob that is hard to hang on to and I have arthritis. You can put those at medium or low heat on your burner. They make delicious soups.

Answer 2

The only problem I can think of is boiling off the "seasoning" on the wok.

If you're mainly using the wok to heat the soup and cook it quickly... in under 10 minutes. You're probably fine.

But if you're looking at simmering the soup for awhile, then I'd use a sauce pan.

I tried making a soup in a wok and let it simmer for about an hour. The seasoning came off and I had to reseason the wok.

Answer 3

A wok is meant for fast high heat cooking, it has too much surface area for making soup (you would lose alot of the soup due to evaporation). A saucepan (or soup pot) works better for low & slow cooking (the ideal way to make a good soup). Even Asian chefs do not use woks for making soups, they use a big old soup pot!

Also, the aforementioned "seasoning" problem is also an issue. If you enjoy making home made soups, but a small stock or soup pot -- they are inexpensive. You can also use it for boiling pasta, noodles, curries...