What does a Wok do in Chinese cooking?? a wok pan plz?

Question

why do chinese people use wok pans when making foods why not use a regular pan? what difference wok n another pan???

Answer 1

A wok is the perfect medium for Chinese cooking: it provides a larger surface area for high heat stir frying. It is a great conductor of heat, the sides keep the food warm without oevrcooking or burning. Inserts allow for deep frying, braising, smoking & steaming. It's actually the only cooking vessel you really need!

Answer 2

A wok is a very efficient choice of pan to use because the heat is very evenly conducted in such a small cooking area! Most good wok's do come with various other things too, like a steamer basket to steam your food, a chinese
knife to properly cut your food to the appropiate lengths to cook in your wok! I have heard it said that a good chinese cook is known by the size of his wok!Wok cooking is faster than on a stove top or range too!

Answer 3

Have you used a wok before? It's awesome! You can cook so much more in a wok than a normal pan. You can cook a full meal in just one wok! Great for rice and pastas, mmm. Take care :)

Answer 4

The shape concentrates heat to much higher temperatures. Cooks food quickly and efficiantly, but requires constant stirring to prevent burned food.

The Chinese may be asking why YOU don't use a regular wok instead of that silly flat pan.

Answer 5

The shape of wok provides different heat distribution that would serve in different purposes when cooking with a wok. The center is the hottest area, good for flash frying/stir frying while the outer area isn't so hot so its a perfect area to place the food that you don't want to over cook. All at the same time.

Answer 6

To Wok or Not to Wok

Do I really need a wok to cook Chinese food?

The answer is yes and no. You don't absolutely need a wok to create satisfying Oriental meals - I often make chow mein or chop suey in the frying pan. Nonetheless, the bowl-shaped utensil is the one piece of equipment that you really should consider purchasing if you want to get serious about Chinese cooking. A wok has numerous advantages over the frying pan - it distributes heat more evenly, requires less oil, and ensures that food tossed during stir-frying lands back in the pan and not on the stove. A good kitchen knife can take the place of a cleaver, and rice can be boiled in a saucepan instead of steamed, but it is hard to find a satisfactory substitute for a wok.

Once you've decided to add a wok to your supply of kitchen equipment, you'll want to shop around to choose the best model. Originally, all woks were round bottomed and made of iron - designed to be used with the traditional Chinese wood stove. Gradually, the iron was replaced with carbon steel. Today, there are all types of woks on the market: aluminum, copper, stainless steel. However, every Asian cook I've spoken with still swears by the traditional carbon steel wok, and I have to agree.

There have been a few other innovations designed to make the wok more compatible with western ranges. Since the 1960's, round bottomed woks normally come with a "collar" - a circular device with holes to allow for the transfer of heat. It ensures that the wok is evenly balanced over the heat source. While people with gas stoves often prefer not to use it, the collar should definitely be used if you are cooking with a round bottomed wok on an electric stove. However, your best option when cooking on an electric range is to purchase a flat bottomed wok. Round bottomed woks can reflect heat back on the element, damaging it.

Design Considerations

Traditionally, the wok came with two metal handles, making it easy to lift in and out of the stove. However, I prefer the modern woks that have one long wooden handle, like a skillet. As Barbara Tropp points out in The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking, the long handle "eliminates the need to work with a potholder or mitt, and gives you wonderful leverage for tilting the pot." As for size, woks come in a variety of sizes (restaurants may use woks that are several feet across) but a 14 inch wok is a good size for home use.

Seasoning and Cleaning Your Wok

You may have heard that it is very important to season your wok before trying it out for the first time. Why is this necessary? Seasoning removes the preservative oil manufacturers place on the wok to prevent it from rusting, replacing it with a light coating of cooking oil. It is also important to properly clean your wok after each use. Given the variety of woks on the market today, it is difficult for me to give a general set of instructions on how to season and care for a wok. The best thing you can do is pay careful attention to the manufacturer's instructions. However, below I do have step by step instructions for seasoning and cleaning a traditional carbon steel wok.

hope this helps. good luck.

Answer 7

Heat is concentrated into a small space on the pan, so it's very energy efficient to cook this way. You could cook a meal for 6 people with just 2 to 3 charcoal briquettes.

Answer 8

Time,energy & work saving effecient utensil ,makes light of cooking anything ,simple to elaborate .Once you have got the hang of it ,you wouldn't want any other pan especially for chinese dishes.Remenber you just have a single pan to wash up .

Answer 9

the wok's rounded bottom makes it versatile, storing heat more efficiently while stir fryin. it's like a a saute pan n saucepan merge as one ,n; therefore can be used in different types of cookin.

Answer 10

Aero dynamics to concentrate heat to the surface of the metal. This is to aid you in cooking foods quickly and with the right tools you can manipulate an entire course (meat and vegetable) in one pan.