before using it the first time. Scrub the wok out with hot
soapy water, dry it carefully, and place it over a burner at
the highest heat possible until it starts to smoke. Carefully
rotate the pan so that every area of it—including the edges
—is exposed to this super-high heat. Then rub it down with
oil, using a paper towel held in a pair of tongs, and you’re
ready to go. After use, avoid scrubbing the wok unless
absolutely necessary. Usually a rinse and a rubdown with a
soft sponge is all that’s necessary. Purists may tell you not to
use soap. But I do, and my wok is still well seasoned and
completely nonstick. After rinsing it, dry the wok with a
kitchen towel or paper towels and rub some vegetable oil
into the surface to give it a vaporproof coating that will
prevent it from rusting.
With repeated use, the oil you heat in your wok breaks
down into polymers that fill the microscopic pores in the
metal’s surface, rendering the material completely nonstick.
As you break in your wok, the material will gradually
change from silver to brownish and, finally, to a deep black.
This is what you are looking for.
With proper care, your wok will not only last a lifetime
but also actually improve with age.
BASIC WOK SKILLS
Stir-frying is the quintessential wok technique; however,
we’re not really gonna spend any time on that here, as there
isn’t a single stir-fry recipe in this book (maybe you can
write to my publisher and convince them you’d like to see a
Food Lab: Chinese Classics some time in the future). But