The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

(Nandana) #1

it’s also the best tool for deep-frying, steaming, and
smoking food indoors. Here’s how to do it all:



  • Deep-frying in a wok is vastly superior to doing it in a
    Dutch oven. The wide sides means that there’s less mess
    —any splattering oil hits the sides and falls back down to
    the center. The shape also makes it much easier to
    maneuver food, leading to crisper, more evenly cooked
    results. Boil-overs become a thing of the past, once again
    due to the wide, sloping shape, which allows for plenty of
    bubble expansion before the oil threatens to spill over the
    edges. Finally, it’s much easier to filter out bits of debris
    and detritus from the slanted sides of a wok than from the
    sharp corners of a Dutch oven.

  • Steaming in a wok is also much easier than in another
    vessel. You can use a standard steamer insert for a large
    pot. Simply rest it directly on the bottom of the wok over
    simmering water, and use the dome-shaped lid to cover
    the pan. The advantage, of course, is that in a wide wok,
    you have far more surface area for steaming. This
    advantage can be stretched even further if you get
    yourself a couple of bamboo steamers. Bamboo steamers
    are designed to fit directly into a wok and are stackable,
    meaning that you can have two or three tiers of food all
    steaming in the same wok at the same time. Try doing that
    in a Dutch oven!

  • Smoking is also easy in a wok. All you’ve got to do is line
    the bottom with a piece of foil that extends over the edges
    by at least three-quarters the total width of the wok, then
    place your smoking medium (wood chips, tea leaves,

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