How to season my wok (铁锅）?

[ChTTay]

"numbers don't mean much"

 

I was meaning, just because some guy in Taiwan uses olive oil to cook Chinese food ... doesn't mean it works well or that you should do it.

 

Honestly, I can't believe a thread about seasoning a wok has gone this far. I also don't know why I'm still posting ...

[Angelina]

 

And be careful in restaurants. There is a very good chance you will be served veg cooked in animal.

 

Why am I trying to cook Chinese food? 

 

 

There is a lot to be said about being a vegetarian in China. As you said in the blog post, it is not that easy. I am not giving up though. At the same, I am trying not to 麻烦 other people. 

 

 

I was meaning, just because some guy in Taiwan uses olive oil to cook Chinese food ... doesn't mean it works well or that you should do it.

 

I will never cook using lard, no matter the number of people who do it. That's why I said numbers don't mean much. Nothing wrong with your advice. 

[陳德聰]

I used salt... but I think that it doesn't work with electric stoves because the heat isn't high enough?

[Angelina]

How high should it be? I am using an electric one. Maybe it won't be a good idea to experiment with extremely high heat.

[Shelley]

I would not use salt, if you don't know how to do it it, it may be a disaster

 

Use vegetable oil on gentle heat in the oven if possible ( no wooden handles, or too big etc.) The idea is to just keep it warm, not too hot, so the oil can soak in.

 

You may have to do it a couple of times in the beginning, say once now and then again in a few days, using it will help.

 

Its not that difficult, just give it a go

[ParkeNYU]

I thought 'wok' was written as 鑊.

[陳德聰]

In speaking, I call it a 鍋 in Mandairn, a 鑊 in Cantonese, and a "wok" in English. I have never given much thought to which one to write, though I would probably just write 鍋 unless I needed to distinguish between a "pot" and a "wok".

[tooironic]

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how we can best translate "season a wok" into Chinese?

[Angelina]

I don't know.

 

The Chinese people I know definitely call it a 鍋. 

[liuzhou]

 

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how we can best translate "season a wok" into Chinese?

 

I've been asking this for many years and have never met anyone in China who has any idea what I'm talking about.

 

They tell me to clean the oil the thing comes in, or used to before we got all technical, but after that just cook.

 

The cleaning part is 去味处理 or 除污处理锅.

 

A bit like the mythical wok hei. I crack up every time I see westerners building nuclear reactor set-ups on their balconies or back yards to fry their stir fries.

Chinese home cooks are too busy making dinner for that.

[Angelina]

The smell is gone and I am cooking using it. The food tastes nice, can't complain. 

 

I would not label myself a westerner, but I do worry if the oil stain that is stuck on the bottom is cancerogenous.