Grill Wok

[Hayden McCall]

Originally posted by J Martin:
Why not just put water in the wok and a ss bowl into the water.........I don't know.....something about kids, boiling water, and hot charcoal makes me nervous......

Yeah...it makes ME nervous too. That's why I want the water and charcoal UNDER the cooking surface...as they would be with the wok. LOL

 

[John Masaka]

There are a ton of things you can cook on a wok, just make sure it's really hot. That's the way that a wok is supposed to work, and cooking time should be relatively short.

Here's a recipe I like to make:
*1 pound chicken breasts / tenders
*1.5 lb asparagus
*1/4 cup pistachios (shelled)
*4 scallions
*2 tbs ginger
*1 tbs oyster sauce
*1 tsp chile-garlic sauce
*1 tbs sesame oil

Trim and cut up the chicken and asparagus into bite-sized pieces. Mince the ginger, slice up the scallions into one inch pieces and chop the pistachios (not too small!).
Heat up the wok, then add the sesame oil. Add in the asparagus and cook for about 2 mins. Next throw in the chicken for about 4 minutes. The chicken won't be done yet, but add in the sauces and scallions. You only need to cook it for 1 or 2 more minutes, then throw in the pistachios and serve.

It's less than 10 minutes cooking time, depending on how small you chop the chicken and how hot the wok is.
Hope you enjoy it.

Weber Grill

 

[Phil Hartcher]

John
Good recipe. You are correct, there are so many things that you can cook on the Wok.
As you said "just make sure it's really hot". What a lot of people say/ask is My Wok doesn't get very hot and food just seems to eimmer on it, How do I get it hot? When I ask them how they are setting their fire and what fuel are they using for the fire they generally give the same answer. Generally the fire is under the the Wok but it is normally only 2 rows high and not very big, similar to if they were direct grilling.
The Weber Wok is made from about 2.5 mm SS which require a fair bit of heat to bring it up to temp, because of it's large surface area and the fact that it is generally used with the lid of for more than 1/2 it's cooking time (many dishes the lid is off all the time) heat is an extremely important factor. As charcoal is expensive and not readily available in Australia I use briquettes (Heat Bead brand) Charcoal burns hotter. I use about 75 briquettes (which is 1 1/2 of my chimneys) and pour the in a pyramid in the centre of the charcoal grill The base of the Wok should flatten out the pyramid and rest on the top of the fire. This will give the maximum heat and is what you need for many Wok dishes. Once you you have mastered this you can then adjust the heat by flattening out the pyramid. Some dishes such as my famous Tasmanian Scallops in Champagne, or my unknown Lamb Curry do not need high heat as they are simmered I still use the same amount of briquettes but a much flatter fire.
I actually prefer the briquettes even though they don't put out as much heat as the charcoal. I find that I can get consistant temperatures and predictable burn times with them. They are also easier to handle when I want to adust the fire to obtain different temperatures.
I don't have any experience with the different briquettes that you have in North America but you should make sure that the ones you use are predictable. I also think that it is one of those cases that you should be consistant with the quantity that you use.

Regards