Sorry this is definitely a very traditional Chinese cast iron wok. In fact, cast iron is a Chinese invention since the 5th century BCE, and they have been making very thin woks since this time. This is a very traditional home style wok, not intended to be lifted except to transfer food out or for cleaning the wok. No reason to shun it, just use it more often. Just be mindful, since it is very thin it can crack or shatter easier than thicker cast iron. So no sudden temperature changes, or banging heavy metal implements inside. But since it is thin, you don't have to wait as long to heat it up. So use it often and it will develop a nice seasoning.

Either one is fine. But personally I would opt for the round bottom one with a wok ring. The ring is essential for wok stability and it will hold more heat on the bottom of the pan.

You can safely keep the burner on high and keep your hands away from the direct heat of the fire with the ring. Otherwise the flames and heat have a nasty habit of crawling up the side of the wok.

I have had both styles and with the cheaper flat wok bottoms tend to warp and eventually wobble anyways. Also the flat part tends to get food stuck cause of the shape. Just my opinion of course.

Just cook and cook often! Good luck..

My favorite woks are made in Japan, I have a 36cm esuesu (エスエス) Peking pan and a 30cm yamada (山田) hammered bottom Cantonese wok. The Peking pan is beautifully constructed from one piece of metal and one hollow metal handle. The Yamada wok is a traditional Cantonese wok with the two riveted metal wire handles. Both are blue carbon steel and both after seasoning are nearly non stick.

They are light enough to toss and flip food in them if so desired, or just for fun. I like to pretend I'm a professional wok cook and flip the food around. I use them with a wok ring, so they don't wobble and it also concentrates the heat on the bottom of the woks.

I bought the esuesu from the wok shop in San Francisco , $40.00. The Yamada from Hitachiya in Torrance, $47.00. They are light years ahead of any Chinese or Taiwanese made woks. Better metal quality and better fit and finish. Well worth the extra price in my opinion. As I get older i find that buying something once is enough, not cheap stuff multiple times. Hope this helps.

I think using the wok ring is still a good idea. If you are going to do real wok cooking, you will need to be moving the food around very vigorously. The wok ring will stabilize the wok and keep it from tipping over. If it is the kind with a wide side and narrower side, place the wide side up. This will make the flame closer to the wok.

Secondly it will concentrate the heat on the bottom of the wok. Most of the fire/heat cannot get past the wok ring, this will be the hottest part of the wok. I also find that it keeps the flame from wicking up the sides of the wok, as the wok's shape makes this particularly easy. This will protect you from burns and super hot handles as well. So feel free to turn the burner to the highest flame without fear of open flames burning your hands directly. I also will put a bit of aluminum foil to cover the holes where the handle is, to further protect my hands.

About the outside of the wok, don't worry about it. I think Chem said it best, it will season itself over time. In fact the bottoms of my woks look better and darker than the insides of my woks. When i rinse off the inside of the wok between dishes with a tawashi (japanese palm fiber brush), the bottom gets wet from the rinse water and oil. Then it goes back onto the fire to be reheated, this process has blackened the bottom quite a bit. Just keep cooking, and the patina will form. The more you cook the faster and more durable the seasoning.

HI Vonshu, in regards to a cookbook. I would say what is your favorite type of Chinese food? Just as with French food, Chinese food has many different regions and styles of cooking for those regions. If you like mostly Cantonese, get a Cantonese cookbook. If you like more hot/spicy, then Sichuan or Hunan would be more appropriate start.

As for the wok question, as many people have stated, it's not essential to cook Chinese food in a wok. But I would say that it would be the most appropriate and it is also one of the most versatile pans out there. In getting a wok, you can stir fry, steam/boil, deep/shallow fry and even smoke foods in it. With the addition of a wok, you might get rid of other pans in your collection.

As another poster said, Chinese cooking, even if not done in a wok, is all about prep work. Chinese cooking is 90% prep work, and only 10% cooking time. Cut everything to the same size, have your sauce ready. Heat the wok, till you can see the wok changes color and can smell it. Then add oil, enough to swirl around the edges, and then dump it out, this will leave just enough hot oil in the wok.

Throw in the meat let it get good and brown, then stir it around. When half cooked take it out of the pan, set it aside to rest. Then heat the wok up again, and repeat the oiling. Then add the veggies, longer to cook first, then add meat back and then add sauce. All on high heat, cause most ranges are not going to be 'hot' enough.

Happy wokking.

HI Bada Bing, I was in the same situation, my apartment stove was one of those halogen light bulb stoves, which was horrible for wok cooking. So I went out and bought one of those propane turkey fryers for the patio. Then found out that the wok's shape is perfectly suited to channel that intense heat right to your handle and hands. So was unable to hold the wok and toss food, instead just pushed food around with the ladle.

So went onto the internet and found a couple of places that sells wok rings, but not your typical one for your home range. The one I bought was slightly larger than the one recommended for my 36cm pao wok. I had bought the SS wok ring from Food Service Warehouse (FSW), but bought the 16" one instead. Wok sits deeper and you get more heat cause it's closer to the flame. Then just blocked some of the holes up so the flames wouldn't shoot out the front.

Then found the ultimate professional wok ring at a local restaurant supple store here in San Diego, Chef City. They specialise in Asian cookware, and bought a cast iron wok right like in the restaurants. This is what I use now, for outside at least. Hope this helps.

Hi Bensy, just thinking outside the box here, but could you buy one of those portable gas burners? I think that you mentioned that you have mediocre gas range, so the problem would be more an issue of btu's vs. wok shape.

I was in a very similar situation with the horrible halogen light range that was in my apartment. So I went to my local Japanese grocery store and bought one of those Iwatani butane burner, this one said it was capable of 15,000 btu's, it was expensive ($85.99), but well worth it to me. There is another Iwatani burner with just 12,000 btu's which was way cheapter, (on sale was $25.99).

The extra btu's and the ability to control the heat instantly are well worth the price and the extra equipment for me. But to answer your original question for a wok, I personally prefer the round bottom woks. I have my indoor wok which is a Yamada Kogyo 33cm double handles, and the outdoor one is a Esuesu 36cm beijing pan. Both Japanese made woks, which are really well made, but both cost considerably more than Chinese made woks. Just my $.02.

Hi Sasidhhar79, saw your question and thought I would give you another wokking option. I have just come back from the mother load of Japanese cooking equipment in the Torrance area, called Hitachiya. It is a little mom and pop store, but just packed with Japanese cookware and accessories.

If you are still looking for a wok, this place has the Yamada Kogyo wok. This is a Japanese made wok, 1.2mm thick, which is machine pressed, but has been hammered to duplicate an authentic hand hammered one. I know cause I got a 33cm one, and actually made fried rice after seasoning it and then deep frying some lumpia. They are pricey though, as with most stuff in that shop.

I bought a 33cm Cantonese style with the two loop handles for $51.00. But well worth the money if you ask me. And if you are still looking, I would suggest going there this weekend, Saturday, September 14th-Monday the 16th, as they are having a 2nd anniversary sale. Everything in the store will be discounted up to 40% off. I'll be there on Sunday, hope to see you there.

Just got a new 16" round end grain chopping block, from the local restaurant supply store. It was quite inexpensive $25 and about 1.5" thick as well. As for me I am trying out something new to seal it. Since this is my first one, I had done some research and most people agree with sealing it with USP Food Grade Mineral oil.

Most places want to wipe on a thin layer of oil and then just wipe off excess, which is done daily for a week, and then some less intense oiling thereafter. I'm pretty lazy and I didn't need the board just yet, so i actually soaked the board in the oil. I put the board in a large plastic bag and then just dumped the whole small bottle of mineral oil in the bag and just tied it up. Just for fun I double bagged it. I figured that if the board was completely submerged in the oil it would take up all it could. So far it has been soaking for about 4 days.

Just took it out and wiped off the excess oil and the board has a different sound when tapping on it. it sounds a bit more solid and it feels a bit heavier than it did before the soaking. Washed off the remaining oil and then used it. I just love the sound of the dull thudding noise when chopping, and the heaviness of the board itself. It doesn't move around even with heavy cutting with my chinese cleaver. I feel totally authentic with a chunk of log to do my chopping on. Also love the deep rich brown color to it. And just for fun I also threw in some of my wooden handled knives in the bag as well.

Well just wanted to put my $.02 on the subject.

Just got back from Seattle this evening. And I can vouch that Uwajimaya would not be a good place to look for Chinese cookware. I love to look around for cookware, and look highly on those places that have good quality, large selection, and at a reasonable price as well. And unfortunately Uwajimaya is not one of those places.

In fact I was quite disappointed with the selection of woks there. They had them but they were all Helen/Joyce Chen brand, both non-stick and carbon steel variants. Most, if not all were the flat bottom woks, and they did not carry many types of wok accessories either.

I too was looking to find some place which sold Chinese cookware. Was staying at my buddy's place for the week, and I offered to cook while I was there to sort of pay my way in sorts. So I looked here and couldn't find the restaurant stuff. No round bottom woks, and not a single wok ladle or turner either. I would suggest other places, which I tried to find in the International district, but didn't have enough time. Sorry can't provide anywhere you can buy, but I can say that the U does not have what we are looking for.

Hi Eiron,
I think that when I do use it, it is a great cutting board. I also think that some cracking is always a possibility as well. If we look at those giant cutting blocks on Iron Chef Japan, we can see that they can have huge cracks. I think that I personally just don't like them at all. And In the defense of the chopping block itself, the cracks were pretty minor. I think it is my own laziness that I haven't done proper wood sealing techniques: lindseed or other similar type of sealing.

Also with my smallish kitchen counter, I don't have the luxury of it just staying there. I think with those people that are going to use it frequently (read, daily), then I think that the cracking issue wouldn't be a problem, or if one properly seals the block, I think it would not be a problem. I still do really like the cutting board, very solid, and I love to hear the chinese cleaver make those lovely thudding sounds on it. So much different than the poly boards.

Joel

Hi Eiron,
I have the same cutting board, I must have bought it at least 3 years ago if not more. I have still yet to use it, as Tane told me that it might split a bit. Which it does when it dries. So her suggestion was to drench it with mineral oil, which i did. But it still cracks. So now it literally sits in a tub of water, and I use it when I am in a "eat, drink, man, woman" mood (watch the first 6 minutes on youtube, and you will get what i mean). Tane told me that this "Ironwood" is the same wood used to make Chinese Junk Boats, so water won't hurt it. And she's right, it sits in that vat of water, and looks so damn good, with all it's deep brown color. But it does have a funny smell to it.

I would say that it really doesn't dull the knife any more than my end grain block, as it is naturally end grain, right? But it is heavy and dense, I wouldn't want to drop this on my foot or anything else I cherish. Hope this helps.

Joel

Hi Slopfrog, yes it is a lacquer coating on the pans to prevent rusting while taking that long ship ride from China. Anyways you could scrub it off with some cleanser powder, green scrubby and a lot of elbow grease. Or you can burn it off like you did, by either tilting the pan and turning your burner on high or getting all MacGyver and using your method.. I don't think you mentioned if you had a gas or electric range. Another way to take it off might be to deep fry with some oil you are going to dispose of, gets hotter than just boiling water, and seasons the pan all at once.

Hope you have as much fun as I do seasoning your pan. Actually you could also season it in the oven. Even with all the wooden parts on it too. All you need to do is cover the wooden parts that don't come off with some dampened rags and then cover with foil. If you need a visual, go visit youtube.com and look for Tane Chan the owner of the Wok Shop in San Fran's Chinatown, she actually shows you how to season several woks with different methods.

Ok since we are talking about unsafe or dangerous knife handling skills...I just had to mention a certain video which is on youtube.com. All you have to do is type in 'how to use a cleaver" in the search, and find the one from Expert Village, It will have the 98% NEGATIVE rating. If you want to just about laugh your head off, and perhaps curse the lady and her supposed cooking expertise, then just watch the video. And please add your comment on it on youtube. Actually for more laughs read all the funny comments left by other people.

I don't have a "real" mandolin that is Made in France...but I do have a Japanese made one. The one I have is the light green plastic model made by Benriner. This mandolin is just super sharp, made just like a samurai sword. The thickness can be adjusted and there are also two julienning blades for thicker or thinner slices. I would agree that if you are having trouble you might be trying to make the slices too thick.

I would also suggest one of those metal mesh gauntlets to protect your hand, just in case. I often find the little hand guard provided are cumbersome to use and not very effective in general. But at least with the metal glove you can use the mandolin without out fear of cutting yourself. I would also suggest using leverage on your side, have the mandolin much lower then your arm. Either a lower stable table or raising yourself higher, to make sure you can really push down on said veggie victim. Also putting some non-slip surface under the mandolin to prevent slippage as well. A nice smooth pushing motion is what I do and the sweet potatoes just come out the other side all nicely cut up. Hope this helps you out.

I just recently bought a set of Matfers pans: 5", 8", 10" and 12 3/4". I pretty much settled for these French made pans when I couldn't find some pretty cool Japanese made "SS" pans. I find the Matfers pans to be nice and heavy, but made haphazardly. A case in point are the welded metal handles, which are not quite properly attached. The smaller pans have two welds, and the larger pans have a triangular pattern. None of the welds are centered and neither are the handles. They are all set at different angles as well, so they don't nest inside each other very well either.

But I will say they do season very easily and heat up quite evenly as well. I was able to season them within 10-15 minutes each. I took a carbon steel wok method to season them...washed them very well and peeled that blasted plastic sticker. Then heated the pans on the hottest setting of my gas range, about 7 minutes turning the pan every minute or so. In this time the pan started to change colors, from a silver, to a blue, brown, purplish and blackish hues can be seen. At the end of the heating period I let it cool slightly and then turned on the blower on high, and then very, very lightly oiled the pan and returned it to the super high heat for about 5-7 minutes. And voila...a nicely seasoned pan. First job is either a deep fry or something with a lot of oil and or butter. Two or three dishes this way and the pan is pretty much stick resistant. Now I need very little oil/butter at all.

Still looking for those Japanese made "SS" pans, which are very well made. I prefer them cause the metal handles are riveted and also have a gentle "V" shape to them. The pans are also thick but not quite as thick as the Matfers pans. I have a previous post actually looking for the "SS" pans here in California. But no luck, hence I "settled" for the Matfers pans.

Hi everyone, I have finally given up hope of ever finding the SS pans. So I broke down and got the French made Matfers pans at San Diego Restaurant Supply. To my surprise the pans were not as expensive as I had thought. A 8" crepe pan was about $13.00, and my huge 12.75" saute pan was about $48.00. The crepe pan having the lower edge and having less metal all together and the saute pan having about 3" of metal at about a 45-50 degree angle has quite a bit of metal. So the prices are quite reasonable.

I have found some things which I do find quite annoying. Firstly the pans are not constructed with the same care. For instance the Japanese SS made pan has a riveted handle which is good and bad, but it is at least riveted straight on the pan. These French made Matfers pans have a welded handle, that you are lucky to get even somewhat straight on the pan. The welds must be done by hand, cause sometimes there are two welds, side by side on the smaller pans. And the larger pans have triangular weld. Some times the welds are spot on, and sometimes very off, to where it looks like the welder just got the bare edge of the handle on the welding machine.

The metal on the French pans are very thick compared to the SS pan (3mm vs 2.7mm). And going back to the handle, the SS pan's handle is thinner and has a gentle "v" shape to it. The other pans have a long straight metal handle which is thicker and like I mentioned above not welded with much care or precision. But all in all the pans are working out quite well. They heat up nicely, but you have to be superman to actually "saute" the big 12.75" pan, which I have tried. It does have the perfect sway to the edge to allow for sauteing, if you can lift the sucker.

The pans have also seasoned very nicely as well. It took me about 20 minutes to get them nice and dark, of course they will season more with use. But making something that uses a lot of oil/butter in them the first couple of times will help to season them a bit faster. I will post some before and after pictures of the pans. They really do change color quickly. But otherwise I think it was an okay compromise for the SS pans.

Hi Dr. Crash, I was in the same dilemma, smaller or larger. I opted for the slightly smaller wok. I do think that it would depend more on the actual heat output and size of your stove/burner. You don't want to get one that's too big for the amount of fire power your stove can produce. Otherwise you will NOT be stir frying, but instead will be stir-steaming. Common problem with stoves/burners that don't produce enough heat to actually stir-fry. So adjust your wok to your stove, not the other way around.

You can always move up later if you find it too small. Besides, too much food in a wok will cool it off, and make tossing difficult as well. I suppose that the reason you got the Beijing/Peking pan was for tossing? Otherwise the Cantonese style with the two metal loop handles would do just fine. But you can toss food with that as well. just need more skill and a bigger oven mitt/glove.

Sorry to hear that the pan is so much trouble. Here is a way to see if it's a steel pan vs. an aluminum one. Just use a magnet, if it sticks then it is some kind of metal (ferrous metal), and if it doesn't then it is most likely aluminum (non-ferrous metal). Now for SS vs. carbon steel, get it wet, and then just wipe it down with a damp cloth. Then leave it to sit for some time. If there are little rust marks then it is some kind of bare steel and of course no rust then it's SS. Not 100% but in most cases you will be able to tell. Sometimes if the bare metal has a coating of some sort then it won't rust, for example if you have laminated knife, only the very edge which is bare will start to discolor.

In your first picture, the bottom of the wok seems to be warping upwards, is this the case? Or does it just appear to be this way cause of the lighting and coloring of the pan? If it is warping, it may not be a bad thing to just toss it, metal might be too thin on the bottom, which will lead to just a lot of trouble with sticky foods due to uneven heating.

Here is a twist on the tradition Chinese/Asian way of reseasoning a pan...clean it off really well inside and out. Then turn the burning on high, and set the pan on the burner. Just leave it there, be patient,it will start to turn color. If it is a carbon steel pan, then you will start to see all sorts of different colors: brown, blue, black, purple, all colors are good. Try to move the pan to get all the sides and edges to turn color. Careful it is super hot, use your oven mitt, make sure it's dry or else you will steam yourself. Be patient and turn on the exhaust fan to high, open the windows, and close all the doors in the house, this process gets super smokey due to the high heat. Do NOT add oil when this hot, it will immediately flame up on you and you will get tons of smoke.

When the entire pan has changed color, let it cool off till it is just warm, and then wipe down with a lightly oiled paper towel. Let it sit for a bit, and then wash the pan off (with or without soap, it's up to you), then repeat the process, this time making sure to get all the unevenly colored spots. You will notice that the pan should be super dark by the second time. When I get a set of new carbon pans, I will take pictures of the color differences before and after the process.

This way minimizes the super smokey part of the vaporized oil, which is not good for you or the blower. See that sticky oily stuff on your exhaust grate, that gets into your lungs as well, not good. Many women in rural China get upper respiratory tract infections and the like from inhaling the fine particulates of the oil and from their wood burning stoves.

Hope this helps. Let us know what happens.

yeah me too. then one day he was all puffy faced and looked much younger than he should have. and you know that chinese people will color their hair till they die right? lucky, most of them will never go bald, and so they will always have some hair to dye.

chinese knives are just all purpose knives in my book. recently i bought the book called japanese knives. and i was completely amazed at the different types of knives used in the japanese kitchen. there was a knife for just about every job. i mean don't get me wrong, i would love to get each and every knife in that book. but wow, i would spend a fortune. I am still going to be using my one knife for most jobs.

joel

yeah i know, youtube just my favorite website ever. you can find just about anything there. just love gordon and all the f bombs he uses. but watch the dim sum one, and you can see his chinese counterpart, who totally dismisses all his attempts at dim sum.

personally i just love the beginning of this movie, i have tried to duplicate the chef's kitchen. I have modified my gas range to produce a column of fire about a foot high to replicate wok cooking as much as possible. I have also bought the hunk of tree trunk in san francisco's chinatown. and now if i can get fresh chicken and frogs like him? just kidding about that one.

Joel