Wok cooking

[Guest guest]

Greg wrote:

 

<< Wok cooking is not frying. It is gently heating mostly veggies

for a very short time in the centre then moving them to the outer rim

to keep warm.

 

Most Asians cook meat by cutting it VERY thin then quickly plunging

in into boiling water which contains veggies juices.

 

With respect, I suppose you do know the Japanese and especially the

Okinawans are the healthiest and longest living >>

 

I am really confounded where you get that method of cooking. My

uncle is Chinese from mainland China. He stir fries in the wok.

Sometimes uses the steam insert to steam fish. Many Chinese also

dribble hot oil over steam fish and then add sprigs of cilantro. My

cousin's ex-boyfriend is Chinese and his family have a restaurant

where few non-Chinese go because it is authentically Chinese. They

have lots of stir-fry. My sister has been to Hong Kong, Taiwan and

Japan. She said the food is as we have experienced it.

 

I learned wok cooking years ago from Chinese friends (Mainland and

Hong Kong). I studied Kung Fu in Chinatown and probably 80% of the

dishes in Chinatown are stir fried food in hot oil. Also, my ex-

boyfriend is Japanese American, and I had friends from Japan who

studied in San Francisco. They have many fried dishes. Tempura is

deepfried.

 

Have you ever used a Chinese wok? If you don't have it " seasoned " in

oil, it rusts really badly. The type of cooking you described would

be a disaster in a wok. I learned to be very careful about combining

water and woks, though steaming does work well as long as you also

use the wok for stir-frying.

 

Have you ever seen Chinese wok cooking? Chinese TV shows here

demonstrate the Chinese chef cooking over a stove with a hole from

which flames shoot up. The shape of the wok allows them to set it

into the hole, and they vigorously shake the food.

 

The well known San Francisco restaurant China Moon owned by Barbara

Tropp uses lots of stir fry. She studied in Taiwan. Here's a

quote: " Barbara Tropp's cooking is most authentically Chinese in the

discipline and concentration required by almost every item on her

menu. Its emblem might well be the consummate stir fry. "

 

Woks are perfect for quick stir frying. ChinaVista, " China's premier

full-service web site, " has a page reviewing traditional Chinese

cooking of stir-fry, steaming, and deepfrying at

http://www.chinavista.com/culture/cuisine/cookintro/cooking.html

 

Yes, I know that Okinawans have the longest life expectancy, and I

saw a program that emphasized many differences in their eating and

living styles. They eat until 80% full, and do not consider someone

old until they're 75 or so (I'm not sure about that, but the point is

that they have a different viewpoint on aging). Okinawans eat lots

of seaweed and fish. " The Ryukyu islands have distinctive culture,

language and cuisine. Okinawan cooking is characteristically stronger

and spicier than mainland Japanese cuisine, and is more heavily

influenced by Chinese cooking styles. Seafood makes up the bulk of

the Okinawan diet, and Okinawan seafood is prized for the variety of

fish available in its warm, unpolluted waters. In fact, Okinawan

waters are among the best in the world for both consistency and

variety of sushi. "

 

I've heard many thoughts about the Okinawans' longer life expectancy,

but never heard it attributed to cooking with a wok.

 

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Kathy, What type of oil do they use in the woks? Peanut?

 

Ken

 

>I've heard many thoughts about the Okinawans' longer life

expectancy,

>but never heard it attributed to cooking with a wok.

>

>Kathy

[Guest guest]

-

<ksheabrown

 

Friday, November 23, 2001 8:14 AM

Wok cooking

 

 

> I've heard many thoughts about the Okinawans' longer life expectancy,

> but never heard it attributed to cooking with a wok.

>

Hi Kathy,

 

Your description of Wok cooking was much more eloquent than mine. Thank you.

 

My point was that Wok cooking exposes foods to high temperatures for only a

short time, just enough to soften it up and

not enough to cause what are called AGE cross link (oxidative forces glucose and

protein links) formation. Also the use

of steam / boiling water to cook meat results in lower internal temperatures

than pan frying.

 

Overall the Asian way of food preparation leaves more of the food in a

beneficial way than Western pan frying.

 

Generally the lower temp and shorter time you use to " Cook " food, the better it

will be for you.

========================

Good Health & Long Life,

Greg Watson, gowatson

USDA database (food breakdown) http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/

PubMed (research papers) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi

DWIDP (nutrient analysis) http://www.walford.com/dwdemo/dw2b63demo.exe

KIM (omega analysis) http://ods.od.nih.gov/eicosanoids/KIM_Install.exe