Wok Cooking

The Wok is a popular cooking tool that has been around for thousands of years, originating in the Canton district of China. It was formed with a rounded bottom that recessed into a traditional pit style stove with the heat being directed at the bottom. Widely used in Asia it has now spread throughout the world.

  

Part of the reason for its popularity is because it is so versatile and can be used for steaming, boiling, braising, searing, roasting, stir frying, and deep frying. It is also inexpensive, easy to use and almost
indestructible.

      

The traditional wok is made of carbon steel and has a rounded bottom, but is also available with a flat bottom for use with electric stoves.  It comes with either riveted or welded loop handles, a single stick handle, or a combination of the two. The bowls come in a variety of diameters from as small as 11 inches up to 24 inches or more. A standard size for most households would be 14 inches because this size fits neatly over the gas ring or electric coil of most stoves.

Remember that the correct cooking temperature will affect the taste and quality of the food and so it is important to make sure that your stove can deliver sufficient heat concentration at the base of the wok.  For this reason gas stoves are generally preferred and by placing a ‘wok ring’ over the burner the wok is cradled and held securely over the heat.

The depth of the wok is also an important consideration because this determines the capacity of food that can be cooked at any one time.

  

The shape of the wok allows oil to pool at the base where it is hottest leaving the cooler sloping sides available to move food to for longer cooking time.

When purchasing a carbon steel wok it is necessary to season the surface to prevent food sticking to it. To season a wok it is good practice to do it in a well ventilated area away from any combustible material. Heat the wok until the entire surface is hot, then add at least a teaspoon of an oil with a high smoke point and spread the oil evenly over the inside surface using a cloth or paper towel. The idea is to get the wok hot enough so that the light coating of oil begins to smoke and gradually darkens the metal surface. Allow the wok to cool to room temperature, wipe off any excess oil and repeat the process again. The wok may need to be treated like this three or four times before it is ready for use.

 

Once seasoned properly the metal surface will be darker and take on a slightly glossy oily appearance and be tacky to the touch. There should be no more trouble with sticking food, but in order to maintain the seasoning it should not be washed in soapy water. Instead rinse the wok in warm water and allow to air dry. A bamboo brush can be used to remove any food particles that resist rinsing. The high temperature used during cooking creates a sterile utensil so there is no need to be concerned about cleaning the wok in the normal manner, a light brushing and rinsing should be sufficient. When using a wok to steam or stew, it is a good idea to buy an additional wok strictly for this purpose and avoid the need for repeatedly re-seasoning.

      

You are also going to need some tools to go with your wok. A lid is a key component, which is usually made of aluminum, but is necessary to retain heat when steaming etc, so always get a wok with a lid. Then you will want to have a spatula, a ladle and a strainer. These tools are essential for stir frying, mixing and deep frying. Try to get stainless steel as these are stronger, longer lasting and clean up well. We have already suggested a bamboo brush for cleaning, but another tool which would be useful is a Chinese cleaver, which is ideal for chopping, crushing garlic, slicing and peeling.

  

Now you’re ready to start cooking. Stir frying is a fairly straight forward and simple process that only requires a little practice to become proficient at. It is a good idea to prepare the food ahead of time because the actual cooking process is quite short. Start by adding a tablespoon of oil to the wok heating it over a gas burner or electric element to get it nice and hot. Add garlic and onions to begin with, stirring and moving the food around using the spatula and strainer until they are nicely browned. Follow with your vegetables of choice remembering to maintain a high temperature to sear the food and seal in the flavor. Finally add any flavorings and condiments to the mix before serving. 

Bon appetit!

My Introduction To A Vegetarian Life

I am a vegetarian and have been one since November 1972, just over 40 years. I come from an English middle income family and meat had always been a major part of our diet. For years I never questioned it and in fact enjoyed eating meat and saw no reason to change. Then at the age of 20, in my quest for an independent life, I left home and emigrated to Canada.

My diet did not change much for several more years. I made new friends and started spreading my wings travelling to a number of countries throughout Europe and Asia. It was during my travels that I met an Australian couple who were vegetarian and it was them that got me thinking more about what it was that I was putting in my mouth at every meal.

The idea of it was slow to take hold, it was more like a seed that was planted in my subconscious. I would eat vegetarian food for days and then would be invited to eat with friends and slip back to eating meat again. This went on for months and I can remember many philosophical discussions about the pros and cons of a vegetarian diet and the right or wrong of refusing a meaty meal. I was constantly on the fence about it and it was only after I returned to Canada in 1972 that a chance meeting changed everything. 

I started buying my groceries at a health food shop in Vancouver and noticed a flyer on the door announcing the third world tour of his holiness Sant Kirpal Singh. I was drawn to the photograph and decided I wanted to hear the talk. I don’t remember what the talk was about specifically, I just went to every meeting I could get to for the few days that Sant Kirpal Singh was in Vancouver. At the end of it I was a confirmed vegetarian and have never waivered since. 

Vegetarians are categorized by varying degrees according to the inclusion or exclusion of certain products. From those who eliminate only red meat to those, like myself, who exclude all meat, fish, foul and eggs to the strictly vegan who eat no animal based products at all including dairy.

Life is surprising. I had never intended to become vegetarian. I grew up in a family and in a society of meat eaters and enjoyed partaking of it along with everyone else and yet suddenly, or so it seemed, I changed course. 

For me it was a light bulb moment of realizing it just wasn’t in my best interest health wise or from a fundamentally spiritual perspective. I can honestly say that apart from learning to choose from a much wider field of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and grains, and breaking the news to my parents, it was never difficult leaving my prior eating habits. 

I am one of four siblings. My brother who later moved to Canada, eventually became a vegetarian too, but my two sisters and their families, who remain in England, are dyed in the wool carnivores. I have never tried to change their minds beyond a general discussion of the why’s and where fore’s. You either get it or not and all the talking in the world will not change anything. I do believe that a vegetarian life is a healthier way to live and in the past 40 years I have noticed in my own family, that for the meat eaters their physical deterioration has been noticeably more severe. 

When I first became vegetarian, it was definitely unusual. It didn’t have the acceptance that it does today. Then you would have had a difficult time eating in a restaurant, or dining with friends who had no idea what to serve you. Grocery stores didn’t have the wide range of foods to cater to vegetarians either and so you had to do most of your own cooking or eat nothing but salad and cheese melts. For me it was my travelling buddies that first got me thinking about becoming a vegetarian. It was the influence of Sant Kirpal Singh that set my mind on it. I have never regretted my choice. Fortunately my wife is also vegetarian, which makes it a lot easier to decide on what to eat.

For those of you who are dabbling I would encourage you to take the plunge. At the beginning it may seem daunting but pretty soon you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. All those questions about where do you get your protein just fade into insignificance. Personally I never worried about it, I just made sure to get a wide range of all the right food choices.

Protect Your Health And Save Money On Your Electricity Bill

We are all familiar with the ways to improve the efficiency of your home energy systems. Proper insulation, and vapor barriers, adequate weather stripping, efficient furnaces or heat pumps and modern efficient appliances and fixtures. Add in some solar panels or even a wind turbine and you can cut your energy consumption down to near zero and in some cases have the electrical company pay you for your excess power.

But for most of us, just the extra attention to efficiency can make a difference to the amount you are paying for your utilities. After that you just have to accept that if you want to save more energy you need to turn down the thermostat, or put on warmer clothing to stay warm, if you live in cooler climates, or get used to a warmer setting on your air conditioner in hotter ones, right?  Not so fast.

 With soaring energy prices and costs in every market climbing ever upward, we can all do with a way to save even more money on our electricity bills, would you agree?

       

These days we are so dependent on electricity for every convenience and comfort in our lives. Our homes are filled with a host of electrical appliances and gadgets of all descriptions, computers, cell phones, TV’s, dish washers, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ranges, sound systems, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, heaters, security systems and the list goes on.  

What you probably didn’t know is that all those appliances, the wiring, lighting and electrical systems produce what are called electro-magnetic fields (EMF) and these fields have been linked to some serious health issues. The World Health Organization has identified EMF as being “a real threat to our society”, based on a report put out by 29 leading physicians and scientists from 10 different countries.

The 1500+ page report has shown a direct link to many diseases including headache, chest pain, depression, fibromyalgia, leukemia and other cancers. An alarming statistic considering that most people are unaware of the hazards posed. They also found that children are particularly sensitive to these electro-magnetic fields and are believed to contribute to the incidence of autism and childhood leukemia, a chilling revelation.

It is fortunate that Energy Management Systems (EMS), a leading technology company founded on the premise of providing green energy saving solutions, has not only helped bring this health hazard to public attention, but also provided a solution to cut these harmful emissions by up to 80%. By installing a product called the EnergyMizer it is now possible to remove the majority of the radiation making your home or work place environment safer.

     

The EnergyMizer is available for residential, commercial and industrial service. In all instances it will make savings on your electricity bill. It does this by taking ‘dirty power,’ electricity that comes with all sorts of spikes and surges and converting it to a cleaner and more usable form. In so doing it provides longer life to most electrical equipment, which is another great benefit to installing these units.

This is an inexpensive system that should be given serious consideration in each case.

• To protect your family’s health,
• Save money on your electricity bill
• Extend the life of electrical equipment

Any one of these is reason enough to buy the EnergyMizer unless, when it comes to spending money, the miser is you!

Organic or GMO You Choose

Are you an advocate for organic food over conventional farming practices?

I never quite know what I’m going to blog about right up to the point where I am sitting at my laptop, but this is a topic that springs to mind and is relevant to food, food choices and kitchens so here’s my spin on it.

When I was a kid growing up in England pretty much everything grown was organic and the word “organic” was never heard. Of course whatever circumstances you’re born into are the norm for you at that time and as a child your awareness is limited to your family and immediate surrounding environment.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a countryside setting of fields and hedgerows, trees and woodlands. Adjacent to our house was a five acre field that my parents allowed a neighboring farmer to grow crops on. I used to come home from school to find Mr. Drumond plowing and I would get to climb on the back of the tractor and go up and down the field watching as the fresh furrows drew all kinds of birds to feed on worms and insects in the soil.

At the back of the house was a small paddock and in spring it would become a magical land of wild flowers, grasses and bracken ferns. They would grow to a height where my siblings and I were just tall enough to have our heads at flower level. There were Milk Maids and Cow Slips, Buttercups. Primroses, corn flowers, poppies, daisies and a myriad others who’s names I’ve long forgotten, but to us it was a sea of color and wonder.

 

Like most people I wasn’t aware of the change in farming practices. I couldn’t say when the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides began to appear. My father always liked to have his own vegetable garden and grew most of our produce, so it wasn’t until leaving home and buying groceries in a local supermarket that I started to realize that store bought fruits and veggies didn’t taste as good.

Over the years, with the huge growth in populations around the world, the demand for more affordable food has pressed farmers and science, to come up with ever more ingenious ways to generate bigger harvests as economically as possible. A scenario that has brought about a system where ever more fertilizers and pesticides are required to grow food crops with depleting nutritional value and a general impoverishment of the soil.

 

One of the scientific developments achieved in recent years, brought about by among other things, the need to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, was the introduction of genetically modified (GMO) foods. Genetic modification is intended to provide plants with resistance to biological attack from both insects and various climatic conditions thereby making crop failure a less likely outcome. 

What the ramifications of all our biological “tinkering” will have on our health is unclear and the jury is still out on that one. Without doubt most of us have already consumed a good deal of genetically modified food without knowing it and as far as we are aware, no ill effects. However, what the long term consequence will be is a question that has many people concerned enough to avoid GMO products at all costs. Is this attitude justified? Perhaps, but we cannot view the question in isolation. After all, what effect does biological manipulation have on the ecco-system. Aside from better harvests and more resilient crops, what are the implications for other plants, animals, birds and insects that depend on a balanced ecco-system for their survival? Making one particular species stronger and hardier than another perhaps makes for a weakness somewhere else.

 

I tend to think of science as a tool which in the right hands can bring great benefit to humanity, but that must obviously include all life forms including those we depend on. It’s a delicate balancing act messing with ecology. No one can see the ‘big picture’ with any degree of clarity, only our individual interpretations of it. Whether they be politicians, scientists, theologians, or philosophers, our views are subject to error and therefore it pays to tread cautiously when introducing technology that can have long term consequences.

All this leads back to the original question, are you an advocate for organic food over conventional farming practices? To my way of thinking we have strayed off course in our need to accommodate the ever increasing demand for food. I do not believe that the continued use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is the best method of providing healthy and nutritious produce. I do believe that a return to sustainable horticultural practices would mean a gradual increase in organic farming and a healthier environment.

    

Swiss Fondue

The Matterhorn

I have been fortunate enough to do a fair amount of traveling over the years and one thing that stands out when I think back on it, is the variety of different food it has exposed me to. From England it’s a short hop across the English Channel to France and suddenly it seems the world is your oyster. You can head in any direction and you are bound to discover cultural diversity and along with it a cornucopia of delectable cuisine.

Now I have bought baguettes in many different places, but for some reason a French baguette has a taste and quality all its own that just yells France. And it’s not just baguettes or France but I find that to be true for lots of different foods and places around Europe. The beauty of it is that this diversity is packed into a relatively small area by North American standards, which makes travelling in Europe such fun.

Take Switzerland for example, here is a beautiful, picture perfect country of high alpine passes, rugged mountain scenery and pastoral valleys. It is known for its clean mountain air and pollution free environment. Whilst we have become accustomed to seeing litter, garbage and graffiti throughout our suburbs and along our highways it is a real eyesore. Switzerland on the other hand, sets a pretty high standard that we would do well to follow. I am not saying you will never see any litter there, but it is the exception rather than the norm and I believe their laws are pretty strict in this regard.

No wonder that Switzerland produces great cheese when their dairy animals live and graze on such clean and healthy pasture. Who hasn’t heard of Gruyere and Emmenthaler or Swiss fondue. It was in Switzerland that I first got to enjoy and appreciate what all the fuss was about. Before that I equated cheese fondue to a pot of hot cheese whiz, so when I had my first taste of the real thing I was hooked. I went out and bought a fondue set, in fact I bought two, one as a gift for my sister’s birthday, and I am still using that set today, 20 years later.

To make a traditional Swiss Fondue is fairly easy and the required ingredients are readily available at most grocery stores. It is better if you have the fondue set but you can get away without it if you have a good saucepan and a warming tray to maintain the temperature of the fondue after it is served. You will also require long handle forks for dipping, which are normally included in a fondue set.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 1 clove of garlic.
• 1 ½ cups of dry white wine.
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
• 2 cups (10 oz/284 g) grated Emmenthaler cheese.
• 2 cups (10 oz/284 g) grated Gruyere cheese.
• 1 tablespoon corn starch.
• 3 tablespoons Kirsch.
• White pepper, grated nutmeg and paprika to taste.
• French bread or crusty white loaf chopped into 1” cubes for serving.

Sliced green apple makes a nice addition.

• Rub the inside of the fondue pot or saucepan with the clove of garlic.
• Blend together the corn starch and kirsch and set aside
• Heat the wine and the lemon juice together over medium heat stirring gently in a figure of 8.
• Gradually add the grated cheese stirring continuously until the all the cheese has melted.
• Add the Kirsch/corn starch and blend together.
• Continue stirring in a figure of 8 until the mixture is bubbling.
• Add fresh grated nutmeg, white pepper and paprika to taste.
• Transfer mix to the fondue burner or warming tray and serve.

This traditional fondue, delicious in itself, can also form the base for other fondues.

After a day skiing what a great meal to come home to!