First time on the Wok

I love stir fry and I was so excited to get the Wok and more excited to use it yesterday. I'll be honest though I was worried that I'd mess it up somehow.

Anyhow, I went to Whole Foods and got what I thought would be some essentials for the cook and as it turned out I didn't need any spices. I ended up getting some shrimp which we peeled and deveined and then sliced in half cause they were so big that was on sale there and some oil. They even had an oil that was for stir fry it was combined of peanut, garlic and some other oils. I didn't know the burn point so I took the Egg to about 350 and that cooked everything fast enough for me....Here is the shrimp going on...


Untitled by EKomrska, on Flickr

My kids and wife are picky about their veggies so I bought some presliced multi-colored peppers for them and put them in after removing the shrimp.


Untitled by EKomrska, on Flickr

After a few minutes when the peppers got done to how my wife likes them I put the shrimp back on and the Udon noodles I previously cooked. I then put in the terriyaki sauce for their stir fry.


Untitled by EKomrska, on Flickr


Untitled by EKomrska, on Flickr

Finally here is a plated pic. I have no idea how my wife ended up with only one color of peppers and neither did she but she absolutley loved it. She said this was the best accessory purchase I've made for the Egg yet and she loves her pizza on there!


Untitled by EKomrska, on Flickr

I made myself a thai peanut sauce with beef stir fry but my phone died so I did not get any pictures. Same setup but just different veggies as I'm not picky with veggies at all! I can already see lots of cooks in the future with this...

Looks great especially for a first time!! It's gonna be hard to ever order chinese food again after you start getting into it. Don't be afraid to crank up that heat. I usually get my egg stabilized around 500-550. Once I'm ready to start, I shut the bottom vent and go from there. It will have plenty of air and you don't need to worry about the fire going out.

Thanks Griffin. I was more worried about the high heat and the oil. Didn't want the oil to burn. It says medium high heat on the bottle which would lead me to think under 400

Good idea. I just use plain peanut oil, myself.

Terrific looking stir fry, Eddie! The wok is really fun to use. Great for using up whatever's left in your fridge at the end of the week too. I could go for a plate of that right about now.

Congrats on the new Wok Eddie!!
The food looks delicious. A successful first cook for sure.

Super looking stirfry Eddie!! I have a few questions if I may:

First question is if you've done stirfries indoors on a wok or are you a complete newbie? I'm wondering because I've never used a wok indoors or outdoors. I'm wondering if I should get some practice indoors where I can regulate the temperatures little better.

My second question is did you have problems with the temperatures climbing on the Egg where you were standing there cooking with the lid open to do the stirfry on the wok? The reason I ask is I was doing chili today and when I was first starting it and I had to sauté everything, more and more coals were getting lit and the temperature was climbing on me. When I finally close the lid temperature was 100° higher than I originally had it.

Anyway once again nice job!

Jim

That looks great!! I have been using a wok for a while now, and have found using a large spatula/spoon that is made for woks really helps. The end is curved, and fits the shape of the wok, and is really helpful in turning/mixing things. Also, I have found that sesame seed oil seems to have a real high smoke point, and adds to the Asian flavor. And last, closing the lower vents helps to keep the temps down on ceramics when you are doing this with the lid up. Just my 3 thoughts...

Wow, that looks really good..

Now I need to buy a Wok..... Damn you..

Really nice, Eddie! I love stir-fried shrimp!

jfm0830 wrote:

Super looking stirfry Eddie!! I have a few questions if I may:

First question is if you've done stirfries indoors on a wok or are you a complete newbie? I'm wondering because I've never used a wok indoors or outdoors. I'm wondering if I should get some practice indoors where I can regulate the temperatures little better.

My second question is did you have problems with the temperatures climbing on the Egg where you were standing there cooking with the lid open to do the stirfry on the wok? The reason I ask is I was doing chili today and when I was first starting it and I had to sauté everything, more and more coals were getting lit and the temperature was climbing on me. When I finally close the lid temperature was 100° higher than I originally had it.

Anyway once again nice job!

Jim

Jim, that was my first time ever cooking an a wok. Since the lid is open the entire time I really didn't pay much attention to temp although I assume that the temp did spike. Next time I'll take the advice of Nick who said to close the bottom vent once I've started.

I will never need to cook indoors the more I experiment with my Egg and the pic of your chili made me realize I need to get a cast iron pot.

Thanks all for the nice compliments. I can't wait to make more on it and really experiment with different veggies and such! I now believe the Spider/Wok combo is a necessity for an Egg

I stir-fried on my performer last week. I typically do chix breast with an assortment of veggies. If available, I'll use peppers, onion, snow peas, water chestnuts, and broccoli. Or some combination. I don't usually sauce them, I let the oil and their natural flavors handle it. I also use grape seed oil to stir-fry, mostly for the healthy aspects of it more than anything. I think it's smoke point is in the 400-425 range, if I remember correctly.