I've never hidden my love for Mapo Dofu, the Sichuan dish of soft silken tofu flavored with beef and mouth-numbing, citrus-y Sichuan peppercorns. But it doesn't have to be a season-less dish. The past few years I've taken to adapting it to the spring by adding in a few big handfuls of sliced ramps, the ephemeral wild spring onions that how up by the bushel at farmers' markets (or if you're lucky, sister's backyard!). More
With stunning images like this, you'd think that computers and Photoshop played a huge role in the production of the artwork from Modernist Cuisine. You'd be wrong. How did they get a shot of noodles being tossed in half a wok? Easy. "We cut a wok in half and tossed noodles in it," explains Nathan Myhrvold. More
Dry frying, a technique unique to Sichuan cuisine, can be accomplished one of two ways. The general idea is to cook your main ingredient—whether it's a protein or a vegetable—in a relatively large amount of moderately hot oil without any kind of batter or protective coating. As it cooks, the intense heat drives off interior moisture, thereby concentrating its flavor. Simultaneously, the exterior becomes desiccated (hence "dry"-frying) and browned. More
Of all the wok techniques we've discussed this week, braising is perhaps the simplest, and certainly the most relaxed and least messy. It's no wonder that it's the method employed by most home-style dishes. More
While you're never going to be able to slow-cook a whole slab of St. Louis style ribs on your stovetop, a wok is an excellent way to add a bit of light smoke flavor to smaller foods. It requires no special equipment other than a wok and a rack. Since the whole thing happens in a tightly sealed foil tent, very little smoke actually enters the room (less than say, searing a few steaks off). More
Stir-frying makes for the quintessential weeknight supper. It's my go-to method when I have a fridge full of ingredients and a half hour to put dinner on the table. Because the actual cooking is so fast, it's an ideal summer meal—no heating up the apartment with a hot oven or a long-simmering pot. Since ingredients cook so fast and retain so much crunch, it's also the ideal way to showcase all the beautiful spring and summer produce that's around these days—there's no reason that stir-fries have to stick to traditional Chinese ingredients! Asparagus, corn, summer squashes, string beans, peas, fava beans, all of them make for wonderful stir-fries. More
I'd be willing to wager that anyone who complains how difficult and messy it is to deep-fry at home has never tried deep-frying in a wok. Why don't people fry at home? The most common answers are: it's messy, it's expensive ("What do I do with all the leftover oil?"), and it's unhealthy. Well a wok can certainly help solve your first two problems. You're on your own for the third. This is our second piece in this week's Wok Skills 101 series. More
