I’m a wok!

Apparently when I was a kid I used to call my cook, Magan, a good ‘cooker’. Dad was a good ‘drawer’ and so on and so forth.

This morning my mother called me a ‘good Chinese cooker’. In a sleepy haze, my mind worked its own logic and I pronounced that I am a wok! (Since a lot of Chinese cooking is done in a wok, but then you already you knew that...)

So why am I a wok? Well, because for the first time last night, I tried my hand at cooking a Chinese meal and it turned out swell. Dad is thrilled and instantly pronounced that I cooked better Chinese then mum, and she... well, you read what her reaction is. They both enjoyed their meals thoroughly and this wok here is thrilled.

This is what was on the menu and for the cookers out there, here are the recipes. (I hunted for hours on the net before I found them, so please forgive me for not mentioning the sources.)

EGG FRIED RICE

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups cold unsalted cooked rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking; Add eggs and cook briefly, stirring once or twice, until just softly set, then transfer to a small bowl. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in wok, then add rice, salt, and pepper and stir-fry until heated through and starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add scallions and peas and stir-fry 1 minute. Add egg and stir-fry just until combined. (Carrots, bean sprouts make nice additions)

SALT AND PEPPER PRAWNS

450 g King prawns
8 tablespoons Vegetable oil
2 Spring onions (scallions)
2 cloves Garlic
2 Dried chilies
1 1/2 teaspoon Szechwan peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Wash and shell the prawns. Sprinkle on 1 1/2 teaspoon of the oil. Cut the spring onions into 2.5 cm sections. Thinly slice the garlic. Shred the chilies. Lightly pound the peppercorns and mix with the salt. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, stir-fry the prawns over a high heat for 1 minute. Remove the prawns and pour away the oil to use for other purposes, except for 1 tablespoon. Reheat the oil in the wok or pan. When hot, quickly stir-fry the chili, garlic and spring onion. Spread out the spring onion and chili and return the prawns. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper mixture and stir-fry for 45 seconds.

LEMON CHICKEN

8 chicken breast halves, de-boned and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup water
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups Cooking Oil
Green onions, sliced

For the Lemon Sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon ginger or more if desired

Combine cornstarch, salt and pepper. Blend in water and egg yolks. Dip chicken pieces into cornstarch-egg mixture. Fry chicken in oil for about 5 minutes until golden. Drain. Sprinkle with green onions. Pour sauce over chicken. For the sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, about 5 minutes until sauce boils. Pour over chicken. This recipe also works well in a wok. (Dip some triangle cut bread slices to the remaining batter and fry, serve separately with the Lemon Chicken)

Put together the 3 dishes made a very light but filling meal and the tastes were varied enough to compliment each other. Instead of prawns, similarly stir fried vegetables would also go very well with the other 2.

But, I am my biggest critic and there were many things I thought of that would improve the meal tremendously. The rice needed to be boiled less and fried a little more, and a little more salt. The prawns were a little bland, maybe a wee bit of soy sauce and vinegar would help. The lemon sauce was too thin, a little more corn flour and boiling would have done the trick. Plus it would have helped if the chicken had been soaked for a little longer to tenderize the meat.

I am going to go and buy myself a proper wok (then there’ll be 2 of us) and try my hand at more Chinese and Oriental cooking. It really is an art to know when to stop and not overcook the food. I am determined to master this.

Next stop… the wok shop!