Grace Young Is a Wok Evangelist

Published on Monday, August 16, 2010, by Christine Gallary / Edit Post

Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young

Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories

Grace Young wants you to cook with a wok. Through travels and interviews, Young (who has a few cookbooks under her belt and is a contributing editor at Saveur magazine) witnessed home cooks in China and Taiwan abandoning woks for nonstick pans. Meanwhile most Asian Americans don't even know how to use the woks that have been passed down from their parents and grandparents. (Guilty as charged—I am Chinese American and didn't own or use a wok until recently.)

But as Young explains, woks are so versatile: They can steam, smoke, poach, boil, deep-fry, pan-fry, and stir-fry food. A wok's wide, carbon-steel bowl can cook food in minutes, requires less oil than most pans, and is a safer alternative to nonstick Teflon pans. Young's latest cookbook, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, touts the benefits of wok cooking, with comprehensive details on purchasing, seasoning, and using a wok. Nuggets of good advice pop up throughout the book, such as to never crowd your wok and to dry vegetables properly if you want them to stir-fry instead of steam. Substitutes are given for some of the harder-to-find Asian ingredients (there is also is an excellent pantry section in the beginning with descriptions and pictures). And Young gives useful timing tips and descriptions throughout the cooking process to guide a wok novice.

The accompanying recipes show a global influence: Malaysian-style stir-fried turmeric shrimp uses fresh curry leaves, and Chinese Burmese chili chicken incorporates sweet paprika and ground cumin—spices not often seen in the Chinese kitchen. The stir-fried ginger tomato beef recipe leapt out at me immediately: It sounded just like one of my favorite recipes from my grandmother. Plus Young's tip to use canned tomatoes instead of out-of-season ones means I can make this dish after tomatoes' summer peak. I prepared it, adding scrambled eggs to the finished product just like my grandmother did. Not as good as Grandma's, but still quite good.

The other recipe I tried, Hoisin Explosion Chicken, incorporates a unique Chinese technique called velveting (watch a video about it), which helps keep the meat moist during the cooking process. As for the recipe's name, it is a taste explosion: Sweet, salty, and spicy flavors come together with a quick flip in a raging-hot wok. Young has me convinced: It's time to rock the wok.

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  • It's been awhile since I've bought a cookbook but after browsing through this one it seemed so worthwhile. Beautiful pictures, stories, and recipes that fine the nice balance between authentic and "what is that and where do I find it?" ingredients. I, too, am American of Chinese descent and am still getting a feel for wokcraft. (Highly recommend The Wok Shop in historic San Francisco Chinatown as...+READ

    It's been awhile since I've bought a cookbook but after browsing through this one it seemed so worthwhile. Beautiful pictures, stories, and recipes that fine the nice balance between authentic and "what is that and where do I find it?" ingredients. I, too, am American of Chinese descent and am still getting a feel for wokcraft. (Highly recommend The Wok Shop in historic San Francisco Chinatown as a place to find a wok and, more importantly, how to use it! wokshop.com) But growing up my mom mostly used a deep cast iron skillet, so don't let implements hold you back from trying your hand at cooking Chinese!-COLLAPSE

  • i live in India ...its a common practice to use woks here but yes,pans have already taken over in the urban areas....i myself prefer cooking in wok...it somehow gives me satisfaction using it.

  • You can also use a wok on a turkey fryer burner (the ones you connect to a propane tank) -- but you obviously have to cook outside.

  • hulk smash -

    You can definitely get a wok hot enough on a regular stove (gas or electric), just make sure to get a flat-bottomed one. While it will never get as hot as a true wok burner, I've found that my gas stove cranked all the way up still does the trick. In fact, I've already set off the smoke detector!

    Christine Gallary, CHOW

  • Can you get a wok hot enough on a regular old stove?