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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

How to season and caring a Cast Iron Wok 怎样開鍋和養鍋 (生鐵鍋)

When Anne left a comment in my recent Otak-otak Kuey Teow Mee post that she love my wok that didn't sticking when stir fried this noodles. Then remind me that I have yet to post how to season a Cast Iron Wok. I have used this iron wok few months already and love to use it especially for stir fry.


 
This is the back of the wok which is enamel coated

 
I followed the way which taught by the shop owner.
First wash and scrub with this type of vegetable fibre brush.


Then fill the wok with water and boil it for a while.


 
You can season the wok the usual way of using pork fat. But I was taught to use this method, using a bunch of Chinese chives. Add in cooking oil, cook and stir the Chinese chives over the whole wok.


 
\Once the chives has cooked, wash the wok with just water (no soap or cleaning solution) and scrub with vegetable fibre brush. 

 
Then dry the empty wok over low heat (rub water with towel at the upper ring which heat can't reach) .
And now this wok is ready to use !!
So every time once you have finished cooking, immediately wash it with brush (only water but no soap), then dry the wok immediately to avoid rust !



Here is an example of the non-stick result after fried rice


 
The wok was not sticking at all.

Now I understand why those Tai Chow stalls ( hawker stalls) 's food has wok hei (smoky taste), one of the reason is their cast iron wok using for long period, the wok surface accumulate a layer of oil. When heat it up and it created smoke. So sometime when I stir fry vegetables using this wok, we can taste smoky taste too ^_^ . Anyway, you have to take extra steps to take care this wok, make sure wash it with water (no soap) immediately after cooked, then dry the wok before storing. My advise not to use this wok to cook strong taste foods example like curry (the taste will retain on the oil surface) or long hours braising foods. Instead this wok is perfect for stir fry or deep fry.

Reference:  refer to here


25 comments:

Mel said...

Oh, thank you for this post. And now I know how to season and care for the cast iron wok. I used to have a heavy cast iron wok too but find it is too heavy for me.

Michelle said...

Hi. May I know where can I buy this wok n the price. Thank you.

Regards,
Michelle

Esther Lau said...

Good tip!!!! Thank you Sonia sifu :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

What a great tutorial! Thanks!

ice pandora said...

Oh wow I did not know you can
'season' your wok! Thanks for
these tips c: I think I'm gonna
treat my wok a bit better
from now! Xx

Unknown said...

Very informative! Thanks for the tutorial. Have a great day!

Elaine said...

Good morning Ms Sonia,
Thanks for the wonderful valuable tip!

Small Kucing said...

Oh thank you for the tips. I hv one which I never use

Victoria Bakes said...

now this is truly educational!!!!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Michelle, you can get it at the crockery shops or pasar, and the price is vary as it depend on the quality..price should not more than RM 50..

Ana Regalado said...

Sonia , your wok made me sigh and your stir-fried noodles with otak otak as well lol Wish we still had a gas line :P Thanks for this tutorial !

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

How interesting to put chives in it! And I have one silly question. Cast iron is heavy to lift right? Do you lift the wok when you cook? You know sometimes you want to shake it? How do you move it, or you don't move the wok at all? :)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Nami, I have a small and light iron cast wok but not like old fashion iron cast wok which is heavy, so I can still move the wok^_^

Anonymous said...

Hi Miss Sonia I would like to know where exactly did u buy d wok. I could not find any near and around my area. I live in Puchong, Selangor. Can I have d shop's location if possible? Thanking you in advance. Regards Shermeen

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Shermeen, this shop is located at Pasar Besar Klang Jalan Meru, the shop name is Syarikat Keong Hwa.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia thank you very much for d info. Really appreciate it very much. Will try to look for it in Klang. Regards Shermeen

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia
I'm using the cast iron wok to cook too, but i will use dishwashing liquid to wash it, is it ok? if not, then why?
Thks/Wong

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Wong,the way of take care this wok was taught by the shop worker, according to her, use water to wash so oil still can retain on the wok. Once you use the wok longer, the oil surface become a non-stick effect, thatswhy Cantonese said " Yau Wok" or oil wok. Is your wok work ok after you used dishwashing liquid?

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia, thanks for your reply. My wok still can work even I washed it with dishwashing liquid, but it just that some of the wok surface became lighter in colour. But if i don't wash with liquid it might attract insect. Do you have any advice on this? Thank you very much.
Regards/Wong

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Wong, advise to use vegetable fibre brush to wash this (only water), after wash, dry it by heating up over the stove, then it will not attract insects.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia, thanks again for your replied. i will follow your advise to take care of my new wok, as the old one started to get rusty.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia I managed to buy d cast iron wok in Ipoh town. When I washed d wok as per your instruction with d fibre brush there was a thin layer of white coating seen. Did I brush it too hard or was it like dat? Already almost a month n I dare not use it ? Some rust can b seen too... Pls advise. Tks Shermeen

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Hi Shermenn, I cant remember whether I have the white coating or not. But this wok you have to really take care at the beginning, you have to dry the wok (I dry over stove) every after cooking to prevent rusty. I will suggest you to use this wok only for deep fry at the beginning. Once the wok has nice oil coating after long deep fry, then you can start to use it for stir fry. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sonia tks for your advice. Will try it out first. Regards Shermeen

Anonymous said...

This is 熟铁锅,not 生铁锅。

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