The Wok: Recipes and Techniques

I am an experienced cook and normally not a cookbook kind of person. I generally find recipes on the internet and know whether they will be good or not by the ingredients. Most often, I never follow recipes, but use them as guides for suggestions. I used to do a lot of cooking in a wok a number of years ago, and was looking for a cookbook that could revive my skills in wok cooking. I have bought a few other Wok cookbooks that didn't impress me, but so far I am very much impressed by this cookbook. I tend to be one that has to know the "why" ingredients are used. and this cookbook thoroughly explains everything. It starts with the recommended tools for wok cooking, and why you need them. It also tells about the various ingredients, what they are, and how they are used. In addition, the different cooking vessels and utensils are discussed and the pros and cons of woks and utensils available. Although I have not yet tried any of the recipes, those I have looked at, look wonderful judging from my personal experience in cooking. Incidentally, I don't agree with the reviewer who said the pictures were poor. I think they are pretty good. Whether or not you find this book useful depends a lot on your cooking experience and whether you are open to learning. To get the best out of this book, you really have to read it. It's not a simple "pick a recipe" kind of book. In my opinion, this book is literally a course on Wok cooking. In reading it, you learn about tools, ingredient, and the reason behind techniques of wok cooking. Once you learn the information in this book, you can easily create your own recipes and have the ability to modify recipes to your liking. With almost 700 pages of recipes and explanations, this book has so much to offer if you take the time to read it. In my opinion, this book is the equivalent to a college course in wok cooking. I hope you like my review, and I will definitely update my review if my opinion changes.

I love Kenji style for these cookbooks. There are great recipes even better techniques and great breakdowns of why certain things work and certain things don’t it’s a great read as an introduction to cooking Chinese food in your home when you move to a place with no good Chinese restaurants.

This is the wok cookbook I’ve been trying to find for 5 years. Lopez-Alt breaks down wok cooking into neat sections, with photos for all the dishes and specific how-tos on many of the techniques. In-depth and knowledgeable without being pedantic, the writing is easy to follow and engaging. Most importantly, the results have been the best I’ve had with wok cooking. I’ve made several dishes, including: moo-shu pork, beef with ginger and snow peas, chicken with basil, chiles, and fish sauce, better-than-my-mom’s Chungking pork, fried rice, and pepper steak (all pictured). All have come out restaurant quality or better. The meat is so tender. I haven’t tried anything beyond the stir-fries yet, but I am eyeing that congee for my next hurrah. More on the moo shu. I love moo shu pork, but have been disappointed by the local versions. Following Kenji’s recipe I got daylily buds (so THAT’S what those are in hot and sour soup), along with wood ear mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms. I made the mushroom moo shu pork, and it was fabulous! I didn’t bother to make my own Mandarin pancakes (but Kenji tells you how if you’re feeling frisky) and bought thin flour tortillas (I live in Austin, Texas, and there are great tortillas easily found). The moo shu might be my favorite recipe so far, but the ginger beef with snow peas and basil is a close second. Another review disparaged the photos, but I love the photos! Maybe I’m an old soul? Edit: several reviews disparaged the photos, but that’s viral ridiculousness. I really like the pictures, so I don’t get it. It took a few trips to Asian markets in my area, and maybe $70 to stock the pantry AND buy the wok (gave my daughter the wok I’d been using out of frustration with mediocre results before this book), but the ingredients were all easily sourced, and cheap. I bought a $20 16-inch wok from the local market, and it does the trick perfectly. I can’t really imagine doing this with a smaller wok than a 16-inch. It took some elbow grease to get the factory seal off the wok, but Kenji walks you through that, too. The bamboo brush to clean out the wok is a must, and you should get the 12-inch. The step by step instructions make cooking simple, and the attention to detail set this book apart from the MANY other wok cookbooks I have. What I may do now is cook some of the recipes in those books using my newfound knowledge and skill. Highly recommended!

I grew up in an Asian Wok culture and learnt by watching and helping out mum in the kitchen. This book took my home wok skills to another level. I loved the explanations of how to cut meet, ways to keep the tenderness and some history about ingredients. It also provided tips on wok cooking on an electric/induction stove which was helpful. It was mentioned in some other reviews that the paper and picture quality is poor. I wouldn't call it poor but compared to other books, the food photography is adequate and could be improved. The paper is thin but for me it's fine. It's surviving well in my kitchen and I use this book at least 2-3 times a week. In spite of this, the content is fantastic and I would happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to start cooking in a wok, on any stove.

Receitas meticulosas e resultados deliciosos. Não poderia esperar outra coisa do livro mais recente de J. Kenji López-Alt. Pasta quem segue ele desde os tempos de Serious Eats, New York Times, etc, não é nenhuma surpresa. Sem dúvida umas excelente adição a qualquer biblioteca culinária, mas fica muito melhor ao lado do fogão enquanto você coloca em prática uma de suas receitas.

Me parece un libro excelente. Aborda los temas más básicos de una forma interesante y con suficiente profundidad. No es abrumador en la forma en que está escrito, de hecho el estilo de escritura de Kenji López Alt me parece muy agradable, no se me hace pesado de leer, sin embargo si hay una inmensa cantidad de información que a primeras es un poco difícil de consultar, por ejemplo, las técnicas las encuentras entre las recetas, no pertenecen a un capítulo, per se. Esto en realidad no es algo malo ya que tiene un excelente índice analítico. En cuanto a la impresión, me pareció fantástica, sobretodo comparándolo con su otro libro, Food Lab, que por alguna razón tenía —cuando menos en mi edición— algunos errores de impresión. Algo que no me agradó es el uso de unidades imperiales. Constantemente da rangos de temperatura en grados Fahrenheit y uno tiene que estar convirtiéndolo a Celsius constantemente.

ドラマのブレーキングバッドに触発されてタコスを作り、余ったフラワートルティーヤをどうしようかと、ふと思いついたのが、トルティーヤに卵を塗って焼き、辛味噌と揚げた餃子の皮を巻いた「煎餅果子もどき」。 既に同じアイディアを考案していた人を後にネットで知ってガッカリしたけれど、その人自身もこの本に同じアイディアが載っている事を後で知ったようで、great minds think alike..と、悔しさ半分、偶然の一致の面白さを書いていました。その偶然の驚き、がっかり気分が自分と同じで面白かったですね。この本と直接関係ない話ばかりですみません。

Avevo grandi aspettative da questo libro e sono state superate! Ottimo per chi ama cucinare con il wok Consigliato, lo chef Lopez Alt è molto esaustivo nelle sue spiegazioni