An active fire. Cast iron woks take longer to warm up. But they offer great cooking properties and can be seasoned to add flavor and effectively heat “cold” foods like frozen vegetables.
Although woks are prized for their versatility, the way they are used during cooking will depend on the shape/size of the wok. They are often categorized by diameter and by use. The most common size wok is 14″-16″ in diameter with a height of 3.5″ to 5″ depending on the weight/material of the wok. The rounded shape of a wok works well with thin, high flames (i.e. the characteristics of most Asian stoves). If a wok is toroidal shaped (with a bulge), consider it a specialized tool appropriate only for cookware.
Cooking with a wok is most easily
Cooking with a wok is most easily done with a thin sauce or broth that covers the round bottom of the wok and has a mouthfeel balanced by some density (think of the balance of density of flavor available with tofu as a choice for cooking). The advantage to a toroidal shaped wok is the exterior surface area of the wok heat on both sides when submering or steeping, not to mention use for cooking and stir frying vegetables.
Consider the wok’s weight
Whichever wok you use for starting, consider the wok’s weight (especially if it is a multi-use wok) for intended use – a long handle works best with a medium-weight wok. The heaviness of a wok may consider the base (short) and the lid (long) handles, such that when one is stirring the handle(s) are opposite to the intended direction. A wider mouth, ‘high’ fire wok will trap heat much better than a shallow, wide wok. This is important in type of heat in preparation.
Use your intuition and what has worked well before, as it is a natural way to learn. Use the steam generated underneath the wok to guide on how much liquid to use and how quickly the heat is transferring. You will cook food anyway, for that reason a careful mean is not a substitute for intuition.
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