First, welcome in the wok world! I am sure that you are ready for making your first wok meal! So, you have a wonderful Mammafong wok, and you saw some videos, how to wield it?

Here you can find some hints for the first steps. Of course, there are many ways of a wok journey, what we tell here is what we did in our path.

No fear!

If you ever experience that some ingredients burn to the wok, no fear, stop cooking, save what you can and clean the wok with water and a soft sponge. Rub your wok from any burned leftover, dry it. Re-season! It’s a 5-10 Minute job (first 10 Minutes, and then 5 Minutes after some practice), but necessary to move forward. Here is how to do it!

Ground Zero:

The simplest wok meals are made of some vegetables, boneless chicken and asian sauce. For side cook some rice. Everything needs to be sliced well: the chicken finger thin, vegetables (onion, carrot, broccoli, celery, paprika, or what you want) much thinner. I recommend some ginger and garlic as well; these makes it healthy and asian.

Pure 1 or 2 tablespoon peanut oil in the heated (!) wok, wait until the oil gets hot as well. Drop the sliced chicken in the wok and stir-fry until it turns golden brown. Put it over a pan and heat some oil again in the wok. Drop all the vegetables into the hot oil and stir-fry for a short time. Put back the chicken and pour the asian sauce, mix them well for 2-3 Minutes. Ready! As for the sauce, try a sweet & chilli, or versions with garlic or lime. Make experiments!

Level One:

Try recipes from the US. They mastered and recreated the original asian recipes to be simpler and faster. In general, these meals need 20-30 Minutes, not more, so even if you mix something terrible, you can restart within no time 😊

As probably, you have not used before asian ingredients, you shall set up a basic wok set. Go to the store and buy the most basic ingredients:

• light soy sauce
• fish sauce
• chilli sauce
• oyster sauce
• honey
• cane sugar
• peanut oil
• rice vinegar
• corn starch
• rice noodles/ asian noodles

Do not panic, they can be bought in small packaging and can be stored well in the fridge. As for the vegetables:

• ginger
• garlic
• shallots
• spring onion

Regarding meat, the most important thing is softness after frying. So, the recipes mostly use:

• boneless chicken breast
• boneless chicken tights
• pork medallion
• beef tenderloin

Of course, as you dig into this topic, you will find million exciting applications!

Level Two

After some practice let’s move on to the asian way, turning to thai and chinese recipes. You will need more special ingredients and tools (like steamer), brace yourself it worth!

Flavours like musical notes, and you will be the conductor!

Improve your range of ingredients:

• sesame seed oil
• tamarind sauce
• sambal olek
• dark soy sauce
• plum sauce
• hoisin sauce
• black bean sauce
• chinese five spice blend
• rice cooker
• and so more

Also try some new items:

• tofu
• dried mushrooms
• ribbed cabage
• duck breast
• baby corn
• and so more

There is life beyond stir & fry! Try making soups, steaming noodles or vegetables, braiding… Your wok is a multifunctional tool! Check out our bamboo steamer for example, which a great tool for cooking vegetables, fish, or thinly sliced meats or steaming snacks, dumplings, vegetables, rice, beef, fish, or chicken!

General hints:

• it is about stir & fry so stir & fry!
• if you see that your wok gets sticky, re-season it (see more here). In order to prevent this, before every occasion, it’s useful idea to heat your wok, pour some peanut oil and burn it, then wipe it out with a cloth or paper towel. Wait until it gets cooler, wash out a little with water, dry it with a paper towel and start cooking 😊 Its like a 5-Minutes job, worth it!
• always prepare the ingredients before heating the wok, as you shall concentrate how your meal evolves under the heat.
• cook healthy: use more vegetables, less sugar and oil. Using a wok at home means total control what you eat – so use it wisely.

Get stuck?

We are here to help you! Do not be afraid to ask, its natural, every new thing is a bit scary first. We have been walked through the same path you probably are walking now, believe us, you do not need to be a Michelin star chef to master your wok. Start simple and move on always one step at a time!

We wish you a happy woking!

MammaFong Europe Team

Kinga, Balázs, Lajos