The desire to pamper or feed the family with a delicious dinner is the constant dream of every housewife, all depending on the place of residence and taste preferences. Therefore, unfamiliar interesting culinary recipes or applied cooking methods are so in demand. Especially if they carry national traditions and the quality has been tested for centuries. One such curiosity is the wok pan.
Of particular interest is its foreign origin and the possibility of preparing exotic dishes, the same as in its homeland - China. Outwardly resembling something between a deep frying pan and a low, but wide saucepan, it could not but interest adherents of a healthy lifestyle and gastronomic masterpieces.

Traditional wok
Cookware Features
What is so unusual in the kitchen assistant:
- With a shape resembling part of a sphere, the saucepan is more adapted to the open fire of a fire, and not to the rectangular surface of gas or electric stoves.
- The structure is taller than its relatives, the shape suggests the possibility of making liquid dishes.

You can cook liquid food in a wok
- The volume of the container is small, more designed for a small family or for one cooking, no preparation for future use.
- Originally, the wok was made with two handles on the sides. This handy shape made it easy to manipulate food and prepare food. Now the traditional version, familiar to us, is on sale: with one handle length and even with removable elements.

Wok pan in one handle
What kind of food is vogue good for?
Of course, it is convenient to cook oriental dishes on this dish, they acquire the initially expected taste characteristics. But keeping utensils in the kitchen that are used for one dish is an uninteresting event. A legitimate question arises: what else can be cooked on such outlandish dishes:
- As already mentioned, vegetables, meat and all kinds of inhabitants of the seas are fried on such dishes.

The wok pan is great for frying vegetables and meat.
- These same products become very tasty if they are stewed.
- Hot dishes are cooked in a frying pan, including the first ones: soups.
- After you install a special stand, you can cook steamed dishes, which is very convenient for dietary nutrition.

The wok allows you to steam vegetables
- By purchasing a grate so that the remaining fat can drain from the meat, you can cook deep-fried dishes.

Grid for deep-fried dishes in a wok
The proposed list allows us to say with confidence that by purchasing a wok pan for the household, you can solve the problem of kitchen utensils. This is truly a universal miracle - the oven is able to help prepare delicious and healthy dishes.
back to index ↑Cookware Benefits
In addition to the well-known quality of dishes, that the products cooked in it have a different taste, the wok is famous for such positive characteristics:
- Cooking food takes less time compared to traditional European dishes.

Cooking meals in a wok takes much less time
- The small volume of the surface close to the fire allows you to use very little fat for cooking, sometimes cooking dry. These qualities are highly appreciated by lovers of healthy diet food.
- Cooked foods better retain their original multi-colored appearance, look colorful and beautiful.

Dishes cooked in a wok pan look colorful and beautiful
- When cooking in a wok pan, the bottom is heated to a high temperature, so dishes cook quickly, but require constant stirring during cooking.
- With quick cooking, the useful properties and qualities of the products are most preserved, with this form of dishes they remain healing.

Useful properties of foods cooked in a wok are preserved
Materials for making a wok pan
To make a wok pan, the same materials are used that go to the manufacture of ordinary kitchen utensils:
- The cast iron wog pan has a wall thickness of about 3 mm. This cookware has non-stick properties, food does not stick and does not burn when cooked. It warms up well due to the rapid transfer of heat, the main advantage is lightness.

Thin cast iron wok
- With a large thickness of about 9 mm and a significant weight, heavy cast iron pans retain heat for a long time and are highly durable. As a disadvantage: a powerful design heats up for a long time, it is difficult to turn the products in them by throwing them up.

Thick cast iron wok
- The carbon steel construction is light weight, low cost, conducts heat well, but needs special care, food can burn and lose its healthy taste characteristics. The product may warp over time.

Carbon steel wok
- Aluminum products are of high quality coating, food does not burn during cooking, most often it comes to the distribution network with a non-stick coating. The disadvantages include the rapid loss of non-stick properties of the applied coating, the dependence on mechanical damage and high temperatures.

Aluminum wok
- Ceramic dishes have always been revered, the unusual shape of the wok only emphasized the dignity of the pan. The advantages of the pan are very high: non-stick coating, convenience and beauty. Ceramics work well at high temperatures. The only downside is the weight.

Ceramic wok with two handles
- Great solutions - buy stainless steel vogue. The dishes will retain excellent quality for a long time, are practical, have a normal weight, but due to the lack of a non-stick layer, the food will burn.

Practical stainless steel wok
From the above characteristics, it can be seen that there is no perfect vogue dish. Each of the proposed options has its own advantages and disadvantages.
back to index ↑What bottom shape to choose?
Initially, the dishes were conceived for a convex bottom, which does not fit our oven equipment at all. Such an unusual shape was ideally heated from all sides over an open fire and helped to cook food with a minimum amount of fat. During the tossing to a small height, the products were well mixed and turned over.
It would be possible to use such an unusual shape for a modern apartment, but when cooking, the dishes will not stand stably:
- Therefore, for cooking on an electric stove, the pan was adapted and slightly flattened at the bottom, giving it stability.This made it possible to increase the contact area between the heating element and the dishes.

Wok for electric stove with flat bottom
- On a gas oven, you can use a spherical bottom, the contact area is not so important. To give the dishes stability, a special delivery is used.

Traditional wok with a spherical bottom for a gas stove
How to choose the diameter of the pan?
The wok pan surprises not only with the quality of the cooked products, but also with its diameter, which can vary from 20 cm to 2 m. In its homeland, the diameter of 36 cm is most widespread. For an ordinary family, a frying pan of the indicated size will be large, 30 cm are more in demand.
Basic rules for cooking in a vogue pot
In order for the products in amazing dishes to be well cooked and evenly heated, follow the following tips:
- For cooking, the products are cut into pieces of approximately the same size. It is considered optimal size corresponding to one bite. If the pieces are made large, they will turn out beautiful and fried on top, but raw inside. Initially, fine cuts were chosen for quick preparation and fuel economy.

Roasting vegetables in a wok
- If you need to cook several ingredients at the same time, the first to lay out those that take longer to cook. Products are added gradually and constantly stirred.
- The meat is most often cut into thin strips, while the cuts are made across the muscles.

Cooking meat in a wok
- During cooking, only a small part of the pan heats up to the maximum. Heat spreads upward from it. In order to ensure the same heating of the products, they must be constantly stirred. This can be done with special devices. This takes into account that metal utensils cannot be used for non-stick coating. In the homeland of the vogue pan, culinary virtuosos mix food while tossing it.

Ingredients in a wok are mixed by tossing
- The small shape of the container does not contribute to the heating of a large number of ingredients. It is difficult to ensure their uniform heating, so they lay a small amount of food. In this container, food is most often cooked at one time.

Do not put a lot of food in the wok
How to choose a frying pan?
When deciding to buy a vogue pan for your household, it is not easy to understand the offers offered by the distribution network:
- The most popular products are made of aluminum and cast iron. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the designs have been discussed above. Stopping on one option, it is necessary to evaluate the merits of the other.
- When choosing the wall thickness of the pan, the average is considered to be optimal, approximately about 4 mm.
- If you can not decide on the diameter, take a closer look at the thirty-centimeter copy. It fits the needs of the average family.
- Do not forget to pay attention and have a stand for deep-frying and steaming food. A lid will come in handy to cover the food and put out with a little water. See if the vogue pan will stand up on its own.
Surface care rules
When cooking food in a vogue pan, in order for it to retain its beautiful appearance and properties longer, it is necessary to take care of the surface and follow some rules:
- When cooking food on a dish with a non-stick coating, measures are taken to protect it. Do not use metal utensils, use abrasive detergents and metal scrapers.
- Before you start cooking on a cast-iron cookware for the first time, it is calcined on the stove, after pouring salt on the dish. The next step: lubricate with vegetable oil. In order for the cast iron not to rust, do not leave water in the dishes for a long time.After washing, it is wiped with a dry cloth and put away for storage.
- Ceramic dishes are sensitive to temperature changes. Do not put frozen and hot foods in the pan at the same time, wash with cold water immediately after cooking.
The described utensils are a great helper when serving hot salads, meat and vegetable products. The dishes make excellent first courses - soups. But most importantly, when cooked in a pan, the resulting products remain extremely useful, acquire new taste characteristics and look amazingly beautiful.

The wok allows you to cook first courses
These tips will come in handy if the hostess has decided to buy new cooking utensils. A wok pan will help you quickly prepare delicious and healthy dishes, add variety to the menu.
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