Updates--Frozen fish and the Fabulous $6 Wok Grate

I've updated a few past posts with new information.

We've added a new photograph of the iron wok grate showing the grate in action in our post on that topic.

Also, check out our entry on Trader Joe's frozen fish for some more information about the freezing process and a few more varieties we've tested.

Wok Support in Action

A few weeks ago we had a post about a wok support called 5000 Years of Culinary Tradition.

Here is the Wok Support in action assisting Son of Food in making some Bok Choy.

You can see how this kitchen tool supports the wok so vigorous stir frying can happen without holding the hot wok.

Here is a cooking tip I read for Stir Frying Bok Choy:
Wok the Bok for about 5 minutes for stalks and about 2 minutes for leaves until the leaves are just wilted and bright green.

5000 Years of Culinary Tradition

Pardon my dirty stovetop, but is this not the most ingenious thing you've ever seen?

Father of Food bought a traditional iron wok some time in the early 1970s, which I've had and kept seasoned for the past fifteen, twenty years or so, and for all these years, we've gotten along just fine with the simple metal ring that supports the wok over the fire. But at our new apartment, the ring just doesn't work. If I set the ring on the metal grate and the wok on top, it's just a little too precariously balanced, and if I dispense with the ring, it's even more unstable. This can be pretty disconcerting when you've got a wok full of oil at the smoke point and a toddler running around. If I put the wok on the ring directly on the stovetop without the grate, as I've done with some other rangetops, the wok is too close to the flame and isn't centered properly.



So today I was at one of our local Chinese markets, and for a mere six dollars, I found this heavy iron grate for supporting a wok that replaces the regular grate. That's the regular grate on the back burner, and the wok grate on the front burner. The wok is much more stable on this thing than it ever was on the metal ring, and it's just the right distance from the flame.