The Wok of My Life

My friend had told me about the stir fry she had made; the combination of pre-lunch hunger and the delicious ingredients she used only made me think “I NEED A WOK.”

Fortunately, they were on sale at Sur La Table! I bought a stainless steel 14″ wok for less than 20 dollars. I was so excited and equally as intimidated. The wok came with preparation instructions. Apparently, for shipping purposes it had to be coated with a food-safe lacquer that needed to be heated off. And then of course the wok needed to be seasoned. Thoughts along the lines of “what if I do it wrong?” and “TJ’s frozen meatless meatballs are easier to make” clouded my head and for a week my shiny new wok sat around the stove collecting dust as I lazily lived around it.

Along with laziness and cooking insecurities, I still had not found a recipe I wanted to use. I kept running into two different problems in my search: the recipes were complex and required expensive ingredients or the recipes would make me think “that sounds nice, but would I really want to eat that for 3-4 meals? So, I just bought the basics: oils, noodles, random vegetables and some precooked chicken (I wonder if this has a -phobia name with the definition: fear of cooking chicken and getting sick). With the much needed help of my roommate, I was taught the basics on how to make a stir fry. The whole idea of it reminds me of a creative art class. The wok is the tool, now do whatever comes to mind! Which is awesome, but I am still a naive beginner and also the boring girl that enjoyed drawing inside the lines required lines to color with (My coloring books were as creative and outrageously colorful as a Banana Republic catalog).

I used kelp noodles as a rawlternative to regular noodles, fresh vegetables from the farmers market and I also added some egg whites at the end to give it the chow mein feel. And of course a big spoon full of chili garlic sauce to add some heat. I loved this dinner so much that I have been making a stir fry every week. I am altering the ingredients and spices each time to find my perfect stir fry. I plan to bring more cash with me to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market so I can buy some local seasonal vegetables to help me become more creative and confident cook. Any suggestions or tips are welcome! Wok on!