A well-loved wok is a thing of beauty. Frequent cooking builds up a glossy, natural nonstick coating, and gentle cleaning removes excess grease, but doesn't disturb those precious layers of seasoning. When cared for properly, a good quality carbon steel wok can last decades, even generations. Treated roughly or ignored, however, a wok can lose its luster or start to rust.
To learn how to clean a wok and keep it in peak condition, we reached out to Grace Young, a Chinese American food historian and the author of many cookbooks including The Breath Of A Wok and Stir-Frying To The Sky's Edge, who recommends following these steps to maintain what might well be the most versatile pan in your kitchen.
How to Clean a Wok
Never put a wok in the dishwasher. Young recommends this simple cleaning routine, instead:
Dry It Well
After you clean your wok, skip towels and dry it over low heat on your stove's burner; towels can leave behind bits of paper or lint. Be sure to tackle this task quickly: Never leave a wok soaking in the sink or dripping in a drying rack—it will rust.
Store It Carefully
Keep your wok in a place where other pans won't scratch it. If you live somewhere humid or use it only occasionally, place it inside a paper bag to protect it from humidity and dust, Young suggests.
How to Season a Wok
Wash and season a new wok before you cook with it, says Young. Chinese chives are traditionally used to season, but she suggests scallions and ginger, which are readily available year round. Young developed a recipe for this purpose and has shared it with us.
First, a few words of wisdom: "After you wash the wok and dry it on the burner, the wok may turn yellow, orange, bluish, and even black. Don't be alarmed. It may not change at all. This is natural," she says. "After you stir-fry the scallions and ginger, the wok may look splotchy and blacken on just one side. It may look like you ruined the wok, but again, don't be alarmed. This can happen. The important thing is once it's seasoned, use your wok for cooking."
How to Season a Carbon-Steel Wok With Scallions and Ginger
How to Maintain Your Wok
Now that you know how to clean, dry, and store your wok, learn how to properly maintain it—which begins with using it frequently.
Use It Often
Treat your wok like a do-it-all pan, not a special-occasion one. "The best thing you can do is use it constantly," says Young. Each time you cook with your wok, you enhance its patina. That helps it develop into a resilient, natural nonstick coating. This is especially important for a new pan. Cooking with oils and fats—deep fat frying, in particular—is great for a wok's patina.
"A young wok is always thirsty for fat and seems to love pork fat the most," says Young. When she spoke to us, she was busy seasoning one of several woks she donated for an auction held by Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate. She'd been cooking bacon in one of the woks every day—and "now it's glowing and the patina color is getting darker," she says.
Cook Carefully at First
A wok's patina develops over time, so if your pan is new, the seasoning is still delicate. If you cook certain foods or clean it too roughly, you can weaken the patina. One menace to your wok's seasoning is acidic ingredients. Wait until your wok has matured to cook with pineapple or lemon juice or to make sweet-and-sour dishes, says Young. Tomatoes and vinegar can be dangerous, too. You should also avoid steaming, boiling, or poaching in a new wok, as those cooking methods can dry out the patina.
Restore Your Wok's Surface
If you haven't used your wok in a while, its surface might feel sticky or there might be some rust. This is a sign that your wok needs some extra care—so give it what Young calls a "wok facial." It's a quick way to remove sticky areas, bits of food, or rust using pantry ingredients:
If your wok is very rusted, you may need to re-season it afterward. Follow Young's recipe above to give it a new patina.
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