Wok This Way

I had never thought about cooking with a wok until a beautiful unused one was given to me by my grandmother. Since I love to cook, I certainly was not going to pass on receiving it. I was determined to try it out this week so, when I went to the grocery store last week I made sure to grab some things I could put in a stir-fry. Before I got started I did a little research to find out exactly what a wok was. All I knew was it is a large rounded object used in Asian cooking. Here's what I found:

What is a wok? It is a versatile round bottomed cooking vessel. A wok can be used for boiling, braising, deep frying, smoking, steaming, and stewing. The curved concave shape gives the wok a great advantage over your average skillet. The shape produces a small hot area on the bottom which allows some of the food to be seared without a large amount of fuel. The curve allows large pieces of food seared at the bottom to be pushed up the sloped sides to continue cooking at a slower rate. With all that said, my first wok experience was a success! I found a basic recipe and tweaked it to what I had in my fridge. 

Honey-Garlic Shrimp Recipe: makes 2 servings

1/8 cup lite soy sauce (make sure to use lite soy sauce-you don't want to overload on sodium!)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/3 cup julienned red pepper

1/3 cup julienned yellow pepper

1/3 cup julienned orange pepper

1/2 pound shelled, deveined uncooked large shrimp (or the protein of your choice)

In small bowl, stir together soy sauce, honey and garlic. Heat oil in wok over high heat until hot. Add red, yellow, and orange peppers. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until vegetables are slightly tender; remove from wok. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 minutes or until shrimp just begin to turn pink. Return vegetables to wok; stir in soy sauce mixture. 

Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and liquid has thickened slightly.

Instead of pairing with rice or noodles I chose quinoa. Quinoa is grain-like (looks similar to cous-cous) but packs in a nutritional punch. It is high in protein and contains essential amino acids (making it a complete protein source--this is unusual for plant foods). It is a good source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron. Quinoa is also gluten free and easy to digest. Can't get all those nutrients from rice and noodles now, can ya?

Don't have a wok? that's ok! a skillet will do just fine.