Be a Wok Star
My friend Eleanor made me a Wok Star.
Born in China, raised in Hong Kong, and educated at fancy schools in England, Eleanor Hoh speaks with a deliciously plummy English accent.
She's been an actress/model in many commercials and ads around the world, and a vivacious TV show hostess in Miami.
Now she also runs a cooking school that teaches people how to make extremely tasty, but quick Chinese stir-fry food in traditional, very thin, cast-iron woks.
These woks, which she imports from China, are almost like art objects -- as if Brancusi had sculpted a Chinese frying pan.
I'd cooked with woks before. In fact, I already had two in my kitchen, but they were steel woks. Old-school, cast-iron woks are hard to find in this country.
But -- as I soon discovered after getting one of Eleanor's super-thin, super-light, cast iron woks -- cast iron cooks better, cleans easier and makes crisper stir-fry vegetables than the more Westernized steel models.
As for teflon-coated woks -- don't even think about it.
Anyhow, as a sort of bonus, Eleanor gave me one of her beautiful, seasoned woks after I did some food and product photography for her, a few samples of which are in this blog entry.
Eleanor says anybody can become a Wok Star with her lessons, which she gives in person and on DVD. Check out her website, eleanorhoh.com
Born in China, raised in Hong Kong, and educated at fancy schools in England, Eleanor Hoh speaks with a deliciously plummy English accent.
She's been an actress/model in many commercials and ads around the world, and a vivacious TV show hostess in Miami.
Now she also runs a cooking school that teaches people how to make extremely tasty, but quick Chinese stir-fry food in traditional, very thin, cast-iron woks.
These woks, which she imports from China, are almost like art objects -- as if Brancusi had sculpted a Chinese frying pan.
I'd cooked with woks before. In fact, I already had two in my kitchen, but they were steel woks. Old-school, cast-iron woks are hard to find in this country.
But -- as I soon discovered after getting one of Eleanor's super-thin, super-light, cast iron woks -- cast iron cooks better, cleans easier and makes crisper stir-fry vegetables than the more Westernized steel models.
As for teflon-coated woks -- don't even think about it.
Anyhow, as a sort of bonus, Eleanor gave me one of her beautiful, seasoned woks after I did some food and product photography for her, a few samples of which are in this blog entry.
Eleanor says anybody can become a Wok Star with her lessons, which she gives in person and on DVD. Check out her website, eleanorhoh.com
posted by Bill Wisser at 5:30 PM
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