I bought a wok today. I bought it from a very nice man at Kam Lee Steel Product and Engineering Ltd. on Cleverly Street in Sheung Wan. It is a traditional round bottom carbon steel wok.
I am more excited to cook with this wok than I can express. One of the best things about our flat is that we have a great gas cook top with four burners and a fifth burner in the middle with a ring for a wok!I was given very specific instructions for preparing this wok for cooking. First, heat the wok until it turns blue or very dark. Then take a half an onion, soaked in water, and rub the inside of the wok with the onion.
You don’t want the onion to burn, so when you smell the onion burning you stop and re-soak the onion. You continue to rub the wok with the onion until you no longer smell any metal. Your nose plays a big part in this whole thing. Lucky for me. When you achieve the goal of no metal smell, you then reheat the wok and rub the inside with pork fat or pork skin, which is plentiful in the markets here. It will probably even be free. However, I did see Crisco in a specialty store and that could be used.
I am committing to using this wok at least two times per week. My goal is for it to turn that great dark black and be non stick before I venture back to the US.

Sunchoke and Cashew Stir Fry with Egg, Basil and Asparagus. I am very happy with the results. Not greasy or oily at all.
Oh by the way, this was not an outrageous financial commitment. The whole deal set us back about $9 US.
There is another dark side of wok cooking. And that is the endless wok puns that Steve comes up with. Here are just a few:
- Always wok on the bright side of life
- Just keep on Wokin.’
- Wok like you mean it
- Wok, wok, wok til you can’t wok no more
- Wok baby, don’t run
- Wok til you drop
- Just wok away
- I’m wokin’ here! #@!!!
Wok like an Egyptian.
Wok like a man.
Wok n’ roll.
I know now for sure that Steve has made an impression on you! He will be so proud!
I just LOVE Steve’s wok jokes – my kind of humor 🙂 And the dish you made, Jen, looks absolutely delicious.
It turned out great! Come on over and I will wok it up for you!
Here are some more wokkisms from the Chambers family:
Take a wok on the wild side.
Wokker, Texas Wanger
I wan before I wokked
Wok it off!
Wok softly and carry a big chopstick!
Wok and Woll!
Superb!