Wok the noodles

Good quality ingredients are crucial, but what is more important in Chinese cooking is the wok, writes Vivek Phadnis

Ever wondered why the fried rice or hakka noodles made at home never gets that smoky flavour like in restaurants? It is not just the ingredients that make for tasty Chinese food, it is the science of the vessel and the method itself.

Good quality ingredients are crucial, but what is more important in Chinese cooking is the wok. But what does the vessel have to do with the flavour of the final dish, you may ask? A lot, really. A wok is not just any vessel made of iron. There is a whole lot of science involved in its functioning. If one observes a chef making Chinese food, the wok is all smoky and flames can be seen rising from the vessel. The high heat sears the outside of the vegetable or meat chunks and traps all the juices and flavour within. Even the ladle is designed to scoop and move food around the curved sides of the wok. Science, it seems, has not spared even cooking. Therefore, purchasing a wok (Rs 300-400) for a small family is money well spent.

It is not just Indo-Chinese food that will taste marvellous if cooked in a wok. We have all seen videos of biryani being cooked in a handi or a degchi. Both do not have straight sides, and there is a reason for that. In the dum pukht method of preparing biryani, the opening of the vessel is closed and sealed with dough for the magic to happen inside. While sealing, the vessel traps the flavours of the spices. The water added to cook the rice and vegetables or meat gets converted to steam, rises through the ingredients and cooks them on the way. When the steam hits the inside of the lid, it condenses into water droplets. The droplets come down the sloping side of the vessel and to the bottom. This process is repeated till flavourful biryani is ready.

In the same way, take the kadai. This traditional Indian cooking vessel has a hemisphere-like shape that aids cooking like browning chopped onions, ginger or garlic for any dish. Or for that matter, try frying papad or vadas in a flat-bottomed vessel. One may be able to do it, but not with the same ease of doing it in a kadai. This is where our ancestors used their ingenuity even when it came to cooking vessels. Of course, many other materials like lead, clay, stone, cast iron etc., have been used since ancient times for cooking. Cooking in an iron or carbon steel vessel helps get a bit of the mineral into the body and that is beneficial. Basically, our ancestors had done their research with materials.

These days, many of us frequently use non-stick cookware, but awareness is growing about the need to use natural materials like iron. And that is a good sign.

(The author takes refuge in food after a tiring day with cars and gadgets.)