Expert offers wok tips

January 5, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Chicago Tribune

“This is a teenage wok,” declared Grace Young, glancing up from the mottled surface of the pan cradled in her hands. The wok’s splotchy complexion — not the shiny cast iron of infancy or the mocha-colored sheen of adulthood — sent a clear message: A “facial” was needed. Fast.

“This wok is at the awkward stage. It’s adolescent,” said Young, author of the new cookbook, “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” (Simon & Schuster, $35). “A wok facial will rejuvenate it.”

Helping a wok achieve the proper hue is important to her because a well-seasoned wok makes for tastier food. You use fewer tablespoons of oil; food sticks less frequently. And a wok with a satiny patina looks sexy. Young is so insistent on the benefits of a properly seasoned wok that she braves airport security to fly around the country with her own wok in her carry-on luggage.

The self-styled “Wok Doctor” is always willing to take time to help others get their neglected, rusty or food-stained woks in shape with a simple, quick treatment that oils and seasons the pan for cooking.

“So many people seem to have a wok like that,” she said. “They bought it eons ago, and when they dig it out from the closet, they discover it’s a little sticky, rusty, and they assume it’s beyond repair. A carbon-steel wok cannot be destroyed. It will last a lifetime.”

A wok facial will do more than make your pan look good.

“You will be inspired to stir-fry,” Young predicted. And, as she pointed out, the more you use your wok the more quickly that sought-after patina develops.

“Keep cooking, you’ll reach the promised land,” she added.