Wok cooking is one of the fastest, most energy-efficient ways to get dinner on the table in a hurry. Jeremy Pang’s School of Wok cookery school in London has tutored more than 60,000 students in the art of successful wok cooking, simplifying the process by means of his “wok clock”.
Essentially, this involves preparing each of the ingredients in advance and laying them out in a clock formation, in the order in which they will be cooked. A simple tip, but one that brings order to a fast-paced cooking environment.
His latest book, also called School of Wok, has recipes from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea and Japan, using a wok to cook them, just as they would be in home kitchens across the globe.
General Tso’s chicken
PREP: 25 MINS | COOK: 15 MINS | SERVES 2
Why is General Tso so popular? Well, this dish is sweet, sour, spicy and savoury with just the right amount of salty. It’s the perfect balance of flavour, texture and colour and a wonderful place to start your wok journey.
Ingredients
10 dried red chillies
300g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, diced
200g cornflour, seasoned with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper
½ thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Vegetable oil
Sauce:
30g sugar
1 tsp sriracha chilli sauce
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ tbsp black rice vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
50ml water
Marinade:
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
To serve:
Sliced red chilli
Sliced spring onions
Steamed rice
Flash-fried green vegetables
Method
1. Soak the dried red chillies in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and massage the marinade ingredients into the meat. Then pour the seasoned cornflour over the chicken and massage until each piece of meat separates and has a dry dusty white coating.
3. Build your wok clock: Start at 12 o’clock with your bowl of cornflour-coated chicken, followed by the ginger, garlic and spring onions, the soaked red chillies, then lastly the sauce.
4. Deep-fry the coated chicken in vegetable oil at 180°C (350°F) for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
5. If using your wok for deep-frying, carefully pour out the oil into a heatproof bowl to cool and give your wok a quick wipe with kitchen paper. Place the wok back on the hob and bring 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a high heat. Add in your ginger, garlic and spring onions and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
6. Next add the dried chillies, followed immediately by the sauce mixture. Bring the sauce to a vigorous boil for 3-4 minutes until syrupy, then add the deep-fried meat, tossing the wok a few times so that the sauce fully coats the chicken. Sprinkle with sliced red chilli and spring onions and serve immediately with steamed rice and flash-fried green veg.
Shaking beef salad with pickled red onion
PREP: 20 MINS, PLUS PICKLING | COOK: 5 MINS | SERVES 2
This dish requires your wok to be smoking hot. I would recommend leaving it on a high heat for at least 30-60 seconds before starting this stir-fry. Get that extractor fan on high, open all your windows and put away any laundry hanging in the kitchen – unless you want your clothes, too, to have a smoky finish.
Ingredients
300g rib-eye steak, cut into large dice
150g heritage baby tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
100g watercress, rinsed
2 baby cucumbers, sliced diagonally into wedges
½ red onion, finely sliced
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
Vegetable oil
Handful of coriander and mint leaves, to garnish
Pickled red onion:
½ red onion, finely sliced
100g radishes, finely sliced (optional)
6 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
½ tbsp sea salt
Marinade:
½ tsp sea salt flakes
¼ tsp cracked black pepper
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tbsp cornflour
Sauce:
1½ tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp sugar
Juice of ½ lime
Method
1. For the pickled red onion, place the onion into a small bowl with the radishes, if using. Add the rest of the pickled onion ingredients to the bowl and give it a stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Set aside for a minimum of 20 minutes.
2. Place the steak in a mixing bowl and massage the marinade ingredients into the meat, saving the cornflour until last. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl.
3. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of the pickling liquid from the pickled red onion. Arrange the watercress over a serving plate and scatter the cucumber and tomatoes around.
4. Build your wok clock: Start at 12 o’clock with the marinated beef, followed by the (unpickled) red onion, spring onion and garlic, and lastly the sauce.
5. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in your wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Swirl the oil around the wok a little and then add the marinated beef and sear for 1 minute on each side. Next add the sliced red onion to the wok and start to fold through. Add the spring onion and garlic and continue to stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, giving the wok a good shake every 20-30 seconds.
6. Now stop shaking the wok to allow the heat to build until smoking. Then quickly pour in the sauce and bring to a vigorous boil. Fold through once or twice to fully coat the beef and vegetables, then spoon onto the top of your salad. Garnish with the herbs and drained pickled red onion.
Quick vegan ramen
PREP: 20 MINS | COOK: 45 MINS | SERVES 2
If you want to add the classic soft-boiled egg, for a non-vegan version, add 15-20 tablespoons of dark soy sauce to a pan of boiling water and cook room temperature eggs for 6 minutes. Cool in iced water, peel and leave in the cooled soy liquid until ready to serve.
Ingredients
1 small onion, unpeeled, quartered
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, cut into matchsticks
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled, bashed
4 spring onions, roughly chopped
6-8 shiitake mushrooms, roughly torn
1.5-2 litres vegetable stock
1 heaped teaspoon white miso paste
1 tbsp light soy sauce
200g fresh ramen noodles
1 head of pak choi, quartered lengthways
Vegetable oil
Miso glaze:
1 tbsp red miso paste
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp water
To be glazed:
200g firm tofu, cut into batons
2 small carrots, quartered lengthways
1 spring onion, halved lengthways
Method
1. Mix the miso glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Build your wok clock: Start at 12 o’clock with the onion, followed by the ginger, garlic, chopped spring onions, shiitake mushrooms, vegetable stock, white miso paste, light soy sauce, ramen noodles and lastly the pak choi.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in your wok to a medium heat and add the onion, ginger, garlic, spring onions and shiitake mushrooms, stir-frying for 30 seconds between each addition. Add the stock, white miso paste and light soy sauce and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Place the tofu into the middle of the pan and the carrot quarters around the edges. Fry, turning from time to time, until the tofu is browned on both sides. Now add the spring onion around the edge of the pan and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes. Pour the miso glaze over the top of it all and bring to a vigorous boil for 2-3 minutes until syrupy in texture.
5. Remove the stock from the heat and sieve into a large bowl. Discard all the flavouring ingredients except for the shiitake mushrooms. Pour the stock and mushrooms back into the wok over a medium heat, bring to the boil and add the ramen noodles. Cook for approximately 2 minutes before transferring them to your serving bowls. Next, add the pak choi to the stock, boil for 30-60 seconds then place on top of the noodles. Top with the glazed tofu, carrots and spring onion before ladling the stock over the bowls to fully cover the vegetables. Recipes extracted from Jeremy Pang’s School of Wok: Delicious Asian Food in Minutes. Published by Hamlyn. Photography by Kris Kirkham.
