Mandarin wok
My wok came from China. I paid a little over a hundred zlotys for it on Allegro. It is made of carbon steel and hand-forged. It is 33 centimeters in diameter, has a wooden handle and weighs about a kilogram. As a source of fire, I use a so-called gas stool, made of cast iron, connected to a small gas cylinder, which I also found on Allegro for less than a hundred. Before using the wok for the first time, you have to burn it. This is done over a fire, dry, by strongly heating every square centimeter of the bowl until it changes color. The process is repeated wet, covering the wok with a thin layer of vegetable oil and burning it centimeter by centimeter, until the oil stops smoking.
The technique of preparing food on a wok is "stir-frying". It is not complicated and there are a few simple rules: you prepare a portion for one person, all the products must first be prepared and placed in separate containers in the order in which they are thrown into the pan, the products are cut very thinly, fried briefly, and you cannot stop stirring for a moment. You can stir with a ladle or by using this refined culinary technique of tossing the contents of the pan. The Chinese use both of these techniques at the same time - one hand tosses the pan and the other controls the ladle, which alternately mixes or adds further portions of products.
Slice the duck breast with the skin on or, if you prefer, without the skin, into thin slices and marinate in a small amount of soy sauce for two hours. Divide a piece of broccoli into small florets, cut the stalk into strips or matchsticks. Cut a few thin asparagus into thin strips. Cut the mycelium off the shimeji mushroom cluster and separate into individual pieces. Finely chop a small onion, half a thumb of ginger, two cloves of garlic and a blade of lemongrass. Pour oil into a wok and fry the duck in it. Set the duck aside, leaving the fat in the pan. Throw in the onion, ginger, garlic and lemongrass. Fry for a moment. Add the broccoli, asparagus and mushrooms. Fry for a moment. Pour in a small amount of sweet white wine. Fry for a moment. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli sauce, lemon juice and a teaspoon of cane sugar. Fry for a moment. Add the duck and a small amount of water mixed with two teaspoons of corn or potato flour. Fry for a moment. Remove from the pan. Add the cilantro and fresh chives. Serve with rice.
