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kungfucowboy83 · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 479

wow my university just had a collection of fast food joints that rented space in the student union.

the school i work at offers either free lunches or gives you 10rmb to buy what you want. most of us take the 10 kuai.

Leon Purvis · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject:

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

I love living under certain Chinese stones - I'll leave the mysteries of the oiless wok to others Wink

By the way - with the trad Chinese wok as found in every cafeteria kitchen (not the new fangled non-stick/ceramic variety) - the use of oil is at the very heart of its design - since its made of Iron (can be heated to very high temps - as in wok cooking). Without oil it just rusts and to give it its non-stick quality the very hot oil (Chinese cooking oils can be heated to very high temps without burning) over a time forms a film on the surface - which no respectable cook wants to destroy by using water in the cooking process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leon Purvis · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:02 am Post subject:

I am well aware of the seasoning process of iron pans, woks, etc..

What you're not aware of, vikuk, is that there are things that you know NOTHING about. The food was steamed-- which means that WATER was used to cook the food very quickly.

Regarding cleaning the wok: after every meal, the wok was cleaned with a brush made of frayed bamboo.

Nice rock. Looks like just the right home for you.

Ta ta.

Moon Over Parma · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 819

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

Leon Purvis · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:27 pm Post subject:

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

senorfay · Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 214

Actually steam can be much hotter than 100 degrees. If someone heats up water to 200 degrees, it will boil extremely quickly and the resulting steam will be hotter than simply 100 degrees.

That's why steam is so dangerous. Boiling water is dangerous, but you always know its temperature. Steam can be much hotter.

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

This applies to steam under pressure (be carefull of steam jetting out of the spout of a kettle scenario) � a well know example being steam used to power turbine engines (ship and old train engines) � super heated steam. But to get this steam up to these temperatures it has to be confined. In cooking high pressure steam to enable quicker cooking can be produced in a pressure cooker (those funny pots with big lids and a valve on the top that they still use in China - darn dangerous they can explode). With normal pots - especially without a lid - that steam can never have a heat and cooking range - low/medium/high - such as oil cooking can achieve. The best we have in this category is the steaming pot.

By the way to steam food it must not have direct contact to water - just the steam (as in a steaming pot) - otherwise its just being boiled!!!!

Leon Purvis · Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 10:12 pm Post subject:

Sorry, vikyuk,

The food was neither parboiled, precooked, predigested, nor cooked in oil. The wok was heated until the bottom was red hot. The vegetables and fish and/or meat was put into the wok and then water and chicken stock was put into the wok immediately. A great cloud of steam rose from the wok.

And, no, I did not mistake oil for chicken stock.

Cooking time: 45 (maximum) seconds for most meals. I noticed that the wok was changed every few weeks. Frequent exposure to extreme temperatures caused it to lose its parabolic shape.

I have pictures of the process somewhere. I'll go look for them and post them.

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

well Leon you illustrate how potentially unhygenic cafeteria cooking can be -
45 seconds of boiling for meat and fish (tut tut) - but by the evidence of your posts you're still with us Laughing

By the way - your attention to detail - cooking times, frequency of wok changing - is almost as strange as my persistance for constantly questioning your observations - I think we're both due for our medication Wink

Have a happy new year Vik Idea

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

At my current university all teachers pay 5 RMB and get a buffet style lunch. Well, we choose between two "special" dishes which an attendant puts in one of the tray compartments. We can then schoop up as much as we want of everything else. Though the food is not high class, it has been enough to last five, or even six hours. We can eat as much as we want, or as little as we want. The down side is if we finish our lessons at 11:45, we would have to rush over to the canteen or there wouldn't be much left.