Two Videos Worth Watching

First up is a fine video Grace Young did for Chow. 

I like this video for a couple of reasons. She addresses the primary issues facing a stirfry cook on Western equipment. But also there is some good technique and information to be gleaned in how she handles the beef. Notice that she's getting it all in contact with the heat in a SINGLE layer. She doesn't move the beef around, but lets it cook and pick up the sear you'd get from a hotter heat source in traditional stir frying. Lastly, she manages the cooking so the beef just comes to completion at service. 


This is particularly tricky with beef for a home cook in a wok. It's tricky to stir fry beef to an even level of doneness, especially if you want some pink left in the beef. 

Most restaurants work around this with oil-blanching or passing through hot oil. Quite often the technique is just referred to as passing. This is the easiest way to produce beef that is evenly cooked and tender. But sloppy passing and draining leads to greasy stir fries. 


Grace Young sidesteps these extra hassles with good technique in her video. That technique also includes not overloading the wok. But if you're not getting the results you want, consider passing the meat first next time. 

The second video is Jennifer 8 Lee's TED talk that is mostly a summary of her book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. 

This runs a bit over 15 minutes, but covers lots of ground about things we associate with Chinese Restaurants and their food that really have nothing to do with China. The book's a good read too.