One Year of Wok Wednesdays

Today, May 16th, marks the one year anniversary of the start of Wok Wednesdays. From our very first recipe (Stir-Fried Garlic Spinach) we’ve learning the wonders of the wok with help from our stir-fry guru Grace Young and her fantastic cookbook, Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge. Here’s a snapshot of where we stand today:

• Over 150 members of Wok Wednesdays, following along and cooking with us here on the blog and in our Facebook group.
• 24 recipes from Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge made, including Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken, Salt and Pepper Dry-Fried Shrimp, and Stir-Fried Cucumber and Pork with Golden Garlic.
• Two “Choose your Own Wok Adventure” days that led to creations like Hot Pepper Beef with Chinese Egg Noodles, Baby Corn, Quail Eggs, and Mushrooms and Steamed & Tea-Smoked Seafood.
• 13 giveaways for prizes including brand new woks, cutting boards, Szechuan peppercorns, and a signed copy of Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge.
• Countless delicious memories!

Wok-Seared Vegetables – Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Minced Pork in Lettuce Cups, in progress – Western Chopsticks

Velvet Chicken with Asparagus – My Culinary Mission

We still have lots of recipes to tackle, new techniques to learn, and interesting ingredients to discover! I want to thank each and every one of you for making this past year one of the most exciting food years of my life, and I can’t wait to share in all the future memories we’ll make together as newly minted wok warriors!

Lastly, I want to thank a few people without whom this endeavor would have been much more difficult, if not impossible. First, to Nancie McDermott for bringing Grace and I together. Grace has said it before and she isn’t wrong, you truly are the fairy godmother of Wok Wednesdays. Second, to Tane Chan of The Wok Shop who has not only continually donated items for giveaways but has also been a huge champion of the project and a wok mentor to many Wok Wednesdays members. Tane – I hope to make it out to San Francisco one day soon to meet you in person! I also need to thank my husband, Leland, for putting up with smoky kitchens, constant photos, and endless talk about woks. He has been a great supporter of the project and one of the best sous chefs one could ask for. Last, and certainly not least, to Grace Young, who has become my personal wokstar over this past year. From the e-mails and phone calls to the packages and presents, you have been a great mentor to me and to the group. From the moment I proposed this idea you ran with it and were willing to send your baby, Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, out into the world to be used in this way. Thank you for everything you do!

And to all of my fellow Wok Wednesdays folks – keep on wokkin’!

- Matt

LYL: Wok-Seared Vegetables

Spring has sprung, and we’re ready with our latest Wok Wednesdays recipe: Wok-Seared Vegetables. Asparagus is at its prime in many parts of the country, and this is the perfect recipe to take advantage of its availability.

What did you think? Leave your thoughts, along with a link to your blog post if you wrote one.

LYL – Velvet Chicken with Asparagus

As we close in on our first birthday, its only appropriate that we begin to tackle some of the more complicated techniques, like velveting. If I’m not mistaken this is our second recipe that involves the velveting techinque, and from the early responses on our Facebook page folks are loving the results! What did you think about this week’s recipe? Leave a link to your blog post below, or just leave a comment telling us how you fared!

- Matt

PS. Don’t forget to check out our awesome birthday giveaway and special offer!

Wok Wednesdays Month-Long Birthday Celebration

On May 16th Wok Wednesdays officially turns one! Over the past year we have grown together as a group, exploring some of the amazing recipes in Grace Young’s Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, and learning more about the ancient and fascinating cooking style of the stir-fry.

Photos: Steven Needham

Over the next month there will be lots of fun content to celebrate our first birthday, including a look-back on what we’ve accomplished, a preview of what to come, videos, discussion, and more. But I’d like to get the festivities started with something REALLY fun – another giveaway! Over the past few weeks we’ve had a bunch of new people join Wok Wednesdays, some of whom don’t have a wok yet, so I’m excited to announce that Wok Wednesdays has partnered with Kitchenworks, an independent kitchenwares retailer in North Carolina, to give away a brand new 14″ Helen Chen flat-bottomed carbon steel wok to one lucky winner!

And they aren’t stopping there. For the ENTIRE month of May Kitchenworks is giving EVERYONE in Wok Wednesdays 15% off your entire order on their website, Kitchenworksinc.com. You can shop once, you can shop twice, you can shop every day for the whole month and you’ll get 15% off each and every order, how cool is that!? They not only have woks and stir-fry tools, but they have virtually everything you need for your kitchen, so stock up!

Here is how you can enter the giveaway and get your discount:

1. To enter the giveaway for one 14″ Helen Chen flat-bottomed carbon steel wok, leave a comment on this post by midnight, Sunday May 5th,  with your answer to following question:

What has been your favorite recipe that we’ve made in Wok Wednesdays thus far? OR (if you are new) what recipe from Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge are you most looking forward to making?

2. To claim your 15% discount at Kitchenworksinc.com all you need to do is enter the promotional code WOKSTAR (all caps) during checkout. The coupon is valid for multiple uses anytime between May 1st, 2013 and May 31, 2013. All regular Kitchenworksinc.com policies apply to each purchase.

Good luck, and happy wokking!

- Matt

LYL – Wok Portrait Contest

It’s spring break here at Wok Wednesdays, and instead of doing another recipe this week we’re taking a “vacation” and posting some beautiful wok portraits instead. All week long wokkers will be posting photos of their woks to our Facebook group and at the end of the week our guru Grace Young will pick the most creative portrait to receive a prize – Helen Chen Universal Kitchen Shears!

If you haven’t joined Wok Wednesdays yet but would like to enter the shears giveaway, just join the Wok Wednesdays Facebook Group and post a cool photo of you with your wok, your wok in action, or your wok just hanging out. Use your imagination! And never fear, we’ll be back to our regular wokking schedule in another two weeks.

- Matt

LYL – Hakka Style Stir-Fried Cabbage and Egg

Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday! (In monster truck announcer voice)

This week’s recipe was fun. What did you think? Leave your thoughts and/or a link to your post below.

Wok on!

LYL – Stir-Fried Chicken with Carrots

You know the drill – leave a link to your post and/or your thoughts on this week’s recipe! Did you use a handy-dandy tool to shred the carrots or go old school with a knife?

Karen’s dish – Karen’s Kitchen Stories

 

E.J. Stone-Erhardt’s dish.