The Wok

Starred review from December 20, 2021
The intricacies of wok culture are brilliantly explored in this definitive offering from chef and New York Times cooking columnist López-Alt (The Food Lab). While the more than 200 recipes are nothing to scoff at, what makes this a stunner is the extensive coverage of cooking techniques and culinary history. López-Alt dispenses advice on purchasing the right supplies (“Get yourself a 14-inch, flat-bottomed, carbon steel wok”); offers an array of useful tips, such as how to stir-fry on an electric burner; and even parses the effects of condensation on food when it is tossed in steamy air. Thus armed, the home cook can whip up dishes like moo shu mushrooms or slippery egg with beef. Subsequent chapters dig into rice bowls (among them gyudon, with its toppings of shaved beef rib and poached egg); serve up noodles hot, cold, and stir-fried; and provide scores of fried and braised options. Along the way, q&a’s and sidebars help answer common questions—including whether or not MSG is bad (in moderation, it’s fine)—and step-by-step photos make easy work of more complicated tasks, such as making ultrathin Mandarin pancakes two at a time. López-Alt’s conversational prose never fails to entertain, even when detailing how the alkaline properties of baking soda are “the secret to plumper, snappier shrimp.” Readers will be cooking with gas thanks to this fiery and insightful work.

Starred review from February 1, 2022

Clocking in at over 600 pages, this cookbook is a fitting follow-up to L�pez-Alt's James Beard Award-winning The Food Lab, which covered an array of techniques but no wok-based recipes. Using a similar, science-informed approach, L�pez-Alt demonstrates here not just how to use a wok but why certain tools, techniques, and approaches work better than others. The recipes include Chinese-, Korean-, Thai-, Vietnamese-, and Japanese-inspired dishes and incorporate precise directions for preparation, cooking techniques, and kitchen organization. An extensive introduction provides guidance on selecting a wok and stocking a pantry with essential and optional ingredients. Sidebars, reference charts, and ingredient-specific guidance ensure that budding chefs will develop the skill and understanding to confidently produce stir-fried, steamed, braised, and deep-fried dishes. Readers interested in the science behind a successful wok-based meal will appreciate the way L�pez-Alt experiments with techniques to determine how to achieve the best results in a home kitchen. A section of no-cook sides at the end of the cookbook ensures that even a wok novice can produce a balanced menu. VERDICT L�pez-Alt's latest is an essential addition to any cookbook collection, providing both insights and inspiration for cooking.--Rebecca Brody

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2022
L�pez-Alt, a columnist for the New York Times and Serious Eats, opens his second cookbook lamenting the fact that, despite expounding on the wok as ""the most commonly used pan in my home kitchen,"" he didn't include any recipes using one in The Food Lab (2015). Here he corrects the record, and while the book may come off as a little intimidating at first, it's actually quite beginner friendly. L�pez-Alt walks readers though the process of purchasing and caring for a wok, selecting items like knives and rice cookers, and stocking a wok-friendly pantry, and answers many common questions that readers might have. This information is very text heavy, but L�pez-Alt keeps things accessible and humorous. Recipes are approachable, with side notes and a list of items to have ready before stir-frying begins. Dishes include chicken basil chilies and fish sauce, miso-glazed broiled black cod or salmon, bibimbap, and more. An essential guide for all those who own a wok or wish to give one a try.

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