The Breath of a Wok [1 ed.] 0743238273, 9780743238274

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The Breath of aW o k Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese W o k Cooking T h r o u g h R ec ip es a nd Lore

Grace Young

and

Alan R i c h a r d s o n

W ith Text iind Recipes by Grace Young

S im o n c\ S c h u s t e r

N e w Y o rk

London

T o ro n to

Svdnev

S I M O N c\ SC I I U S T E R Rockefeller C enter 1230 A ve n u e of the Am ericas N e w York. N Y 10020 C opyright © 2004 by G race Young and Alan Richardson Text and Recipes copyright © 2004 by G race Young Photographs copyright © 2004 by Alan Richardson All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in w h o le or in part in any form. S im o n & S c h u s t e r

and colophon are registered tradem arks of Sim on & Schuster, Inc.

For inform ation regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Sim on & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or busm ess@ sim onandschuster com. Designed and produced by A lan Richardson for Plenty W orks, Inc., N e w York, NY Type consulting by Sm ythtype, Montclair, NJ Chinese typography by Birdtrack Press, N e w Haven, CT C olo r prints by C olor Resource Center, N e w York, NY M an u fa ctu re d in the U nited States of Am erica 10

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Library of Congress Catalogmg-m-Publication Data Young, G race The breath of a w ok: unlocking the spirit of Chinese w ok cooking through recipes and lore / by G ra ce Young and Alan Richardson p

cm

Includes bibliographical references and index 1 Cookery, C hinese 2 W o k cookery 3 Food habits— C hin a TX724 5 C 5Y593 641 59 51— dc22 ISBN 0-7432-3827-3

2004 2003070403

I Richardson, Alan II Title

1c k iio ii’lcil{linen is 4N

I his book w ould not Ilave boon possible' w ithou t

lav. Ken I o. I )r. and M rs. Kam Toa M ill, M argaret

the encouragement and lo w ol mv husband, M ichael

l oo. B e rn a d e tte C h a n , C h e f M in g T sai. I lelen

W ic rtz . w h o understood tlu- need tor .ill m v wok

( 'hen. ( 'lie f I )anny ( !han, IVipei ( 'hang.Jean Yueli.

journeys .uul good-naturedly accepted tli.it every

M illie C h a n . Florence I in. C h e f M a rtin Yan. C h et

adventure brought homo .it least

Sm ('h a h

o ik

*

new w ok tor

I ung, R a y Lee, C e c ilia C liia n g . C h e

m y collection. In the midst o f all the upheaval that

C h u n g N g. I ) r kson I lee, A m y Ian. Lou I )eM attei.

results trom creating a book, he was a paragon ot

|in I )o Hug, I ljun W an.Y u hang W ang, I long C h ang

calm. I or this and m uch more. I am grateful.

( 1110. and Yan Z h e n g Yan.

I w ould like to express m y appreciation to my

I leartfclt g ratitude and appreciation to the

parents. I lelen and D e lw y n Young, tor instilling in

cooks

me their love and passion tor Cantonese cuisine and

tie and uncle Hetty and R o y In n for hosting our

the unsurpassed brilliance ot a stir-fry w ith wok hoy.

fam ily w ok-a-thon party— w ith o u t their gracious

M a n y thanks to them tor their faith in me.

hospitality the event w o u ld never have happened.

Special thanks to Rosanna and C .Y . Shum ; my

111

m v family, w ith special thanks to my aun­

A nd to all the participants: B erth a Je w ; Lillian and

visit w ith them in I lo n g K o n g in 2indulged

W illia m

J e w ; F ra n c e s a n d S h e r m a n Y o u n g ;

me in the fascinating w o rld of I lo n g K o n g —style

K ath erin e |cw L im ; D oreen and M e l Song; Sylvia,

co o k in g and in m any ways inspired the w ritin g ot

F re d , and T h o m a s C h o w ; C in d y and Z a n e

this book.

M atsuzaki; Judy, I )avid. and T im o th y Jew .

From the beginning. M artha Kaplan, m y agent

In llo n g K o n g and C h in a ; V irg in ia Y e e .T in a

and triend. has cham pioned this project and ottered

Yao Lu. M a ry C hau, N e v in L im .C h e t Kevin C ln ik ,

w ise counsel— usually over

C h in ese meal. As the

W alte r K e i, C h e f Ip C'hi C h eu n g , C h e f Lee W an

book began to take shape, m y dear friend Laura

C h in g . C 'h e f Y i p W i n g W a ll, C 'h e f L o o n C h i

C erw m sk e generously did the prelim in ary editing

C h eung , M r. and M rs.Yang Lang Ling (U n c le Lang

of m y rough drafts, helping me to set the founda­

and A u n tie Y i). and Liang N ia n X iu .

.1

tion ot m y story. It was m v good fortune to have

I here are several individuals m entioned

111

the

m y uncle S u n Y u i Lun g give the C h in ese titles for

long list o f cooks w e interview ed w hose c o n trib u ­

each essay and section ot the book. 11e has been a

tions extended far beyond our cooking sessions. W e

constant ad viso r from the b e g in n in g , p atien tly

are profoundly grateful to Florence L in , w h o c o n ­

researching and consulting

sulted on numerous culinary questions w ith excep­

011

any type ot Chinese

cultural question that confused me.

tional grace and generosity.

I o w e a special debt of g ra titu d e to E v ie R ig h te r, w h o cam e to my rescue

W ith o u t M illie C h a n we w o u ld have never

num erous

had the o p p o rtu n ity to meet Flo ren ce Lin . M illie

occasions, p ro vid in g invaluable ed ito rial guidance

was one ot the first cooks w e in te rvie w e d and

on the recipes and essays. I ler critiq u es always

from the start o f the project she and her husband,

illum inated the material, ottering insights and clar­

L o - Y i, have been great supporters.

011

I w ill always treasure the tim e spent w ith my

ity that eluded me. In w ritin g this book. Alan and I have had the

U n c le Lang and A u n tie Y i

111

Foshan, C h in a. W h e n

e x tra o rd in a ry pleasure of m e e tin g m any great

I last saw them over tw en ty years ago, our rela­

teachers w h o generously shared th eir expertise

tionship was much more formal. I was very touched

and friendship. ( )u r profound thanks to the hom e

to be w elcom ed into their hom e to spend an after­

co o ks and chefs w h o g ra cio u sly w e lc o m e d us

noon co o kin g and sharing a meal. I thank them for

in to th eir kitchens.

em bracing our project and tirelessly accom panying

In the U n it e d States: C h e t Susan na lo o . W in n ie I Ion. ( ' het I le n ry I lugh, Susan I

I he lirc tiih 0) (i 11'ok-

111.

|ulie

us to the local m arkets, iloi />, and the cake flips over.

Chans words ring 111 my ears as I arrive back in

O n the stove beside him. Napa cabbage braises with

I long Kong on my way to meet C h e f Kevin Clink

Chinese mushrooms, and in the last station chicken

o f the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute. C h e f

stock simmers in a mammoth 28-inch wok.

Chuk.a native o f Sichuan province, is adamant that

C h e f Ip tells me that the Cantonese-style

nothing compares to the practicality o f a light­

carbon-steel wok used by home cooks is also

weight northern-style carbon-steel wok. His style of

ideal for a professional kitchen, but in a larger size

stir-frying relies on holding the wok by its long

and preferably hand-hammered, w hich makes it

metal handle and using the /> < #< >action to keep the

more durable. A Cantonese-style cast-iron wok is

food moving in the rounded bowl-shaped wok; he

too fragile for the rough work environment o f a

The lircnth of «/ 11’«»A*

Tanc Chilli oj I 'lic Wok Shop in San I-min isco lias had orer thirty years of experience aJ rising customers oil hoir to adapt the wok to tin Western kitchen.

professional kitchen. In fact, cast-iron woks are not even manufactured for restaurant use. “ W e prefer the 19-inch Cantonese-style w ok to stirfry, pan-fry, braise, boil, poach, steam, and deep-fry. For great quantities such as banquetstyle food the Cantonese have woks as biii as 48 inches.You can't find northern-style woks larger than IS inches.The pao action would be impossible in such a wok, because it would be too heavy to lift

Chinese kitchen requires adjustment.“ explains I lom.

with its lone metal handle. A 19-inch Cantonese-

I like having the same wok that Chinese cooks

style w ok is more practical — we can easily lift the

used 2,000 years ago. T h e brilliant design o f a tra­

w ok to />