Pittwater Life March 2023 Issue

Food Life
5 Top Tips for
Wok ‘Seasoning’
Food Life
quickly and allow broccoli
to steam for 30-50 seconds
until bright green and just
tender.
5. Return the beef and any
juices, add the sauce and
stir fry until heated through.
Sprinkle over the sesame
seeds and serve with rice or
noodles.
Vietnamese crispy
coconut pancakes
(Bánh Xèo Tôm)
Makes 8
1 cup rice flour
2 tbs cornflour
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sea salt flakes
320ml coconut milk
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
400g pork mince
600g medium green prawns,
peeled, deveined
4 green shallots, finely
chopped
1 cup beansprouts
lettuce leaves, shredded carrot,
sliced cucumber, Asian herbs
like Vietnamese mint; thai basil
and coriander, to serve
Sauce
3 tbs fish sauce
3 tbs grated palm sugar or
brown sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
1 red chilli, seeds in, finely
chopped
1. Combine all the sauce
ingredients together and set
aside.
2. For the pancakes, sift the
flours, turmeric and salt into
a bowl. Combine coconut
milk and water in a jug.
Gradually pour into the
flour mixture, whisking to
a smooth batter (the batter
should be the consistency
of thin cream). Stand 15
minutes.
3. Heat wok over medium-high
heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil
and swirl over the base and
side. Pour 1/3-cup pancake
batter into the wok then
tilt the wok back and form
an 18cm pancake. Cover
with a lid, cook, for 2-3
minutes until base is lacy
and light golden (this helps
steam pancake slightly so
easy to remove). Slide the
pancake onto a tray, fold in
half, cover and keep warm
while cooking remaining
pancakes.
4. Increase heat to high. make
sure the wok is hot. Add
1 tablespoon oil and pork
mince. Cook, stirring with a
wooden spoon for 3 minutes
until mince changes colour.
Add the prawns, shallots,
and 2 tablespoons of the
sauce. Cook 3-4 minutes
until sauce thickened and the
pork is sticky. Add the bean
sprouts.
5. Spoon the pork and prawn
mixture into the pancakes.
Serve with lettuce, carrot
cucumber, herbs and
remaining sauce.
Janelle’s Tip: You can cook
the pancakes in a 18cm (base)
shallow frying if you don’t have
a wok with a lid.
Stainless steel and castiron
woks need to be
seasoned to prevent the
food from sticking (NB:
non-stick coated woks do
not require seasoning).
1. Wash wok in warm soapy
water and dry well.
2. Place the dry wok over
high heat until it is
smoking (don’t add any
oil at this stage as the oil
will burn before the wok
is hot enough). Turn the
heat off.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of
peanut oil, swirl the oil
all around the surface of
the wok.
4. Add 2 teaspoons fine
table salt, rub the salt
and oil into the surface
of wok using thick wad
of paper towel (the salt
will change colour to a
grey black, that’s good
sign as its absorbing
the impurities in the
steel). Set aside to cool
completely. Wipe all the
salt out with clean paper
towel and repeat steps
2-4 again three more
times. The wok is now
seasoned.
5. DON’T wash the wok
in soapy water, as the
soap will remove the
seasoning. After cooking,
wash in hot water, dry
well. Rub peanut oil into
the surface of the wok,
cover with paper towel
and store until ready to
use again. If you do use
soap, you need to reseason
the wok following
steps above.
76 MARCH 2023
The Local Voice Since 1991