Sesame vegetable wok

There are more or less easy ways to prepare vegetables, and if there is one that is more so than the others, it is wok cooking.
In addition to its ease, it is also and above all its speed that makes its charm: you cut the pieces small, you seize them more or less according to your tastes, and then you eat them all hot and still slightly crunchy.

Which vegetables for a wok?

Already, let’s start at the beginning: it’s winter, I would even say it’s the end of winter, and we’re starting to get bored with vegetables and fruits. Congratulations, we are entering the worst food variety time of the year!
That said, the vegetable wok is satisfied with very basic vegetables to exist, and that’s nice, isn’t it?
Many Asian recipes use Chinese cabbage as a garnish, and I’m thrilled because my favorite market gardener makes it. They’re huge (although a bit cluttered at times, but that’s nature, hey), and I find them oddly satisfying to cut, a bit like cutting foam.
It is a cabbage with a very discreet flavor, which, like chard, has crunchy sides but a little juicier.
In addition to Chinese cabbage, we very often find carrots: inexpensive, available as carrots for keeping almost all year round, they have a place of choice in my tray! There are heaps of varieties, so much so that between new carrots and the others that don’t even fear frost as long as they stay in the ground, we are pretty confident about their availability.

To add some flavor to my dish, I added some slivered onion, which is also very good and adds a bit of nuance.

In the end, you can put all the vegetables you want in it: peppers, asparagus, peas, radishes, zucchini, romanesco cabbage, broccoli… But you have to make sure that they are plants that do not present any toxicity if they remain believed at heart. Exit eggplant and potato for example, which could make you regret your experience with their digestive virulence.

The equipment for a well-done wok

As I told you about jams and the preference for a jam basin which has the advantage of being flared, we have exactly the same reasoning for the wok!
It must be in the form of… wok! It’s not just to look pretty, but because it allows the moisture in the vegetables to evaporate and not stagnate.
As for the material, until now I had an ikea wok with an interior coating which ended up abandoning me: I advise you to take a wok that is as durable as possible, in a material that allows you to cook raw (for example, the cast iron is not the most recommended for this, and it’s still a big piece so it can quickly become a tool for doing your sport rather than a kitchen utensil) and without coating.

That being said, I made my “wok” in a bowl from Le Creuset picked up at a flea market, because I didn’t have anything large enough: it wasn’t ideal and the water tended to stagnate at the bottom, but it wasn’t so bad considering that doudou ate it and that he didn’t really like crunchy things.
Above all, think about the impressive volume of Chinese cabbage before you start: it may be reduced, you will look like a jug trying to fit it in if the container is too small, and the cooking cannot be even if you use it. add gradually.

Give flavor to your wok of vegetables

I was just talking about it with doudou: vegetables, I think we prefer them cooked. Aside from broccoli, which I eat without worry, there are very few vegetables that I love as they are without being prepared.

For the wok, there is certainly no shortage of flavors! It’s a way of cooking vegetables that enhances everything, and that allows you to enjoy them with a texture that is not uniform. The cut also helps to break the monotony of a plate.
To fill up on flavors, a little spiciness, acidity, I put as in many woks (because yes, Tata does not reinvent hot water eh): garlic, fresh ginger , and sesame oil, but also soy sauce and rice vinegar.

Sesame oil brings a very toasted flavor, and that we eat little in our typical French cuisine and more focused on more neutral oils such as olives.
Rice vinegar was absent from my kitchen until recently: it has a rather mild flavor and allows my senses to bring an acid flavor without having the very strong taste of wine or cider.

Also to know: soy sauce is always unsweetened in recipes, sweet soy sauce being rather a European fashion, although consumed for certain dishes in the present.

With what to serve a wok of vegetables?

With rice, or noodles already, I don’t think I lost anyone on that!

But also, with caramelized soy protein. It’s very easy to make, and it fits perfectly with the spirit of this dish.
As a bonus, you get a complete, satisfying and inexpensive meal. It’s pretty cool isn’t it?

If you are not very soy protein, it is also possible to prepare a onion tempeh : if you’ve never given tempeh a chance, give it a try. Its original texture makes it a friendly companion when you learn to appreciate it.