co@cbscc.UUCP (Corinna Owens) (04/08/85)
A small recipe booklet that came with my wok does not recommend using olive oil in the wok. Does any know why? -- Corinna Owens AT&T Bell Labs, Columbus, 2B224 (614) 860-3070 [... cbosgd!] cbscc!co
wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (04/11/85)
>A small recipe booklet that came with my wok does not recommend using >olive oil in the wok. Does any know why? > >Corinna Owens Olive oil is one of the less unsaturated vegetable oils and therefore has a relatively low smoking point. The temperatures that you want to use in stir-frying are above this temperature, so using olive oil would impart an undesirable "burned" taste to the food you are stir-frying. The oil which I have most commonly seen recommended for Chinese cooking is peanut oil. Soybean oil (which I use most often) is supposed to be not far behind. Both of these are relatively unsaturated and can be heated to stir-frying temperatures without smoking. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill
olson@rochester.UUCP (Thomas J. Olson) (04/11/85)
> > A small recipe booklet that came with my wok does not recommend using > olive oil in the wok. Does any know why? > -- > > Corinna Owens My understanding is that olive oil burns and smokes at a lower temperature than most other vegetable & seed oils. Since you usually use a wok at very high temperatures, olive oil will give you trouble. I generally use whatever's cheap in the stores - but I've heard that peanut oil is the best because of its tolerance for high temperatures. - tom (is there an organic chemist in the house?) olson
ed@mtxinu.UUCP (Ed Gould) (04/12/85)
> > A small recipe booklet that came with my wok does not recommend using > olive oil in the wok. Does any know why? > -- > Corinna Owens Olive oil burns at a relatively low temperature. Since much wok cooking is done at rather high temperatures, olive oil is not suitable. Peanut oil is generally regarded as best, but other vegetable oils (like soy and corn) work too. If you want the flavor of olive oil, I suppose that you could use it as a garnish, much like sesame oil is used in many Chinese recipes - a little bit tossed in just before removing from the heat. -- Ed Gould mt Xinu, 739 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 USA {ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed +1 415 644 0146