The healthy advantage It is healthier than a standard frying pan because of its high heat retention and the need for little cooking oil. Also, since the food can be pushed up the sides of the wok, excess oil can drain off before it is served.
“Using a wok results in tender-crisp vegetables, which allow them to retain more nutrients than if they were boiled." So in case you needed yet another reason to invest in a wok (if you don't already have one), there you go. It's also a total myth that woks require you to use a ton of oil.
What are the disadvantages of a wok? In short, wok cooking takes practice. It's incredibly easy to burn your food and overcrowd the pan if you're not careful. A wok heats up and cools down quickly which means it can be difficult to cook food evenly if you are not experienced.
In addition to being quick and easy, stir-frying is also healthy. It results in tender-crisp vegetables that retain more nutrients than if they were boiled. And since stir-frying requires only a small amount of oil, the fat content is low.
Stir-frying is a healthful cooking technique because you just add a small amount of fat. Some people skip the fat altogether and stir-fry in broth. I used canola oil because it's high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fat and it doesn't add a particular flavor.
Stir-frying and stir-frying/boiling, the two most popular methods for most homemade dishes in China, cause great losses of chlorophyll, soluble protein, soluble sugar, vitamin C, and glucosinolates, but the steaming method appears the best in retention of the nutrients in cooking broccoli.
Best: Steaming
Not surprisingly, steaming is the healthiest way to cook vegetables. Steaming vegetables is also the most efficient. A gentle steam is best; it allows vegetables to maintain their nutrients because the vitamins and minerals don't leak out into the water you end up discarding.
The round bottom of a wok allows for heat to be distributed more evenly than a saucepan, meaning food is able to cook in less amount of time. The high walls allow for food to be tossed easier, such as when cooking a stir fry, meaning the ingredients can be mixed and cooked evenly throughout.
Due to the deep, sloped walls, the wok will heat up almost instantly and cooks food far quicker than other pans. If you are frying vegetables, the wok should be your 'go-to'. You will have perfectly even cooked veggies in no time at all.
Refrain from dunking your seasoned wok in hot soapy water, as the harshness of soap will strip away any seasoning you have already built. Gently wipe the pan clean with a paper towel or dish towel once you've finished cooking and the pan has cooled.
In some applications, using a wok for deep-frying has advantages over other more common approaches. We've always used a Dutch oven for deep-frying, but we recently discovered that a wok can work just as well—and in some applications, such as French fries and doughnuts, can be more efficient.
Young and other experts attribute wok hei flavor to a few complementary factors: aroma compounds formed when oil gets very hot (in restaurants, oil sometimes even catches fire briefly when food is tossed from the wok into the air), chemical interactions between the food and components of the wok's seasoned steel, and ...
Stainless steel is not only a top-quality and durable metal, it is also the safest option for use in your home. Stainless steel emits no toxins and does not react with ingredients.
A stir-fry is a great way to get a healthy dose of vegetables. If you add a little lean protein, a flavorful sauce, and serve your stir-fry over steamed brown rice, you've got a well-balanced meal. It's also quick to make if you use precooked brown rice.
Essentially, a wok is a frying pan — but the curved shape changes the way the food is cooked. It is healthier than a standard frying pan because of its high heat retention and the need for little cooking oil. Also, since the food can be pushed up the sides of the wok, excess oil can drain off before it is served.
Healthiest Stir-Fry Oils
Both canola oil and olive oil are low in unhealthy saturated fats and high in healthy monounsaturated fats. Scientists believe monounsaturated fats help to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) which can clog arteries and lead to heart disease or strokes.
Use oil with a high smoking point, like peanut oil or vegetable oil. Avoid using sesame oil or olive oil to cook with. Preheat the wok until the oil is smoking, then keep an eye on the temperature so it's hot enough to sear food and cook quickly but not burning.
In many cases, favourite recipes can be modified so they have a lower fat content. Choose to steam, bake, grill, braise, boil or microwave your foods, rather than deep fry them. Use non-stick cookware. Microwave or steam your vegetables instead of boiling them to retain the nutrients.
Use low-fat cooking methods like boiling or steaming.
If you boil or steam food, you avoid the chemicals created by high temperatures and cut out extra fat, which helps you stay at a healthy weight.
Frying. Studies support that frying is the worst cooking method for preserving the nutrients in vegetables. High temperatures quickly degrade even the most stable vitamins. Vitamin C, carotenoids, and polyphenols all decrease in foods cooked by frying.
Steaming or stir-frying vegetables instead of deep-frying and using herbs instead of fat-rich sauces will go a long way toward reducing your cholesterol levels. When you do use fat for cooking, use olive oil or vegetable oil instead of saturated fats.
Food & Dining
The first is to cook your protein and your vegetable separately, and combine them only after both are fully cooked. A second rule of thumb for stir-frying: Choose one vegetable per stir-fry. Finally, always remember to add liquid only after everything is more or less finished cooking.