Visited The Wok Shop

R2Egg2Q

I was in San Francisco the other day & made a quick visit to The Wok Shop. I decided to get a 10" wok for use in my Mini but had a little difficulty locating it among all the woks. Here's how the shop looked:

Someone asked if I needed help finding anything so I showed her a picture from one of Mickey's Mini wok posts. She asked where the picture was from and called over Ms. Tane Chan who asked me if I was "Mike's Green Egg friend" and if I was there to pick up a 16" wok (I guess someone else guided there by Mickey). Ms. Chan quickly got me set up with the right wok & some accessories. 

I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Ms. Chan. She was very appreciative of all of the business all of us Egg owners bring to her. Unfortunately, I had to keep it brief as my wife was circling the blocks waiting for me to walk out (parking in S.F. Could cost more than the wok!).  I asked to take her picture but I caught her on a "bad hair day".

Seasoned the wok in the gasser and followed it up with some chives and did a quick stir fry of some garlic & snow peas.

I'm looking forward to really putting the wok to use!

tazcrash

That is a great story. Love the fact that she has Mikey's egg friends.
Question: will the metal spatula scratch the seasoning?
Did you already have a ring to use on the mini?

R2Egg2Q

I have scratched some of the seasoning off of my other woks before (with a different spatula) so I would expect this one do the same if I'm not careful. I also had a wooden spatula handy during this first cook & the seasoning came out of the first cook unscathed. The wok is sitting on a Mini Woo and it fit fine.

XLBalco

im using metal as well.. i dont think a scratch here or there will really effect the cook

Alligator

Thanks for the pictures.  I love the wokshop.

I use a combination of metal and wood utensils on my two wokshop woks.  I haven't had any issues with them.

Newportlocal

Wow great post. Thanks.

Richard Fl

Have never see wooden spatulas used in a commercial Chinese kitchen.  They all use metal and no problem.  Metal may scratch a little but in time the scratch will disappear as the woks gets more seasoned.

R2Egg2Q

I applied grapeseed oil and baked it at about 450 for 20 minutes. I did this 3 times and did the step with chives a few hours later to help remove any metallic flavor. I have a 16" from CGS and it took me a while to wash off the oil (I believe it's a machine oil) before I could move on to seasoning.

SkinnyV

I plan on getting the wok, did u just pick up the kit with hand tools and lid also? Thanks for the tips on seasoning it.

Mickey

Thank you for the update from her. She is a very nice lady.

R2Egg2Q

I plan on getting the wok, did u just pick up the kit with hand tools and lid also? Thanks for the tips on seasoning it.

I have some tools already so I only bought what I needed and not the kit (which I suspect they assemble as they fill orders). If you give them a call, I believe they can put together whatever you want if you don't need the whole kit.

Thanks for the info... sounds like I could probably have it turned around in a day or two with a little effort. Did you let it cool down in between 20 min cooks?

Do chives have any special properties, or was it simply a very cheap practice food?

I let it cool a little (mostly because wiping down a really hot wok with a towel is kind of scary). Per the "after the wok is seasoned" instructions from The Wok Shop, "With a handful of chives, scallions, ginger, garlic, onions, or combination of these pungent veggies, rubbing and tossing up and around the sides until charred... Chinese prefer chives because chives work/wok best; if not available, any pungent veggies will work. Pungent veggies contain the chemical allium which removes any metallic flavor in the wok."

I'll take their word for it & for what it's worth, we didn't detect any metallic flavor.

R2Egg2Q

Thank you for the update from her. She is a very nice lady.

Oops, missed this one. Thanks for your past posts on your 10" wok Mickey. It made it very easy for me to get the right wok. And I couldn't agree more that Ms. Chan is a very nice lady.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Ms. Chan says hello to all the eggers. Stopped in today with the family to say hello.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Springram

Ms Chan and her brother, Randy, are really fun and knowledgeable. I recommend all Eggers visit their shop when in San Francisco. I bought the wok for my Mini while I was there in April.

Springram

Spring, Texas

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Springram said:

Ms Chan and her brother, Randy, are really fun and knowledgeable. I recommend all Eggers visit their shop when in San Francisco. I bought the wok for my Mini while I was there in April.

Springram

Spring, Texas

Randy was great. He talked to the kids about all the woks and we all bought custom chop sticks for home. We use them at least once a week so we all thought it was cool to have our own.

R2Egg2Q

I was in San Francisco Chinatown today and had time to visit The Wok Shop today. As requested by @Mickey, here's a pic with Ms Tane Chan & her brother Randy:




I had a nice time chatting with them about Eggheads, Eggfests, and seasoning woks. They're really nice folks!

Mickey

Very nice. Thank you for the post