Grilled Veggies on the Wok

The Naked Whiz

Was it Nature Boy who posted the recipes for wokked veggies? (Asparagus, onion, mushrooms and pineapple). I've lost my printout. Could someone repost?[p]Thanks!!!![p]TNW

Nature Boy

The Naked Whiz,
The formatting might be funky, but here is a copy from a word doc.[p]First of all, I use a grill topper "wok" with small holes in it. The first one I used had an enamel looking shiny black coating, but that did not hold up very well to the
hi temps I like to use. The enamel flaked off, and little black specs would end up in my veggies. Not good. So I picked up a "Hoffritz" grill topper wok, that has a
teflon type of coating which seems to be holding up much better so far. I think it was 19 bucks.[p]My favorite combo of veggies is asparagus, mushrooms, sweet onions and pineapple, but other combos work great as well. Green beans, red peppers, onions is one more
example. Or maybe Zucchini, shrooms and onions. The possibilities are vast, and only limited by your imagination. Mushrooms, sweet onions and pineapple really
add a lot IMO.[p]I slice the veggies and put them in a large bowl about 30 minutes prior to cooking. Nice big chunks. Then in a small bowl I mix up seasonings...again let your
imagination go. The critical thing is to use some oil in the mix to "coat" the veggies. As an example of something I do often:
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1-3 tbsp wine, sake or mirin
1 tbsp oyster or fish sauce
1 tsp of garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
1 tsp sugar
pepper to taste
and 2 tbsp or more of peanut oil.
Maybe a bit of sesame oil, or a tsp or so of your favorite rub. Maybe some lime juice. [p]Pour over veggies and toss with your hands to coat. Let sit 15-30 minutes. Any longer and the salts start yanking moisture out of the veggies and they shrink.[p]Once you have a good hot fire, and a glowing bed of coals all the way accross the firebox you are ready (not a huge load of coals like you would use for turbo temp
steaks, but a smaller load, like what you have left after cooking chicken pieces). Place the grill topper wok (sprayed with oil) on your grate directly above the inferno,
and close the lid. Dome should read between 500 and 750. After a minute or so carefully open the lid, and dump the veggies in. It should make a crisp sizzling noise as
the veggies contact the hot steel. Spread the veggies out fairly evenly and close the lid. After 2-3 minutes open and stir well. You should see a hint of browning on some
of the veggies. Close lid again and wait another couple minutes, and repeat this process until they are done to your liking. 5-8 minutes usually is perfect. We like them
with a bit of crunch.[p]Cooking in a regular wok is good, and you will end up with plenty of juices, but it is not the same. There is something really special about the effect that the high heat,
open flames and smoke have on he veggies. It is impossibe for me to explain. Just try it!![p]Enjoy.
Chris

The Naked Whiz

Nature Boy,
That's just what I needed. Thanks! We are having the daughter and 2 or 3 of her friends for dinner tomorrow night and I'm going to try to impress them with Spatchcock chicken and wokked veggies. Then they are off to the fourth game of the Stanley Cup. My resourceful daughter got tickets on the web while over a 1000 folks were in line to buy tickets at the arena (and most didn't get them). [p]And in case you are interested, there is a man who lives in the Raleigh area named Stanley Cupp. No kidding. He was in the paper. He prefers to be called Stan.[p]TNW

Nature Boy

The Naked Whiz,
Sounds like an evening to look forward too! Just a side note on the veggies...I usually give them a good tossing just before throwing on the grill, to coat the veggies before dumping in. Else you might end up with a bunch of oil in the bottom that flares up when you dump it in the hole-wok. A smalll flare up is normal, as the excess marinade and oil hits the coals, but unless you want to film some more footage of flames, toss em before throwning on.
Have a blast at the "Cupp"!
NB