{"id":3797,"date":"2011-04-04T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T14:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apanews.si.edu\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2014-12-30T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T21:57:07","slug":"chinese-cooking-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/chinese-cooking-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Collections: Chinese Cooking Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

APA Collections<\/strong> Update from Noriko Sanefuji:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Wok\"<\/a>

Chinese Wok<\/p><\/div>\n

What essential cooking utensil comes to mind when you think of Chinese cooking?\u00a0\u00a0Probably, the wok. \u00a0The basic design of the wok has not changed in centuries.\u00a0 The wok’s rounded form is optimal for cooking with a small amount of fuel, higher heat at the base, and varied temperatures along the curve.\u00a0\u00a0It is a necessity in\u00a0regions\u00a0where fuel is scarce and food must be cooked quickly.\u00a0 For faster cooking and heat distribution, ingredients in the wok are usually chopped into small, thin slices. The wok is also the ultimate tool of kitchen convenience, as it can be used to boil, sautee, stir-fry, deep-fry and steam.\u00a0It remains the main cooking appliance in Chinese restaurants today, and can also be found in many American homes.<\/p>\n

\"Miners<\/a>

San Francisco miners sharing a meal cooked in the wok, lithograph 1850-69.<\/p><\/div>\n

This wok\u00a0dates back to the 1880’s and\u00a0was used by Chinese immigrants in California.\u00a0\u00a0These immigrants who came to work in the gold mines and railroads, brought this type of wok to America and continued to cook Chinese food in their new land.<\/p>\n

\"Strainer\"<\/a>

Strainer<\/p><\/div>\n

Chinese immigrants brought not only the wok but also cooking utensils such as spatula and ladles, which are commonly used with a wok.\u00a0\u00a0The long handles safeguard the cook from the high heat.\u00a0\u00a0A skimmer removes surface items from the wok, the ladle adds or removes ingredients, while the spatula is an all-purpose tool.<\/p>\n

These objects are currently on display in the\u00a0Sweet & Sour<\/em><\/a> showcase in the National Museum of American History<\/a> on the first floor.<\/p>\n

\"Sweet<\/a>

Sweet & Sour Showcase at the National Museum of American History (first floor). Photo by Harold Dorwin.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sources:<\/strong>
\nYoung, Grace. The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore<\/em>.\u00a0Simon & Schuster. 2004<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

APA Collections Update from Noriko Sanefuji: What essential cooking utensil comes to mind when you think of Chinese cooking?\u00a0\u00a0Probably, the wok. \u00a0The basic design of the wok has not changed in centuries.\u00a0 The wok’s rounded form is optimal for cooking with a small amount of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7919,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797\/revisions\/7919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}