Ginger-scallion chicken · sesame cucumber salad · jasmine rice
· Nate + Caroline · outside — the wok's first real cook
Sit-down time
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Gotchas — read before firing the burner
Young patina, first food contact. One seasoning session is a base coat, not armor. Expect some sticking on the chicken sear — normal, and not a reason to add oil mid-sear. Get the wok properly hot before the oil goes in.
Wok temp discipline: carbon steel over the turkey burner passes 600°F in minutes. Medium flame; 450–500°F on the IR gun is the zone.
Handle gets hot outdoors — the wide flame laps around it. Towel or glove, every grab.
Crowded meat steams — doubled batch: if the wok loses its sizzle, split the chicken into two rounds.
Don't add a sauce. The dish is deliberately light — two-stage ginger and the marinade are the flavor.
Storm plan: flat bottom works on the indoor range — chicken in three rounds, window open.
No soap. Hot-water rinse only, now and forever.
0 of 16 steps
After dinner: wok aftercare while warm — hot-water rinse, dry on the burner till steam stops, micro-thin oil film; note whether the patina darkened or stripped anywhere. Then the cook-log entry (recipe verdict, two-rounds question, full wok vs. carbon-steel skillet on the burner), set last-cooked: 2026-07-23 on both recipes, archive the brief.