Cook Sheet · Sat July 18

First Wok Night

Ginger-scallion chicken · sesame cucumber salad · jasmine rice · Nate + Caroline · outside — seasoning session + first cook

Gotchas — read before firing the burner

• 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 ever again after the morning scrub — hot-water rinse only.

After dinner: wok aftercare while warm — hot-water rinse, dry on the burner till steam stops, micro-thin oil film. Then the cook-log entry (the wok's first cook: seasoning session, recipe verdict, two-rounds question), set last-cooked: 2026-07-18 on both recipes, archive the brief.