The wok master Grace Young visited the Test Kitchen for an epic wok-off with Lisa McManus and Lan Lam. We made Grace’s Beef and Broccoli stir-fry recipe and compared the final results when cooked in a wok Vs. in a 12-inch nonstick skillet.
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Cook’s Country Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry:
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Very nice video. Grace is only at gear 1 and did not shift to higher gear. She could use the wok to toss and cook the food concurrently with higher heat. She could finish cooking in much shorter time with tossing and high heat. I'm surprised that Grace did not introduce wok hei here. Maybe the stove is not suitable?
With that amount of food in the skillet, it's relatively more challenging to toss and cook. Skillet is useful to other type of food.
Grace Young 10/10. Love her. I love all the explanation. This is ATK gold.
It would be good to do another comparison with a saute pan. I accidentally discovered the joys of the saute pan many years ago and it has become my #1 used cooking vessel.
Woks look like they work amazingly over a flame, probably better than most flat bottomed vessels, I'd guess having never used one, given that they look like they're very well adapted to the physics of that setup, but they seem a poor match for electric cooktops where there's so much less (waste) heat coming up the sides.
I feel like the saute pan would be a better competitor with its high sides and large cooking surface.
this is stir fry, more like stir BOIL
I think an Electric, non-stick wok, is the best option.
Also props to the lady on the right side! Very patient and did a great job!
What qualifies sesame seed oil as Asian?
There is no link to buy the wok.
the chick on the right seemed to get the fuzzy end of the lollipop didnt she lol.
“more about ease of use than outcome.”
Grace forgot to mention Wok Hei! I bet there was a subtle, yet different, taste to the dishes, that's Wok Hei!
i hate when people like grace young insist their dinosaur ways of doing things are better. hitler did things his way and look what happened….we have biden in office
Actually you need to stir after a minute or so. It evaporates moisture so the meat can continue to brown
I wish you would have put the link for the wok that Grace Young was using.
There's no 'Wok hey' in a skillet 😁
Yeah I need a wok… its like the Asian version of the southern cast iron…great info.
What if you had a non stick coated carbon steel wok.Who would win then?
What material is the wok made off ?
Interesting video. Kind of a un-fair comparison. Instead of using a 12-in. shallow frying pan, a 12-in. deep sauté pan with taller sides would have performed much better with that stir-frying and volume of food. The wok is still the way to go.
While I like woks and I have three, it's not quite fair to compare such a shallow pan. The skillet I use has somewhat higher sides, and I can throw the food around quite a bit without spillage. I find it works very well. I don't mind a flat cooking surface, as I'm used to teppanyaki-style cooking, which I often do on a large, flat griddle.
Where is the link to buy this wok???
Just wanted to say that anyone who enjoys cooking should own a decent wok because they are low cost, versatile, and fun. If you can swing it, make an outdoor wok station with a powerful burner and propane or natural gas. You can get that 'wok hei' flavor that's missing in the video, as there was no tossing of the wok present….and keep all the smoke out of the house. The end results to your dishes are notable.
Sorry but her recipe seems to have an issue/flaw. She added sesame seed oil into the mix before stir fry. That's the faux pas in Chinese stir fry. The sesame seed oil is a flavoring, not a cooking oil due to its very low flash point. It will burn and taste badly if cooked with as intended. High heat wok cooking would destroy that oil.
We always add a peanut oil if oil is required prior to cooking. In this case beef tallow would be even better for flank steak and broccoli.
When you're cooking large volumes, the wok is the superior tool for this job. Sure, you can use a non-stick, but I'd go with the wok every time. Billions of Asians have used it for a reason.
By the way, it was fun watching both of these talented chefs cook the same dish.
What brand wok does Grace use..I’m in the market for one
Both dishes look yucky
I enjoy cooking in a wok and like how things cook in a wok but that is not a fair comparison with such a small short skillet.
My stepmom is Chinese & she taught me how to cook this wonderful, ancient cuisine as I stood by her side for ten-years. We never owned or used a wok. CAST IRON all the way. One day a friend asked me to cook Beef in Black Bean sauce for her. I don't know who was more confused when she brought me a can of black beans in water instead of the salted, dried ones.