The set up in Jeremy Pang’s kitchen at the School of Wok is sure to make any chef or ambitious home cook green with envy. He’s got high spec electric appliances from AEG which include a steam oven to make sure his buns are lovely and fluffy, an induction hob with wok stand which heats to high temperatures within a blink of an eye and to top that he’s got a Teppan Yaki. It’s basically an iron griddle used to cook food from the Japanese Teppan (iron plate) and Yaki (grilled, broiled or pan-fried).
As I tried to pick apart his love for electric induction over gas, after trying it, I couldn’t find a fault. It heats to temperature fast, loses heat quickly when the pan is taken away and so it’s just a matter of getting used to temperature control. They’re also very easy to keep clean as it’s the pan that heats and not the hob, splashes and spills don’t tend to burn onto the surface. You do need iron-based pans – the rule of thumb is that if they stick to a magnet they’re perfect.
Either way, his crash course in mastering a noodle dish,
making wonton and
learning how to blanch and crisp a duck skin – all in about an hour and half.
I thought I knew how to create the perfect noodle dish, sauce covering every noodle, but I didn’t. It’s definitely all about the wrist action and if you want to know how, get down to one of Jeremy’s classes.
I’ll definitely be back for a few lessons if not the Flavours of China Tour – next year’s February class coincides with the last day of Chinese New Year – fabulous.
We were all so hungry by the time we’d plated up our three dishes – Vegetarian Wonton; Hong Kong Noodles and Duck Pancakes with pickled cucumber that I forgot to take a picture of them.
Here’s Jeremy’s recipe for the wonton – option to deep fry or steam.
Ingredients
Chinese chives
3 Chinese mushrooms (soaked in hot water overnight)
1 clove garlic
1 handful of coriander
2 spring onions
2 leaves of Chinese leaf
15-20 wonton pastries
Marinade
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Pinch of sugar
Sesame oil to cover
The Filling
Finely chop the vegetables and place in a large prep bowl
Season with soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and cover with sesame oil
Mix well
The Folding
Place 1 tsp filling in the centre of the pastry
Using the tip of your finger wet all sides of the pastry with cold water
Fold bottom corner over the filling to the top corner and press pastry down to seal all sides (to form a triangle)
Holding the base of the filling with your thumbs, pull the 2 corners of the triangle towards each other, overlap the ends and then press together to form a ‘trough’ shape
Place aside and fold all wontons the same way
Here’s Jeremy making wontons for Blue Dragon – go about 0.38 seconds in to see his folding technique.
Cooking
Deep fry the wontons at 180°C until golden brown. They usually start to float once cooked as there will be air inside the parcels
Or
Steam for 2-3 minutes
Serve with chilli sauce on the side
Jeremy Pang, School of Wok, 61 Chandos Place, London, WC2N 4HG
020 7240 8818
