Wok noodles are an international dish and a favorite choice of office workers around the world – from China and Japan to the United States of America.
Wok food is a delicious and affordable type of fast food that was invented so long ago that it’s hard to remember when it happened. In this article, we will tell you what wok food is, study its usefulness and how many calories it contains.
What is wok food?
Wok food is specially prepared noodles or rice, supplemented with oriental-style ingredients and special dressing. Traditionally, it is served in a small cardboard box, which is very convenient to deliver and then use as a plate. The most important advantages of wok food are the speed of cooking (and ease of eating), and the ability to form an individual dish according to your taste.
Initially, a wok is a rounded frying pan, which is almost half of a ball. It may be produced from different materials, so, for instance, Yosukata sells a black carbon steel wok alongside the blue one. The bottom of such a pan heats up very quickly to a high temperature and quickly gives off heat to the walls. With the right temperature, the ingredients are cooked almost without the use of oil, which is explained by the Leidenfrost effect.
The Leidenfrost effect is a physical process in which a liquid, during contact with a material that has a temperature much higher than the boiling point of this liquid, creates a heat-insulating vapor layer that significantly slows down rapid boiling. The food does not touch the metal surface during cooking, but practically floats and levitates above it.
What are the modern wok dishes?
Nowadays, wok food consists of noodles or rice, with various specialized additives (toppings). Thanks to various types of noodles and toppings, everyone can choose a dish to their taste. In particular, the most common types of noodles are the following:
- wheat (udon) – 140 kcal – soft and elastic, suitable for any ingredients;
- buckwheat (soba) – 127 kcal – dense brown noodles that are perfect for meat, fish, and poultry;
- legume (funchoza) – 109 kcal – elastic and fragrant, usually used in wok dishes.
Any variety of noodles tastes well with soy sauce, which contains 13 kcal in 1 tbsp. No less common is to add chicken, which has 170 kcal in 100 g, as well as teriyaki sauce with a calorie content of 15-20 kcal per 1 tbsp.
Besides, one can add some seafood, veal, pork, and vegetables. For example, onions, carrots, sweet red peppers, mushrooms, and various seasonings are used. That’s what wok food is. Putting it all together, you can make the dishes to your taste, and this is one of the reasons why wok is so popular today.
Is wok food healthy?
The original method of cooking wok dishes provides them with excellent gastronomic qualities. According to the rules, all products are finely cut and chopped, then they are put into an almost hot wok, where they are continuously mixed. After 5-10 minutes of high-temperature processing, the dish is almost ready, it remains to add seasonings and sauce, and you can serve it.
Thanks to quick processing without the use of a large amount of oil, as well as the presence of vegetables in the dish, woks can be considered a rare type of fast food that is superb for health. The product turns out to be high-calorie, but it doesn’t threaten the body. After all, wok noodles themselves are dietary, and the largest number of calories is contained in sauces.
The most high-calorie noodles are wheat. In mushroom soup with noodles and chicken – 165 kcal, and in chicken noodle soup – only 144. Wok noodles are rich in such vitamins and minerals as:
- vitamin A – 16.6% – is responsible for normal development, reproductive function, skin and eye health, and immunity;
- beta-carotene – 18% – is a provitamin A, which has antioxidant properties;
- vitamin C – 12.9% – participates in redox reactions, the functioning of the immune system, promotes the absorption of iron;
- silicon – 16% – stimulates the synthesis of collagen;
- cobalt – 45.3% – activates the enzymes of fatty and folic acid metabolisms;
- copper – 11% – stimulates the absorption of proteins and carbohydrates;
- chromium – 15.1% – participates in the regulation of blood glucose levels, enhancing the action of insulin.
In Conclusion
Wok noodles are healthy for several reasons: thanks to constant stirring, cooking does not require a large amount of oil, which is important for people with a healthy lifestyle. Thanks to the excellent cooking technology, vitamins and microelements are preserved in products. Besides, the short roasting period doesn’t allow harmful substances to form in the products. So, if you haven’t tried wok noodles yet, hurry up to order them in any Asian restaurant, or purchase a wok and try to cook it yourself! Good luck!