[Note: not a paid review]
Every so often kitchen equipment needs replacing as a result of breakage, failure or functioning inadequately. This year has been the year for replacing a few things. Much of the focus has been on replacing plastic with glass. We tend to do a bit of research to find the best possible replace then keep an eye out for a good sale. We had a large non-stick wok that served us well for many years. Like most non-stick cookware the coating finally started going. We searched everywhere and yet never found one like it. The one we were trying to replace was quite heavy and bowl shaped but all the newer ones we found were so lightweight they would not stand-up well.
I decided to test out the new wok with a family favourite, pork chops or steaks with mushroom sauce. This is a dish that can be done in the slow cooker but the best results are slow cooking on the stove. A bowl shaped wok is ideal for cooking this dish. Once the meat is browned then the sauce is added then allowed to reduce and caramelize.
I was quite impressed the performance of this wok! I was able to brown the pork steaks nicely. The sauce reduced as normal wih a bit less caramelization. I served the pork steak over a bed of egg noodles topped with the sauce and garnished with parsley flakes.
First impressions of this pan are quite favourable. It performed as expected. Clean-up was a breeze! I did notice a difference in the silicone coating though but in a good way. In comparison to Teflon coated pan, the silicone coating on this pan is very smooth and slick (slippery). This means even less oil is needed when cooking.
Home Hardware runs a sale on Paderno a couple of times a year. This is the time my husband checks out what they have to offer then buys a piece of two if we need it. The original price of this wok was $39.99 so definitely not on the high end of the scale for a piece of kitchen equipment especially given the quality. He bought the wok on sale for $19.99. This underscores that a kitchen can be equipped quite frugally if you have the patience to wait for the sales.
4 food lovers commented:
Hi GG :)
This porkchop in mushroom sauce looks so yummmm! Mind sharing the recipe? Maybe I can try it WHEN I get a new wok hahaha
I like the idea of silicon instead of teflon to eliminate the gases - food looks amazing on the noodles too!
Hi Kat, the mushroom sauce is about as simple as you can get. I use either homemade mushroom soup or condensed mushroom soup then modify a bit from there but the basic sauce is 2 - 3 cans of condensed soup to 1 can of milk. Here is one variation using buttermilk and baking http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/2009/12/oven-baked-pork-chops-in-mushroom-sauce.html
Hi Evan, thanks for the lovely compliment! The silicon coating is really nice to work with, even nicer than Teflon.
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