I Built My DREAM WOK STOVE ! High power + Knee operated
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- The Path To Fried Rice : Ep6. Bought myself a MIG welder and built a custom wok station. First 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership skl.sh/alex06211
It's quite powerful as it is - around 44,000 BTU - and I am hoping to make it even more powerful in the future. As I mentioned in this video, the gas burner that I use is german engineered. The built quality is good, but I am aware it is not a high-pressure wok burner per se. If you know a legitimate brand that sells quality high pressure wok burners, and that could send them over to France, let me know.
During my practice I have noticed that power is not the only thing that matters, control matters a lot too. The stove needs to be able to go from very low heat to super high with great accuracy and minimum "knob" movement.
For this wok burner, I did not have to integrate a fan for air-control but I might have to do that in the next one. I am guessing that High Pressure gas powered burners will require greater/variable air intake.
I will probably also modify the stove itself, the metal box I have built. First, I'll try to improve my weld beads, there is a lot to do here. Then, I 'll add two secondary tables, Left table for the ingredients and Right Table for the utensils and the oil, water containers.
Long story short, I am all for making a WOK STOVE v2, so any help will be greatly appreciated.
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Salut,
Alex
"Let's not be too hard on myself"
"Texture is somewhere between an F1 Tyre and leather belt" - Alex
His ambition for perfection haha
if not perfection maybe just excellence?
HAH! Hard-on.
At least its F1 tyre, not juat random one
@@yonigle8553 one has to have the ambition for perfection to catch excellence. Otherwise one will remain only good. Which is fine, too, because it's good.
The only youtube cooking channel that features welding. Meet AvE the only youtube engineering channel that features cooking.
Good ole Uncle Bumblefuck!
Techmoan does have some excellent cooking videos
@@importanttingwei7747 "Grinding and paint makes me the welder I ain't."
@@importanttingwei7747 I would assume he was using flux core.
@@importanttingwei7747 He probably used self-shielded wire
This is the ONLY COOKING SHOW where the cook needs to stop by the HARDWARE STORE before beginning to cook. LOL. The amount of engineering that goes on here never get old. Love it!
= the only cooking show I would and will watch
Well when you have an engineering degree, everything looks like an engineering problem.
Alton Brown would like a word.
This is realistically the road to mastering anything. You get good at one aspect, you hit a new challenge and you hit a plateau again then you stay there a bit you until you make progress and then plateau again. Love it! Alex is going to succeed because he's going to persist
To be fair, and I say this as an Alex fan, a lot of this stuff is doing stuff just to do it. Wok ranges aren't hard to buy online, but he's an electrical engineer, so he makes one just to make it and get a video out of it. (Like he did with the pizza oven.)
Hardly required to become a master of fried rice.
@@kruks well his wok def. is better than an $100 one on Amazon
There is a book about this concept called "Mastery" by George Leonard. I loved reading it, gives a lot of insight on how we learn things.
- Not enough oil.
- prepare everything beforehand. I put all the ingredients on a small bowl and dump it in together instead of pinching salt n sugar separately.
- MSG
"Texture is somewhere in between a Formula 1 tyre and a leather belt" I laughed so hard at this
😂🤣😅Internet video cooking comment I've ever heard!
This got me aswell 🤣
So it explodes spontaneously when it is supposed to last long
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
Well that brings new meaning to being 'Michelin-Starred'
Alex impressed himself so much he started speaking French to himself.
Thought I was having a stroke when he started doing that lol
i was so unexplainably happy for him when that happened.
@@awkawa I mean, he IS French...
Should have seen him in that legendary video where he makes a beef Wellington
He said oh la la its really good
The amount of joy and love that Alex is putting into everything he does is inspiring. Whether it's the cooking, the research, the engineering/building or the videos.
This channel is a true masterpiece.
I salute you Alex.
He IS an engineer, after all....or at least he was until he gave it up for a 'simpler' life....
There's a column of hot air that rises from the wok where the food cooks while airborne (high pressure burner certainly helps). You need to get everything tossing to cook in that hot air and not let the ingredients just sit on the hot metal surface. Pay special attention to improve your mise en place in order to reduce the amount of time when adding the next ingredient. Cooking with the hot air will also reduce how oily the end product becomes.
Worked at Panda Express and agree with everything you said @Alex
Where is this column of hot air? Is it at the 12 o clock position, North of the burner or is it in the exact center of the burner?
@@tomatojuice12 from my knowlege of physics, it should be all around it within the burner cylinder area
he should close the bottom hole .. too much cold air is inrushed during burner heating .. no need for that air ,there..
this is what we should send ppl when they ask what wok hay is
I've been blind for three years, and I'm re-learning how to bake without visual cues. Life is an adventure. Cheers.
Try only use the white part of the scallion when frying for fragrance and add the green part at the very very end for decoration. Great one as always Alex!
That's what I do as well :)
Me too
i did too. green parts only at the end. white part is just after the rice, salt n minced char siu before the soy. once all set then the green part in.
he know exactly what to do.
he intentionaly messed up his first fried rice to make a better video later.
@@brunovlaminck9901 sandbagging u mean? from the looks of it, he does really try. regardless, im sure he knows what he is doing
Alex: has a knee surgery
Also alex: knee operated stove
Those wok stoves looks like a SpaceX Raptor engines in action !! :-D
I wondered what was going on with his knee. Hope he heals well and soon.
Why the wok close-ups... he failed.
@@josephhgoins On IG he says it was just an old thing that just got to a tipping point. Definitely hope it heals quickly but luckily not something too serious.
now i know why euro guy good at soccer
HE LIT THE BURNER, everyone, the rice is progressing, we eat soon.
Alex: let's make some Fried rice. Aragorn, 5 minutes later in Rohan: Gondor is calling for help!
about time! Haven't eaten since the start of the series
Hi Alex, I’ve been following your fried rice journey and really enjoying it. I also am Cantonese-American and am also a lifelong student of making fried rice. Your technique is correct but the motion is too slow. That is why the eggs are drying out. The motion in the wok must be fast. Remember all of your training. Watch your technique. Your right hand is doing all of the work. The left hand with the towel must be moving just as fast. When the eggs and rice hit the oils they must move immediately. Left and right hand must agitate the rice immediately and consistently. This requires a ton of wrist practice particularly on the left side but fear not. I have a suggestion on how to rig the technique in your favor. It is a home style trick but it will yield the restaurant quality you seek. It’s this: take the cold cooked rice, put it in a bowl and crack your raw eggs over it, add all of your salt, sugar, soy sauce in this bowl and mix well with chopsticks thoroughly until all the grains of rice are separated and individually coated with the seasoning egg mixture. This has several key advantages that will help you: 1). There will be no clumps in your rice at all 2). The cold rice will severely slow down the cooking time of the eggs buying you more time to stir before they dry out and 3). The egg coating with also protect the rice from the heat keeping it fluffy. This style works well with jasmine rice that you had at Shang Palace but if you want to stack the deck in your favor. Use medium grain sushi rice which will stay fluffier with its higher water content. I hope this helps you. Congratulations on all the success with your channel, wishing you a speedy recovery with your knee surgery and 加油！(Jia You literally means Add Oil. It is a Chinese phrase we say to cheer someone on and to keep going strong.)
Alex, rather than painting it, cure it like an iron pan. You coat it with an extremely thin layer of oil. Your finger should feel the oil but not get oily when touching it. Then go over it with a torch until white hot. Then it will have a nice coating that will prevent rust and need not cleaning.
Who else remembers that this is the second time Alex built a wok in his parents' garden?
WOK HEI!
I thought I was going crazy
1st time was the day i followed him (or atleast the day i saw it)
Alex brush the welds with a steel brush to get rid of the oxidation so It does not rust as quickly
it's not just the welds, it's the entire rig
i was thinking, did he grind the metal clean before welding it together.
@@RoraighPrice no you have to do it after because welds cause a layer of oxidation and it could cause it to rust faster
Not only is he gifted with cooking skills, he can design, engineer, remix songs, and edit videos. Damn, what am I doing with my life
He learnt all of his skills on skillshare
He's actually an electrical engineer by trade originally, so his problem-solving mind is something he learnt there and now has learnt to apply to cooking, which is just amazing to me.
@@TheSilvering4 wtf are u talking about? 🥴
the way he works, I'm sure he's an engineer by training. He must have studied either electrical or mechanical engineering in university (college for you yankees) - I'm leaning towards electrical engineering from what I've seen. The problem solving skills that one learns as an engineer, is being applied in cooking, as it has been pointed out. This is why he can do the the step by step methodical approach that he takes to break down a job or issue into smaller segregated segments and then tackle them one by one.
I think now he buys music for his shows, from another content creator like him - very nice of him to support fellow artists. If you see his videos from the beginning, you can see how he has grown as a video editor and creator.
This is what happens when a good engineer goes crazy about cooking food.
IVE WORK IN A THAI RESTAURANT FOR A LONG TIME.
Only thing I could say. Never be afraid to turn the heat off. Break up the rice add seasoning. Whatever you need.
Then crank it again.
They are always going from off to 100 of and on again.
I love you videos man. Thank you for your content.
Alex - great wok build!
The secret to making great Chinese food is not only in the marinades and sauces, but also the sequence. For years, moms who are not trained chefs hand down techniques that can never yield restaurant-quality food. Fried rice is a great example. You showed in the video the way most people think is the right way to cook fried rice. And I thought so too, for 40+ years. Then I found the secret.
The way to have nearly every kernel of rice coated in fragrant, yellow egg (like in a Michelin-star omelette) without nasty overcooked scrambled eggs is to start with a COLD wok. Yes. COLD WOK. Crack the eggs into the wok, scramble it while COLD, adding a ring of oil and add the rice immediately. Stir the eggs, the oil and rice together while cranking up the heat gradually. In the time it takes for the egg to cook, you would have stirred it evenly to coat the rice, and it will be a fantastic sight. Now add salt, spring onion and a little MSG, yes MSG, and white pepper. Char Siu or uncooked and towel-dried shrimps would of course be a great add at this point also. I will guarantee you authentic Hong Kong restaurant quality fried rice after you mastered the ratios.
Enjoy!
No short cuts, no compromises, this man is a legend in teaching the fundamentals of what makes a dish work.
Alex´s parents: "Hello Alex, how nice of you to visit us."
Alex: "Hello parents, nice to see you! Can I use your lovely garden for another cooking experiment that involves high flames and high temperatures?" 😅😁
Alex probably can afford to have a custom kitchen fabricator build a wok stove.
But he didnt. And that's what makes his channel much more interesting.
Seize the means of kitchen fabrication
Well he is an electrical engineer. So he is the kind of guy that would put something custom together to fit his specific needs. If he was really hardcore, he would have made his own wok.
@@ericlotze7724 the means of which have already been seized.
This guys descriptions of his finished products are the best of any food content creator--demanding perfection but also sensitive and positive. Love it.
You can add the eggs after the rice, “gold on silver” (check Adam liaw’s fried rice vids). Also don’t forget the pinch of magic umami powder ;)
Not only is he talented, he's also dedicated to his craft! Looking forward to seeing you build the perfect Chao Fan!
build the perfect Chao fan??
@@noobnub7305 Choa Fun is Fried Rice's non western name
@@Jmur. Your right, but I'm talking about the fact that he said "build" the perfect chao fan
@@noobnub7305 like construction! A house of flavour :~]
@@Cowmookaze dont want to be mean but,
your logic: build the perfect steak!
I dont understand
Don’t be afraid to scoop the egg out and add it back at the end.
And that’s still a valid technique since apparently Cantonese style stir fried noodles cook each component separately to the correct doneness and stir-fry in the end whilst the trickier Northern style use the throw in as you go method which is harder to master.
-Took it from Chinese Cooking Demystified’s stir fried egg noodle recipe 😂
Also I feel like he should switch to a metal wok spatula instead of a ladle.
That and don't be afraid to make something similar to an omelet (In that it is a thin sheet of egg) and cut it up, these two suggestions solve some of the issues he brought up.
I needed to pause the vid for complementing for the dubstep sequence. That was awesome.🔥
Your honest struggle and striving for perfection is better than perfection itself.
For the moisture, get a squeeze bottle and mix soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and either water or chicken stock. Also, cook the eggs and take them out to add them back in at the end.
Stealing this! ;)
Anyone who wants to cook good friedrice should start practice welding.
Lol 😂
No lie, most home stoves you find in Oz are no good for woks. I need to build myself one of these.
Different chefs from different provinces also have different techniques that i think you should try! For example, in YangZhou, they slowly stream their eggs into hot oil and strain it out, then add it back into the rice.
Don't be afraid to take the eggs out first after partially cooking it, it's a common way for us non professionals to do it lol
As for the scallions, my retired chef dad always turned the heat off before mixing in the scallions. Even if you do want to cook it, do it for very minimal time in the fire!
Definitely scallion after turning off the heat brings our a magical aroma of freshness to the dish 😁
I always go rice THEN eggs, so I'm less likely to overcook them.
^^^^these 2
Try mixing the eggs into the rice
I like to make an «omelette» first and cutting it to my desired piece sizes, adding it with the scallions in the end. Takes a bit more time but mostly ensures texture and taste.
"somewhere between a formula 1 tyre and a leather belt" had me rolling on the floor
Just started your journey at you practicing how to cook egg fried rice now you built your own gas stove. You're a great content creator man. Merci.
Alex is getting closer and closer to becoming a Shokugeki no Soma character.
He's already one tho
As they say: “A grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t”
Truth has been spoken!
was going to say that myself, but you beat me to it by a day
He over did it with the welds
He should have just used
One inch spaced spot welds
@@amsb4dafunk406 is this
A
Haiku?
Jonas Ghafur
It is
An AmsHaiku
This man takes mastering cooking to the next level
No, he failed. there was only wok closeups... FAIIIIL
I think people that have approached a new and daunting dish can relate to your experience at the end of the video, Alex. They’ve been reading and practicing bits of it, but when they try to make the full dish it just feels a little… off. Practice makes perfect here, which is not something that all people want to put in the work for! So looking forward to your next video!
We've all been there. It sucks when it's a dish that you'd love to practice more but the ingredients are seasonal or expensive.
i think we can reasonably expect alex to show us a good easy way to do it in no time with most common kitchen by the end of the serie
this made me smile, thank you
Dude, you are a wildly talented human. I can't even concieve of what is required to *make* my own gas stove. The amount of stuff you can do, AND cook is crazy. You are amazing.
I don’t know why I am surprised he just went and built his own stove, he’s a mad man on a mission
It's not even the first stove he's built!
Came for the cooking
Stayed for the Engineering. That was impressive.
Always forget that that's what Alex has a degree (though he was Electrical Engineering iirc) until videos like this.
Michelin stars to Michelin Tires.
We actually did something like that here. Redneck Style. We use the base burner for an outdoor deep fryer, gas powered. Generally you fry turkeys and things with it. Then my husband procured a Tractor blade that is shaped like a very large Wok. He welded handles on it. it sits on top of the rim of the deep fryer burner outside. It's like a giant wok. It's too heavy to do what you're doing, but you can easily replace it with a regular sized wok. It gets very hot here in the summer. I use it for stir-fry rice and things during the summer months. I think you would approve.
This may be way off what you're trying to do, but most places here used left over rice. They cook it the day before. Then they fry it and flavor it and so what. I think that's what you're missing.
For a quick home version, use a nonstick skillet, add better. Toast the rice and almonds usually in the better. Add liquid. cook like pilaf. At the very end. Turn up the heat and Stir until it's dry. Then I add all the other stuff. It comes out as you described. I just didn't make a wok to do it.
is the tractor blade food safe
@@tubulartuber They're still alive and posting ...
never non-stick
Here in Argentina many many people use plough discs to do exactly what you described. Glad to see ingenuity is universal
I’ve loved Alex since the days of a Go Pro strapped to his head so I’m an O.G. when it comes to Alex French Guy Cooking but these operatic slo-mo sequences of more recent times are just epic!
Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your amazing journey. You entertain and educate me to a very pleasurable degree. Cheers.
When I was younger I was always asked who inspires me. I never had an answer I was enough for myself.
I’ve never felt so inspired and pushed by someone before. Thank you for your hard wok :-)
For the burner, look into "blacksmith burners" / "forge burners" / "kiln burners" etc, HUGE community of DIY/open sourcing them, and your building skills speak for themself!
No alex dont look into these. This guy has no clue what he is talking about. The burners he mentions arent for cooking. You got the right burner. No DIY needed. This isnt rocket biology.
@@thecommentary21 I agree somewhat! He got a great one, so no need to look into this too much now.
Also the design wouldn’t be 100% spot on, but i think it would be a good starting point given both are high pressure and/or high volume LPG burners.
@@ericlotze7724 The burners are different. Making a kiln burner is one thing but the wok burner is totally another. My company makes high efficiency forge burners. Its just far too much heat and flow.
The burner alex got will work fine if he ads a high pressure reg on it.
Ive scouerd videos of this because I cook chinese food and hate trying to cook it on a normal stove. My god parents were chinese and they had a restaurant. So I grew up on the food.
Ive made several woking stations and my mosty recent is the best and I put in a rocket burner.
DIYing a forge burner is probably more acceptable to make for a forge but DIYing a wok burner while not impossible is probably not going to work as needed for woking.
I would not DIY a wok burner. Ebay and amazon has tons for good prices. I got 2 off ebay.
Yeah... forge burners are great if you want to heat the metal to an almost (or at) melting point, and kilns are nice to drive out every instance of moisture in porcelain, but both of those things aren't the best for food. And the heat distribution is a bit different as well. Though, this does make me wonder what at-home chefs use in places that make fried rice constantly. Is there a way to do it on, say, a charcoal grill? I kinda don't want to mess up my good wok trying, but if I use a crap wok, would that give me a false negative?
@@MickeyCuervo36 You wont get the heat from coals. Ebay has burners and then all you need is propane. Be sure though you arent buy a gas burner rather than propane. Home gas doesnt have nearly the BTUs propane does and the orifice sizing is different as well.
The burner alex got is actually a really good burner, he just needs a high pressure regulator and he will be good to go.
Otherwise you are right on your assumption making it properly. Chinese food is generally cooked on a wok at high heat for a low amount of time.
The fried rice is a tough one to get right. Mine is improving but Ive been at it for years now.
A good Wok will be fine. They are hard to destroy.
This is the only series that I am not here to learn, but to judge, as I am a Chinese chef. Is good to look at foreigner giving so much effort in fried rice, normally the technique, the fire, the eggs and etc are overlooked or over simplyfied.
That's interesting! Hope to see your comments in the future!
"Hot glue gun for metal"
This made me cry for all the people who weld professionally xD
having a wok stove at home is a cook's dream, I am impressed. The biggest thing holding you back is needing your hands to add ingredients. Most wok chefs use their ladles with sauces/seasoning in immovable containers next to the stove. It's a lot quicker and your wok hand is always at the ready. Saves a lot of time and motion.
sheeeeeesh the amount of effort this man has put in just to make fried rice deserves a like!
Hey Alex, wish to share a few tips with you: (a) use steamed rice, (b) rice can't be too moist, (c) cook with low heat first, then finish with high heat, (d) don't cook too long, (e) don't forget the fresh prawns, (f) fry it with Chinese sausages if you can find some, (g) some chefs do not cook eggs and rice separately, they mix eggs and rice thoroughly before frying them together. Source: trust me, I ate fried rice for decades.
Asian communities for hundreds of years “I think I’ll just fry some left over rice with whatever I can”. 2021 TH-cam’rs “I need a welding machine to fry rice”. Love the dedication man!
dudes editing and videography is incredible his food too deserves a tv show atleast netflix
I cant believe this content is free
Love how you go from "ce n'est pas si mal" to "c'est tres bon" in one bite. I'd say that was a vast improvement in just one bite.
"Ce n'est pas si mal" - in german: "Kann man essen". Not literally translated but situationwise... 😉
is no one talking about the fact that he made a dubstep song from "wobbly base" and the sounds from his engineering?
That was amazing
so our boy is not only a chef, engineer, and culinary historian, he's also a freaking music producer
Nope. Its genius but its dubstep. It just sucks. 🤷♂️
@@a.v.y8331 culinary historian? What are u talking about?
@@ArgentoRAWRz aren't you a bundle of joy? also by culinary historian I mean that he found and corrected an age-old mistranslation of Escoffier's Larousse Gastronomique that made hollandaise into a mother sauce instead of the argument that Escoffier actually made, which was that mayonnaise could actually be considered a mother sauce. This misconception that hollandaise was a mother sauce has been spread throughout the internet and he actually corrected it
Alex - You are a madman in the best sense of the word. Much love.
I love how you go to the end with every little things to level up this is pathion ❤ هذا هو الشغف الحقيقي
I have nothing but respect for your devotion to authenticity and tradition. It is inspiring.
This guy's commitment to food makes me feel like I'm not even trying lmao
Fried rice is about speed. In a small bowl, prepare garlic powder, white pepper, onion powder, chicken powder, msg and salt. This is so you've dump everything at once.
Yup, this is key to any proper stir frying, or to use the proper Chinese expression, take extra care of your "mise en place".
Also, if you do everything in one batch, it is more difficult to get all the cuisson and textures right, cause you can't give one thing more than the other, if it is all combined. A trick you could use is do the eggs in advance, cook them just right minus 15 seconds, take them out, clean the wok, make the stir fry, add the eggs just before you put in the soy sauce.
Yeah, in my head I was screaming when Alex took time between and for each step. It should be "GO GO GO!!!"
@@recoil53 :) . While I am at it: a flatter wok spatula can also help you work faster, it follows the contours of the wok, so it really helps in flipping everything over in one or two moves, though that tossing motion Alex practised may eliminate the need for that. Also, when he added the scallion it went on top of the rice, where it would steam rather than fry. I think you move the rice out of the way, add the scallion to make contact with the hot metal. This would help getting the bright green color he did not achieve.
Kikoman is japanese Soy sauce. For Chinese food the standard for restaurants is LeeKumKee Premium Select.
its just different brand there is strong flavor difference ?
Glad someone noticed. They (Chinese and Japanese soy sauce) get so mixed up in the West nobody cares at all. Most Chinese chefs use a tiny bit of dark soy sauce for fried rice or a mix of both for general cooking. Light soy sauce alone is usually for dipping dumplings, dim sum, etc. as it is rather delicate to be heated, esp. Kikoman brand which is more suitable for fish i.e. sushi.
Also, a tiny sprinkle of MSG goes a long way. lol
@@igigor646 Japanese soy sauce taste slightly different than Chinese soy sauce
@@igigor646 There is a difference between brands within a country, much less between countries.
Yeah. Actually this is just surface level. A good Chinese restaurant takes their soy sauce very seriously. They would source theirs from some cottage industry maker in some far away village which is kept secret, and they would have some deal in place to ensure a lifetime supply.
I know of a restaurant that bought out the owner of a soy factory because the owner wanted to retire and had no heirs.
It would have been devastating to the restaurant if the factory closed.
But many restaurants would often use LeeKumKee because it's consistent, available globally, and you are ensured a reliable supply. It's important because if you change the soy sauce, it changes the taste of the dish and customers will get upset.
I just want you to know. I clicked the like button the second I realized you're an honest man. I value honesty. Obviously.
One day Alex is going to release a "I'm sorry" video, it's going to be him walking on stage and then talking in the most northern English accent possible. "I'ym sorree guhys, I'ym naht fRench"
Funnily enough I once worked with a supposedly French pastry chef who was cagey about his past and occasionally slipped into very strong Mancunian.
He's back!
Alex, been watching for a long time and you are making the best content you've ever made in the last year. And love the podcast too! It keeps getting butter. Peace!
Was I the only one yelling "WEAR YOUR DAMN SEATBELT!" when he drove off?
definetely yes , you arr alone 😂
Alex, you are the only guy on entire youtube who is actually doing a breakdown on fried rice.. tnx a mil.
You just can't beat the fact that not only is this a cooking channel, it's also an engineering channel. Alex, you should sell your equipment designs and plans!
The only thing I expect before I die is the uncle's Roger reaction to this series
Thought so too! Lol
When your second attempt at fried rice is so good you revert back to French.
Wintergatan, wok edition?
I'm kinda disappointed you didn't visit Martin - you're both crazy perfectionists when it comes to your respective passions and I'm sure he'd appreciate your use of an angle grinder. :)
Future collaboration?
@@nowdefunctchannel6874 Maybe Martin can integrate a wok into the MMX.
Now watch, he'll do a remix of "wobbly base" with extra samples of engineering and kitchen supply percussion
For us Cantonese families, we use refrigerated leftover rice from yesterday. Refrigerating it keeps the rice moist inside but separates easily when lighty separated by hand. Frying refrigerated rice easily makes that wok hei flavour without burning through the rice
I'm a welder from America looking to build a wok station and found this video. I guess food connects us all. Thanks for the 💡
i always respect the amount of effort Alex puts into these videos
I'm sure everyone else but me knows, but is buddy an engineer? Cause he clearly has engineering experience.
He's an electrical engineer
Yes.
He mentioned being an electrical engineer when he build his pizza oven by highjacking the stove cleaning function for extra high heat, and that we shouldn't try it at home ;)
@@KarlOlofsson And before that he mentioned being an engineer and went by his old office in the croissant series.
In the ramen series he said it and also we met one of his buddies at the university.
Alex has his priorities straight.. wearing no seatbelt in the car but wearing a helmet whilst cycling ❤️😂
This guy is an exceptional film maker, so many beautiful shots edited with dramatic and music. Always just as exciting to watch a video from Alex, no matter the subject
Cook your rice, lay it out on a tray as evenly spread as possible and let cool to room temp- around 2-3 hours. Then transfer into fridge once it feels dry and the grains mostly separate with ease. If the rice is still sticky then simply break the chunk(s) and wait a little while longer. After placed in fridge in a container (loosely covered), you want to let it sit overnight. By the next day the grains should feel almost too dry, but this is of no concern. When you go to fry your rice it will quickly rehydrate with the oil and other ingredients like fish sauce and soy.
Hope this helps!
As a french myself, when you spoke in french I was so debalced lol
il m'a déstabilisé😂
Sa veux dire quoi debalced mdr
@@xarthurx389 déséquilibré
Friend: "I wonder how Scorsese would have been born later in France and with a passion for cooking..."
Me: "Boy do i have someone to show you..."
Very impressive results for your first try!
One suggestion: try to organize you ingredients better. You must be able to reach and add your ingredients at the precise moment. Every second counts, especially on those high efficiency stoves.
Be still my heart! French, chef, and he can weld! A triple threat! 💕
Yeah, when something's not quite right in my kitchen, I just get the welder out from under the sink and get busy!
Thanks for all your inspiration, Alex!
The way Alex approaches a project can be applied to learning almost any new skill. He is so eager to learn and reflect on the techniques and himself, it's an amazing journey to follow :)
Alex, just a couple of notes:
1) Work faster! you're too slow… Keep everything next to the wok so it's within reach. You seem to waste a lot of time by moving around. Ideally you should be able to whip up any dish by staying on a static position. And go triple speed with that ladle, again too slow.…
2) If you are breaking up the egg, turn the ladle around and use the rim instead of the round back;
3) Splash the soy sauce on the rice, not the edges. Any drops of liquid which will touch the hot wok will evaporate immediately, meaning the solids in the liquid will stick to the wok and burn straight away. Burned soy sauce is horrible…
4) I know a lot of Chinese chefs (or any Asian chef) will go in with the eggs first. But in order to do this you need to keep the heat low and use more oil because basically you want the egg to not really touch the wok too much in order to prevent it browning (causing dry and bitter egg). You also need very quick ladle technique to break it up properly and that is difficult.
Instead: go in first with the rice, make a well in the centre, add the egg there, and then mix with the rice. Added advantage is that the egg is much finer distributed. You now basically end up with huge clumps and lumps of egg (also because of point 2). You want the egg to be very finely in there and almost colour the rice. Because remember, Chinese food is not just about taste, it is also about balance and the aesthetics. You want the components in your rice to be similar sized to the rice. So small bits of egg, finely cut scallions, some peas. This technique works way better (especially if you are starting) because the rice helps breaking up the egg and avoids the egg from browning too much. Basically the rice is doing half the work for you here;
5) Sesame oil! Add a few drops to the egg mixture (and season the egg mixture with salt and white pepper, if you do it like described in point 4 this means it also seasons the whole dish). And a few at the end when the heat is off.
6) Add a little bit of oyster sauce too
I would advise alex never to listen to you. Professional Chinese Chefs never splash soy sauce on the fried rice. =)
Wow!! I'm learning too!!
@@tc7662 that's just not true… i've seen plenty of chefs in China, some in Michelin starred restaurants, do it.
@@santibanks Go look up all the Michelin star chefs or Professional Chinese chef tutorials on fried rice in China (Don't look at the fusion ones in the US, its not real fried rice) on youtube. All of them aim to put soysauce on the side of the wok, and dont put it directly on top of the rice
@@tc7662 It is exactly by watching chefs in Hong Kong and Shanghai that I see that they don't hit the actual side of the wok but instead put it directly on the food. Either they just splash it in the middle, or they circle around but still hit the rice (or whatever food they are cooking) directly.
And it's what I also see the cooks in South East Asia do (Thailand, Indonesia).
You know it tastes good when Alex starts speaking French.
Alex is the only cooking TH-camr who can make 3.5 videos about stir fry before actually making any stir fry
Try this style of fried rice, it is from Singapore and makes use of easy techniques that anyone can master.
Main Ingredients;
1) Rice. Just get a some from your neighborhood Asian restaurant and keep in the fringe for a day. No need to cook your own.
2) Spam/Luncheon meat. Cut into cubes approx 3/8 in size.
3) Eggs, beateh.
4) Frozen mixed veg. Has peas, corn, beans etc.
5) Green onions/scallions/spring onions
5) Light soy sauce, fish sauce. No need for salt.
Fancy ingredients; (Nice to have but not necessary)
- Chinese sausage (Lap Cheong). Slice diagonal thinly. Only need about 1.5" to 2" per person.
- Rendered pork fat and the oil. Use a couple of tablespoons with you veg regular oil. The fried pork fat chunks use as decoration.
- Sambal Blachan. This may be hard to get in western countries, but you do really need it.
Cooking;
1) Fry spam in till light brown. (Fry the Chinese sausage slices if you have them at the same time). Remove from wok and set aside.
2) Dump in your rice and separate it with your spatula.
3) Push the rice to one side of the wok. Add in a a tablespoon of oil in the wok at the other side. Pour in the eggs and stir them. When 75% solid,
push the rice over it and mix.
4) If you have Sambal Blachan, make a small hole in the middle of the rice and put some of the blachan in, if not then just skip. Add soy and fish sauce over all the rice. Don't go over board with the fish sauce. Fold rice over and mix the blachan in.
5) Add the spam/Chinese sausage in. Add the frozen veg in. That's right, straight out of the packet ice crystals and all. Fold the rice over, cover the work, wait 30 sec to a minute and turn off the fire. Let sit for a couple of minutes (If you haven't realized by now, the ice will turn into steam quickly and soften the rice a little, but not make it soggy like if you were to just spoon the water in directly)
6) If you don't like your green onion raw you can throw them in after you turn off the heat.
7) Ready to serve. If you have the fried pork fat, sprinkle a bit over the rice.
Alex: Forgot the salt, forgot the sugar, forgot the soya sauce, forgot the scallions...
Uncle Roger: ...and forgot the MSG! HAIYAA...
Me: "I've got a leak. Better call someone who knows what they're doing to fix it."
Alex: "I wanna cook fried rice. I'm gonna build my own freaking cooking station out of welded steel, German engineered parts from the internet, and 3d-printed parts."
Me: Cries in corner.
I thought exactly the same thing. The guy is nothing less than inspiring!
I feel as though there needs to be a shirt that says "Hard Woker" as a complementary version of his current shirt "Wok Harder"
@Moo Moo hard wokers don't need a T Shirt. They make it known.
Just a few cent here
* Can try to pour in the egg one hand while beat and loosen the egg liquid with the laddle for finer egg texture.
* If having a dryer rice on hand can put some stock or water in the middle of frying to induce some steam to moisture up the rice.
* Lastly adding a little bit of all evil MSG and white pepper powder can bring our some extra flavour
All the best and looking forward to the next video 😁
In regards to your question about improving the Gaß Heat Source you bought from germany; There's a key word for what really sets burning regular and top notch seperate, which is the Vortex Burn. A Vortex burn can only be achieved by either having the flames natrually form a vortex (45° Degree Angle on the Gaß Outlet Holes, you can drill it but risk of bricking the entire unit is high) or by forcing it into Vortex Motion by Air Channel around it (Soldering Air-Blades of Iron to the side of your Fire Pit, which go up in Curled motion to make the Airflow become Tornado like) (much less chance of it really working with small blades, and big ones are going to interfeer with flame flow overall) - For the simply tho, adding a battery run small pc fan underneath the center of the Gaß Burner, can thunnel the flames upwards and increase fire quality, while not being Tornado Flame Vortex, you can easily expect 20-40% Added Flame Quality by thunneling the Airflow specifically as you desire;
and yes, the 45° Degree on the Gaß outlets are slightly overkill, however, the perfect 28° degree holes a professionally manifuctured Gaß Outlet of this kind would have (which you can't buy anywhere as far as i know), are much harder to achieve with private tools, as they're aimed at a much smaller circulation angle, and further upcurling flames, they might not suit cooking in a Wok exactly as needed. to my understanding the machine works ideal when the flame center is just barely touching the wok from underneath, and the air vortex around it heats the exteriour Wok-Pan Surface; - So Distance to the actual Gaß outlet is the key factor for getting it to work just perfect. =)
It’s was so good he started to speak French
Turn propane tank upside Alex for better pressure, get more burning action.
Wields aren't bad for someone who does not do it professionally.
The welds are bad though. Knowing him, most likely he’ll go down a rabbit hole of welding until he’s stacking dimes.
Fish scaling would be what I'd suggest for that thickness of steel IF he ever went down that rabbit hole
MR. ALEX, You have a very impressive edits sir!
You have made one of the best channels on TH-cam.