Cleaning and caring for your wok

Cleaning your wok is just about as easy as cooking in it. Simply run it under very hot water and scrub it with a bamboo wok brush. That should usually dislodge any food particles or liquids left over from the cooking process.

Wipe your wok dry with a paper towel, and then put it over a flame to be sure to finish drying it thoroughly. Once the wok is dry, turn off the flame.

Add a few drops of oil (the same oil you use to cook in your wok) and swirl it around with a folded paper towel (remember, that wok is HOT!) and smear it to cover the entire insides of the wok. This will keep the surface clean and prevent it from rusting, which it will do surprisingly quickly if you don’t care for it in this way.

Cookbook author Grace Young (http://www.graceyoung.com/) has this to say about the topic (from an interview in the New York Times at http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/getting-the-most-from-your-wok/):

"I soak the wok in hot water for at least five minutes. Then I wash the wok with hot water without dishwashing soap using the soft side of a sponge (I prefer the Scotch-Brite sponge). If there is any stubborn food debris, I use the rougher side of the sponge. Then I rinse the wok, set it on a burner over low heat for a minute or two, or until the pan is dry. Do not use a towel to dry a wok, because it doesn’t thoroughly dry the metal. There are purists who claim a wok should never be cleaned with liquid detergent. I never deliberately add dishwashing soap to the wok, but if my sponge happens to be a little soapy I have no problems using it."

"If your wok is new, I would avoid cooking initially with any strong acidic foods like vinegar or tomatoes, because the wok has a fragile patina and the acid will destroy it. Once the wok is well seasoned, you can certainly cook with acidic foods, but it’s best to remove the stir-fry to a platter the moment it’s cooked."

Woks sometimes develop a sticky surface when not used for a while Grace has this to say about that:
"Your wok needs what I call a “wok facial.” Heat the wok until a bead of water just vaporizes within one to two seconds of contact. Remove the wok from the heat and add about 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then take several paper towels and fold them into a thick pad. Use the pad to rub the oil and salt over the entire inside surface of the wok. Be careful that your hand does not touch the hot wok or the salt mixture. The salt crystals remove any stickiness, food debris or rust, and the oil moisturizes the metal. As you rub the towel you’ll see that the salt and towel will turn brown. Then brush all the salt out of the wok, rinse it in hot water and dry the pan over low heat for one to two minutes or until the pan is totally dry. One way to prevent the wok from getting sticky is to store the cooled wok in a large paper bag. If you live near the seashore or in a humid climate, the paper bag will also prevent the wok from rusting.