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I used to work next door to one and loved the smell of stir fry in the air everywhere. Every time I pass a Chinese restaurant I sense the same scent. I bought a bottle of rice oil and it isn't the ingredient that causes the smell. Anyone who has any ideas?
It’s the scent of a well-seasoned, well-used wok plus some of the ingredients, typically peanut oil and, often, scallions.
If you start seasoning a brand-new wok using peanut oil and scallions, you will recognize the trademark Chinese-cooking aroma.
Sesame oil is fragrant but not used in most dishes and definitely not always heated up.
^^^ Yep. Spot on. I would add soy sauce and ginger to that mix, although it might include Hoisin, fish, or oyster sauce.
FWIW, the trick in drive-in theatres to drive up sales was to put a batch of onions on the grill about ten minutes before the main intermission, to let the scent waft around the lot. There is a natural automatic hunger that many people experience just from that smell. Popcorn was always popped just as the breaks occurred so that people smelled, heard, and saw it pop.
So it's the peanut or sesame oil. Great, got to try cooking with either of them. I love love the Chinese restaurant smell. It definitely smells tastier than most European restaurants. I like it even more than the wonderful bakery smell of fresh baked bread.
So it's the peanut or sesame oil. Great, got to try cooking with either of them. I love love the Chinese restaurant smell. It definitely smells tastier than most European restaurants. I like it even more than the wonderful bakery smell of fresh baked bread.
Not ONLY the oil. It’s the char smell of the proper oil and the scallions when the wok is properly seasoned. When the wok has been seasoned, even frying other things brings out the char element.
Just frying with peanut oil in a frying pan won’t necessarily get that scent.
BTW, the term seasoning used in the context of cast iron has nothing to do with herbs or spices or soy sauce. There is a [i]procedure[/b] for seasoning that is done before any cooking occurs in the wok at all. It is the procedure that causes the scent.
I'm not sure you can use sesame oil for stir frying by itself. It's used more as a seasoning or aromatic.
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