Stove Porn

Chef Pardus from the CIA (no, not that CIA, this CIA) is blogging over at Michael Ruhlman's place this week... and his first video about how to properly cook shrimp (in short: poach in a brine) apparently generated quite a bit of questions about the range he was demonstrating on. It's a little on the dry side from an entertainment perspective, but still fairly drool worthy. Cook's Illustrated has often made the case that Western stoves are really not suited to the use of Woks, and that your average home cook is better off just using a skillet to make stir fries... but I'd never seen a Wok range in action until this. Especially on the larger range, where the inner and outer ring flames can be adjusted independently, you can surmise how advantageous a Wok's design would be. I don't cook nearly enough Asian food to really even vaguely fantasize about that range, but I still find it awe inspiring.