By Dagmar Corales
Argentina
6 February, 2009

Some time ago I woke up with that sharp feeling that I absolutely needed a wok. I had to have a wok to cook, to venture out into the Chinese cuisine, well, to simply get something different and new on the table.
Now I can fully understand if some of you think: “What on earth is a wok?”
A wok—that’s that round-shaped giant frying pan that the Chinese use for their cooking.
I don’t know what got into me, either.
I just needed to have a wok.
I wanted to wok around the clock.
I wanted to wok and woll.
So, I looked around where I live and found one—a nice Teflon-coated beauty with an extra flat bottom, so that all those fake-Chinese doing their first steps in wokking would have an easier life.
Having always admired the wok concoctions of a Chinese friend of mine, I just… cooked something!
I’m sure that there is an endless amount on How-to-Cook-Chinese-for-Beginners books out there in that vast space of published material, but I had no patience for it.
I just went by the little knowledge I have and by instinct.
And it just so happens that I love sweet-and-sour Anything.
Hey, I’m practically dying for sweet-and-sour…
…but, BUT, I got a family to cook for.
And they can’t stand sweet-and-sour Anything!
What to do?
Well, I got my wok, now that was a good beginning.
And, one morning I woke up with this equally sharp feeling of… Ginger!
I had to have ginger!
I live in an area, where you still have a few old-fashioned spice stores. How they can survive economically is anybody’s guess, but that’s not my problem…
So, I just trusted my giant nose and got myself some great-smelling spices. With that treasure I headed home and concocted something truly exotic with my wok!
I have to confess though… I outdid myself with the ginger—I overdosed like only a true addict can overdose himself—and… my family was not amused!
“No more ginger in the food, it tastes awful!”
Ahhh, you… you don’t know anything about the better tastes of life!
Life is not just French fries and ketchup!
There’s more to life than just mayonnaise and hot dogs!
Still—you can’t keep a good spirit down; just mix garlic and ginger and see what happens!
I’ve learned to be easy on the ginger and on quite a lot of other secret ingredients as well.
I guess that’s the secret of a great cook: the secret ingredients are just a touch of this and a touch of that, just to give you the feeling of Something—Something Special!
And with this new-found confidence, I bought myself another wok.
Yes, now I have TWO woks…
Can you imagine the power I yield in my hands…?