Wok Oil

Asked by boombatek1. Answered on 14th October 2015

Full question

Nigella mentions Wok Oil in some of her recipes. What are the ingredients? How do you make it?

Our answer

Wok oil is used by Nigella in some stir-fry recipes and the oil is a mixture of sunflower oil, toasted sesame oil, plus ginger and garlic flavourings. Some oils contain chilli flavouring too. Wok oil is particularly suitable for Express recipes as you do not have to spend time preparing the aromatics. You can buy wok oil in some supermarkets and Asian stores, and on-line.

If you can't find wok oil then you can flavour the oil you are using for stir-frying by adding 1/2 clove crushed garlic, 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to 1 tablespoon sunflower oil and sizzling for a minute in a hot wok. We would not recommend making the oil in bulk as leaving the fresh ingredients in oil for any length of time can lead to a risk of food poisoning.