alt Hacker NewsThe issue I find with Chinese cooking is that it often requires very high heat and so (probably due to bad technique on my part) I get a house full of smoke or at least very high VOCs. Any tips to avoid that?
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Get a real ventilation for the stove, not just a microwave that recirculates air. Most Chinese in China have separate kitchens with doors and window ventilation, it’s harder in the way Americans design open kitchens with the living room.
You can do lots of Chinese cooking on lower heat using non stick pans, fried rice isn’t that healthy for you anyways. We might trigger the smoke detector once or twice a month, some food (like fish) has a higher chance of triggering than others even if we don’t go full boast on temp.
Close the kitchen door, open the window and high ventilation!
Use a gas wok burner out on the kitchen porch. These will get you closer to restaurant power levels anyway. They use what amounts to a broken off gas main with a foot pedal.
An appropriate oil (canola/peanut) and having everything that's going to go in the pan prepped before you even get the heat going are the main things to minimize smoke, but if you're cooking something that really calls for max heat you'll get smoke periodically as the oil returns to that temp unless your burner can't get the pan up to the smoke point of the oil. Prep is very important since adding ingredients absorbs a lot of heat so if you're cooking something that needs smoking hot oil you can immediately add ingredients in when the oil hits temp and that will absorb energy to bring the temp back down. It also helps you get it done asap. If you have to fumble around for stuff or prep ingredient 4 on the side while the pan is already in use for ingredient 1/2/3 it's very easy to loose track of things and end up with a pan that just sits there smoking. Also add the oil just before you start cooking, don't let it heat up with the pan.
Practically speaking in a home kitchen you also don't have to cook with heat that high, even if you're using a wok. There are plenty of recipes that call for lower temps, and you can often even make things that do call for high temps on a lower one instead. If you're dedicating to cooking that way you could also look into improving your vent hood if that's an option in your housing setup.