The Thai takeaways are one of the most popular businesses in Auckland. Mostly people would love to eat their favourite dishes with their family members at their home. So at such instances they mostly prefer food takeaways. Get your favorite Thai food from Pan Asia by just making a call at 09 302 1675 or log on to http://www.panasia.co.nz/.

1. The Best & Worst Cooking Oil For Stir-Frying
A question we get asked often is what type of cooking oil do you use for stir-frying, so I thought
I would answer that question here but also mention what not to buy as I see many kitchens
suffering from using poor quality oil. I will explain how I know that later.
Most restaurants and takeaways use soya bean or canola oil which depending on the source can
be good quality but we switched to Rice Bran oil as it is far superior and worth the extra cost.
Here is the reason why.
Oils foremost task for stir-frying is to act as a lubricant. Rice bran oil is slippery smooth, its like
silk compared to other oils. When you stir-fry, the chance of meat sticking to the wok is greatly
reduced because of this as it is more forgiving. One of the key tricks to stir frying is to get the
wok very hot. Even the best chefs can have a lapse of concentration and if they put the food in
too soon, the meat sticks and if that happens it’s a mess. You really need to clean the wok and
start again.
Then its secondary task is to avoid burning and becoming bitter when heated to high
temperatures. Rice Bran oil has a very high smoke point of 415 degrees* (*Wikipedia) and the
important part to note is that in restaurants the oil is heated far beyond this point and its how the
oil reacts to this that matters. Cheaper oils will gum up and leave a sticky residue, discolor badly
and go acrid in taste. This process is called polymerization which is the breaking down process
of the polymers in oils.
Rice bran oil when heating beyond smoke point tends to just turn into a very thin viscosity but
doesn’t actually gum up or go acrid; it is more stable over high heat. Eventually it will gum up if
you leave the wok on for far too long but so will any oil.
Thirdly oil has to let the taste of the food shine through as it is just the medium to carry the
flavors throughout the dish, its not the star of the show. Cheap oils leave an oily aftertaste and
you can literally taste the oil. Rice Bran oil is known for a neutral taste and it lets the flavours
perform their magic without cramping its style.
As a bonus, due to the above qualities it is also excellent for deep frying as it lasts longer, is
more stable and the food tastes better.
What not to buy
 Do not buy supermarket brand oil of any type. The quality is generally very poor as it is a
method of getting rid of inferior grades or old stocks of oil. I remember watching a TV
program on home brand oils and a panel of expert tasters found all to be very poor quality
and some were old and rancid. Even without being an expert you can taste good and bad

2. oil. Taste a little bit and if it appears neutral and you’re not really sure what it tastes like
then it’s a sign that it’s perfectly fine. Poor quality or rancid oil however will taste bitter
or offensive or have a strong after taste. If it doesn’t taste ok at first impression then don’t
use it.
 Soya bean oil can be of varied quality. Even well known brands can be guilty of using a
poor quality source. It is mostly soyabean oil that causes the gumming residue especially
the cheap imported variety. We havent found a quality soyabean oil yet and just never
purchase it especially as canola is only a fraction more and of a more consistent quality.
Telltale sign of poor oil use
This brings me to the point of how to spot a kitchen that is using poor quality oils especially
soyabean oil. You can tell this by looking at cooking areas, pots and pans, deep fryers and
utensils. Cheap oils gum up. What do I mean by gumming up? You can see small globules of
amber colored resin forming on the walls and frying instruments. These are extremely hard to
remove and practically require scraping or using steel wool to remove as degreasers just won’t
even budge them. Good oils will not gum up or polymerize.
I have seen home kitchens with this resin all over the stove and walls and sure enough you will
see a cheap bottle of supermarket brand oil on the counter.
Like anything in life all things are not equal so spend a couple of dollars more and just buy the
good stuff. Rice Bran Oil is our recommendation for stir frying and deep frying.
Panasia is the home of best and freshest Asian takeaways. Panasia was started up in 2006 by
husband and wife Paul and Pimvalee and their two teenage children. They specialise in a varied
menu of Thai and Chinese. More about their Auckland takeaway delivery menu and the areas
they deliver can be known from their website.