Cooking with the Wok

The wok is a thousand-year-old Chinese creation, and there is nothing more traditional in Chinese cookery. Woks were first made of iron, later of carbon steel, and even later of aluminum, but whatever its material it was always, is always, shaped like an oversized soup plate. Due to its concave shape, its base fits right into the burner flame or heat source of a stove and makes it the ideal cooker for stir frying, pan frying, deep frying, steaming, blanching, and sauce making. It is the perfect cooking utensil. Though it is not a pot or a pan, it functions as both. Its shape permits foods to be stir-fried—tossed quickly through tiny amounts of oil so that the foods cook but do not become oily. Its shape permits the wok to be converted into an efficient steamer simply by placing bamboo steamers in its well. Wok cooking is natural cooking.