A wok (simplified Chinese: 镬; traditional Chinese: 鑊; pinyin: huò; Cantonese Yale: wohk) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan of either indigenous Chinese origin or derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in Greater China, and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as being popular in other parts of the world. Woks are used in a range of Chinese cooking techniques, including stir frying, steaming, pan frying, deep frying, poaching, boiling, braising, searing, stewing, making soup, smoking and roasting nuts. Wok cooking is often done with utensils called chǎn (spatula) or sháo (ladle) whose long handles protect cooks from high heat. The uniqueness of wok cooking includes the Cantonese tradition of wok hei, "breath of the wok".
History The origin of the wok is unclear, with both an indigenous origin theory and a South/Southeast Asian origin theory. In the indigenous origin theory scholars believe the Wok to have originated from ancient Chinese cooking pots that are at least 3000 years old. Wilkinson in his 2012 book Chinese history: a new manual, believes the wok evolved from an ancient prehistoric cooking pot called the fu, a round bottom multi-purpose cooking pot.In the South/Southeast Asian origin theory scholars believe it originated from the karahi, as well as the Southeast Asian kuali (believed to be the etymology of Mandarin 鑊). These cooking vessels are universal in South and Southeast Asian cuisine for stewing and quick evaporation. They likely entered China via Central Asia from India where it evolved into the wok. In his 1988 book The Food of China, E.N. Anderson writes:
Wok is a Cantonese word; the Mandarin is Guō. The wok appears to be a rather recent acquisition as Chinese kitchen furniture goes; it has been around for only two thousand years. The first woks are little pottery models on the pottery stove models in Han Dynasty tombs. Since the same sort of pan is universal in India and Southeast Asia, where it is known as a Kuali in several languages, I strongly suspect borrowing [of the word] (probably from India via Central Asia) — kuo must have evolved from some word close to Kuali. The first possible depictions of woks in China appeared in the Han dynasty (c. 202 BCE – 220 CE). But these are conjectural, since these "woks" were made of clay and were only used to dry grains. Metal woks only started to appear in China in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), where it was first used for stir frying (an original Han Chinese innovation).
Characteristics
The wok's most distinguishing feature is its shape. Classic woks have a rounded bottom. Hand-hammered woks are sometimes flipped inside out after being shaped, giving the wok a gentle flare to the edge that makes it easier to push food up onto the sides of the wok. Woks sold in Western countries are sometimes found with flat bottoms—this makes them more similar to a deep frying pan. The flat bottom allows the wok to be used on an electric stove, where a rounded wok would not be able to fully contact the stove's heating element. A round-bottom wok enables the traditional round spatula or ladle to pick all the food up at the bottom of the wok and toss it around easily; this is difficult with a flat bottom. With a gas hob, or traditional pit stove, the bottom of a round wok can get hotter than a flat wok and so is better for stir frying. Most woks range from 300 to 360 mm (12 to 14 in) or more in diameter. Woks of 360 mm (14 in) (suitable for a family of 3 or 4) are the most common, but home woks can be found as small as 200 mm (8 in) and as large as 910 mm (36 in). Smaller woks are typically used for quick cooking techniques at high heat such as stir frying (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo). Large woks over a meter wide are mainly used by restaurants or community kitchens for cooking rice or soup, or for boiling water.
Materials The most common materials used in making woks today are carbon steel and cast iron. Although the latter was the most common type used in the past, cooks tend to be divided on whether carbon steel or cast iron woks are superior.
Carbon steel Currently, carbon steel is the most widely used material, being relatively inexpensive, relatively light in weight, providing quick heat conduction as it has a low specific heat capacity, and having reasonable durability. Their light weight makes them easier to lift and quicker to heat. Carbon steel woks, however, tend to be more difficult to season than those made of cast-iron ('seasoning', or carbonizing the cooking surface of a wok, is required to prevent foods from sticking and to remove metallic tastes and odors). Carbon steel woks vary widely in price, style, and quality, which is based on ply and forming technique. The lowest quality steel woks tend to be stamped by machine from a single 'ply' or piece of stamped steel. Less expensive woks have a higher tendency to deform and misshape. Cooking with lower quality woks is also more difficult and precarious since they often have a "hot spot". Higher quality, mass-produced woks are made of heavy gauge (14-gauge or thicker) steel, and are either machine-hammered or made of spun steel. The best quality woks are almost always hand-made, being pounded into shape by hand ("hand hammered") from two or more sheets of carbon steel which are shaped into final form by a ring-forming or hand-forging process.
Cast iron Two types of cast iron woks can be found in the market. Chinese-made cast iron woks are very thin (3 mm (0.12 in)), weighing only a little more than a carbon steel wok of similar size, while cast iron woks typically produced in the West tend to be much thicker (9 mm (0.35 in)), and very heavy. Because of the thickness of the cast iron, Western-style cast iron woks take much longer to bring up to cooking temperature, and their weight also makes stir-frying and bao techniques difficult. Cast iron woks form a more stable carbonized layer of seasoning which makes it less prone to food sticking on the pan. While cast iron woks are superior to carbon steel woks in heat retention and uniform heat distribution, they respond slowly to heat adjustments and are slow to cool once taken off the fire. Because of this, food cooked in a cast-iron wok must be promptly removed from the wok as soon as it is done to prevent overcooking. Chinese-style cast iron woks, although relatively light, are fragile and are prone to shattering if dropped or mishandled.
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