Wok hei

 Wok Hei is a concept in Chinese cooking.  Woks are not accidents.  The form and function have been melded perfectly over time.

Lots of heat is crucial to wok use. More than anything in most US homes.

A lot of fats are used - plant (rapeseed oil usually) and animal (lard).  At heats higher than their flash points.

Proteins stick to the pans and are scraped.

And, works are rarely washed with soapy water (why bother when you're gonna bomb it with massive BTUs?)  They are never left to air dry - either right back into use on another dish or lightly oiled and put away.  To misquote Neil Young 'Woks never rust, they just burn away.'  "My, My, Hey, Hey!"

But, they do not burn away quickly.  In Asia a wok is a family heirloom.  Many works in use in houses and restaurants have been passed down through 5 or more generations.  They are used for multiple meals every day.  They take the heat.

Heat + hydrocarbons (aka fats) + carbs + proteins polymerize the high carbon steel (modern) or cast iron (traditional) to form a super hard non-stick surface.  You think grandma's cast iron skillet is bullet proof?   

A wok from the same era has more use, more BTUs, and, overall, just more polymers. 

BTW, they are very different tools.  Cast Iron: store heat to transfer it.  Wok: transfer heat super-duper-duper-dee-doo fast and furiously.  Minimize turning on a skillet; maximize movement in a wok.

And, that wok takes on a character - Wok Hei

“Wok hei is this ethereal thing,” Steph said. It’s “that taste of the first bite of a hot restaurant stir-fry. It’s got that taste of the restaurant oil, the slightly deeper restaurant browning, the heavier restaurant seasoning.

“Seeing home cooks outside of China being obsessed about wok hei has always been kind of bewildering to me,” she added.

I thought I understood.  I thought I must have experienced it before.  Neither was true.

Now I do.

It left me breathless with one bite.

It was literally the plainest set of fried rice ingredients you can imagine.  Rice, corn, scallions, chicken, egg, sauces.  Nothing more.

More depth of flavor  than I can comprehend.

I'll stop while I'm still failing....

'Hei, Hei, Wok Hei is here to stay!'  












(By the way, it is better to fade away than to burn out...)