Wok hei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wok hei | |||||||||||
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| Cooking in a wok | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese: | 鑊氣 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 镬气 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin: | huòqì | ||||||||||
| Cantonese Jyutping: | wok6 hei3 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning: | Wok's Chi | ||||||||||
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Wok hei is a term in Cantonese Chinese referring to the flavour, tastes, and "essence" imparted by a hot wok on the food. The word hei (romanization based on Cantonese Chinese) is equivalent to qi (romanization based on Mandarin Chinese). The term is sometimes rendered as wok chi in Western cookbooks.
When cooked correctly, the "essence" of the food comes through the flavour and the dish is said to "have wok hei". To impart wok hei, the food must be cooked in a wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly. In practical terms, the flavour imparted by chemical compounds results from caramelization and the Maillard reactions that come from charring and searing of the food at very high heat in excess of 200 °C (approximately 400 °F). A large amount of cooking oil is often used to enhance wok hei. As diners usually select their food with chopsticks from a shared serving bowl, any excess oil remains in the bottom of the serving dish rather than being eaten.
[edit] References
- Grace Young, The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore, Simon and Schuster. 2004.
[edit] See also
- Beef chow fun - a Chinese dish said to require plenty of wok hei to acquire deliciousness
