Choosing a wok

The wok is one of the most well-designed, versatile and practical cooking utensils of all time. Though originally designed for pit cooking in China, it is easily adaptable to various types of stovetops. People the world over who have learned to master wok cooking, find it to be the ultimate multi-tasker in in that it can be used for all sorts of stovetop cooking, from sautéing and stir-frying to poaching, braising, steaming, deep-frying, and even smoking (as I've recently learned).

Woks come in many sizes and are made with many types of materials, from carbon steel that makes for easy seasoning (the best according to most sources that I've read), to stainless steel, aluminum, and other metallic alloys. They come either with two short handles, or with one long handle. They also come in differing depths, from shallow to deep. After serving for centuries with its round bottom, a more recent modification comes in the form of a flat bottom variety – more effective for our modern gas stoves according to author Grace Young.

Flat bottom or round bottom is one of the major choice issues with which you are faced. The answer will depend on your experience and style of cooking and on the characteristics that are most important to you. There are pros and cons for each, and therefore, varying preferences and opinions.

Grace Young (in an article in the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-we-can-eat/post/grace-young-the-code-of-chinese-cooks/2012/11/15/ef1e4ffc-2eb6-11e2-89d4-040c9330702a_blog.html) says that “nonstick pans are not suitable for stir-frying because food simply doesn’t sear or caramelize as well as when you use a carbon-steel wok”. “My favorite wok for stir-frying is a 14-inch carbon-steel flat-bottomed wok.”

“The 14-inch flat-bottomed carbon-steel wok with a long wood handle is the best pan for stir-frying on a residential stove. The wok sits directly on the burner (unlike a round-bottomed wok which requires a wok ring) ensuring that the pan attains the necessary heat. Carbon-steel, like cast-iron, is ancient nonstick cookware — ideal because it forms a natural nonstick surface the more you cook. The Wokshop.com in San Francisco’s Chinatown (http://wokshop.com/) has been in business for nearly 40 years, and has the most outstanding selection of woks.”

"Stay away from non-stick woks." On this topic Grace says “Stir-frying requires high heat, and only expensive high-quality nonstick cookware can safely be used on high heat. Nonstick cookware manufacturers recommend that the highest heat that can be used with inexpensive nonstick cookware is medium-high. I see no reason to spend a lot of money for a pan that produces mediocre stir-fries. I also dislike nonstick cookware because the pan cannot be preheated before adding the oil (the Chinese call this technique “hot wok cold oil”). For safety reasons when using nonstick cookware, the oil must be added to the cold pan before heating it.”


That having been said, I have chosen a round bottom carbon steel wok for myself. In my opinion, there's a reason why the wok has made it down through the ages with its round bottom and I am reluctant to change this feature. I guess I just like the traditional aspect of the round bottomed wok. Plus I believe that the heat source is more concentrated in the small round area rather than spread out over the larger area of a flat bottom wok. That’s not a scientific observation…but simply my own feeling on it.

One cool piece of hardware that I’ve found in my local Asian Supermarket is a stove top grate that is specifically shaped to accommodate a round bottom wok and keep it far closer to the heat source than a wok ring would be able to. (On this specific point, if you must use a wok ring, you can turn it upside down so that the wider area is up and the smaller area is down it will allow for your round bottom wok to sit closer to the flame). This grate allows the wok on the stove top in a stable fashion just like a regular pot would. Plus, the grate fits into the stove top just as the normal grates do.

As far as the handles go, that’s up to your personal preference. Most of the videos showing professional wok chefs that I’ve viewed on youtube show carbon steal round bottom woks with the two small handles on each side. The chefs use a towel to hold one of the rings with so as not to burn themselves while handling the wok. They do put on quite a show when cooking! I prefer a single handled wok as it seems easier for me to use. But who knows…that might change as I become more adept at using woks in general. In fact, check out a video on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGEHcGVYzmw. The cooking technique is certainly something that can be learned from. In fact, I learned to adopt the use of the ladle as opposed to the spatula from watching these videos and am far happier with its versatility.

Speaking of that, in addition to your wok, you should choose a spatula or a ladle that you are comfortable with (be sure that they are appropriately shaped to your wok – hint: visit your local Asian supermarket!) and get a decent Chinese cleaver as well, while you’re at it.

In short, the wok you would likely want from a practical outlook, is:

Between 14-gauge carbon steel and between 14- to 16-inches in diameter

Is flat-bottomed (best for our stoves) with a long wood handle

and has a metal domed or high-set lid with a heatproof handle (these are often sold separately).

Some sources include your local Asian markets, The Wok Shop in San Francisco (www.wokshop.com) or even www.amazon.com.