What Cantonese chefs share with kung fu fighters – speed and timing, necessary to produce ‘breath of the wok’ textures and flavours
- From street-food stalls to Michelin-star restaurants, the ‘breath of the wok’ gives Cantonese dishes their distinctive aromas, colours and flavours
- It takes the skill and timing of a martial artist to stir-fry food at high temperatures so the fat in ingredients vaporises and surfaces are lightly charred
It’s a concept that reaches far back into the history of Cantonese cuisine. Wok hei, or “breath of the wok”, is the gold standard when it comes to any dish cooked in this distinctive, large steel vessel.
Achieving wok hei in a dish – be it fried rice and stir-fries or saucy sweet-and-sour pork – is a skill attained only by high-level chefs, who know how to control all the necessary elements.
Whether they are served on the streets of Hong Kong’s New Territories or in a Michelin-starred restaurant, dishes that encapsulate wok hei can distinguish a great chef from a good one. But what exactly is wok hei?
Tsang pinpoints a key element of good wok cooking, often referred to as the Maillard reaction – when the proteins and sugars in food are transformed by heat, creating more complex flavours, aromas and colours.