DC. wrote:

> It's called Wok Hei in Cantonese & it's actually a cooking technique & not
> an ingredient, it's a bit like setting fire to your food in the wok. I'm
> sure you've seen it on TV or pictures in Asia where the wok + food is
> alight. You don't have to actually do that but a big fire/flame is vital
> to getting that smokey taste in your stirfry. Just let your wok or fry pan
> sit on the fire for quite awhile w/o any oil until it is smoking(best not
> use a Tefal or anything with a non-stick coating, a seasoned wok or a old
> blacken fry pan is best), have all your ingredients prepared & ready in
> bowls or plates. Pour in your cooking oil, tilt & spread it around your
> very hot wok/fry pan to coat it & let it settle before you throw in your
> first ingedients followed by the next etc. As all your ingredients are cut
> to size, it's just a case of adding them in one at a time & tossing your
> wok/fry pan. As you tilt & toss, you'll sometimes set fire to the wok &
> it's contents. Finally add in your gravy ingredients, i'm guessing it'll
> be something like cornflour+water. It's a relatively quick process, in a
> take-away or restaurant situation, stirfried beef in blackbean sauce takes
> about a minute to cook. At home maybe 1-2 more minutes depending on your
> cooker. Best with a gas fire.
>
> DC.
>

Chinese restaurants have large gas-fired burners. There is uually a large
"plate" with a 6 inch hole into which the wok fits, with numerous gas
burners underneath. This seems far hotter than you can obtain with a
domestic gas cooktop.

gtoomey