Sure every one knows what a wok is. Most of us have them in our homes, buried in the back of the pots and pans. What most of us don't know is the secret of the wok. Why does food from the wok taste so amazing? The secret is what the Chinese call "Wok Hay" . Literally translated, it means "Wok", n. a boiler or cauldron; an iron pan, "Hay", n. breath, energy, spirit. In culinary terms it is that elusive, heat seared taste that you can only get from stir-frying in a wok. The key to achieving wok hay is the heat. The wok must be heated to the point that the dry wok, will release a wisp of smoke before the first ingredient hits it. In our restaurants this comes courtesy of 80,000 BTU's from our custom made wok stoves. These wok stoves in our restaurants were custom made to Henry's exact specifications. They were built in California and shipped to our locations. When you fire up one of these it sounds like a jet engine. In fact when the chef turns on these custom made wok stoves it fires up so intensely that it makes a "wumphh" sound that can be heard through out the restaurant.

The other secret in achieving wok hay is the technique the Chinese call "pao ". This is similar to tossing your food sautee pan. The food is constantly tossed over and over in the wok. This technique is a necessity because of the intense heat; let it sit for 1 second too long and it will burn. It is also the key to making sure every ingredient touches the heat and receives the sear necessary to release its inner essence and flavor.

With good wok hay, vegetables have a crisp texture. The Chinese call "song". Song means cooked to perfection, and is key to excellent Chinese cuisine.

Wok cooking is not just cooking, it is an exact art. In achieving wok hay each ingredient must be added at exactly the right time to release it's flavor in to your dish... garlic at the right time, soy at the right time, salt, pepper etc... each one adding a new layer of flavor when it hits the extreme heat.

Henry has devoted the last 20 years of his life to this exact art, he is regarded as the best Wok Chef, in our valley by many of our new and devoted patrons.

El Jebel (970) 963-8077 Glenwood (970) 928-9077