The Wok

J. Kenji López-Alt’s debut cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionized home cooking, selling more than half a million copies with its science-based approach to everyday foods. And for fast, fresh cooking for his family, there’s one pan López-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok.

Whether stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, simmering, or braising, the wok is the most versatile pan in the kitchen. Once you master the basics—the mechanics of a stir-fry, and how to get smoky wok hei at home—you’re ready to cook home-style and restaurant-style dishes from across Asia and the United States, including Kung Pao Chicken, Pad Thai, and San Francisco–Style Garlic Noodles. López-Alt also breaks down the science behind beloved Beef Chow Fun, fried rice, dumplings, tempura vegetables or seafood, and dashi-simmered dishes.

Featuring more than 200 recipes—including simple no-cook sides—explanations of knife skills and how to stock a pantry, and more than 1,000 color photographs, The Wok provides endless ideas for brightening up dinner.

“"You've probably heard that the wok is the most versatile pan in any kitchen. Well, in classic Kenji fashion, The Wok shows not just the hows and whys of wok cooking, but why you want the wok to be your favorite pan even if, like me, you've got just a regular-old apartment stove. I'm going to be cooking from, learning from, and being inspired by this book for a long, long time."”

"In The Wok, Kenji starts with the basics and goes on to detail all the science and techniques necessary for this versatile pan. The wok is an essential tool in the kitchens of virtually all Asian restaurants. While it took me many years of grueling hard work in professional kitchens to really learn it, in The Wok, you are graciously given all the knowledge you need to master it at home." -- Hooni Kim, chef and author of My Korea
"You've probably heard that the wok is the most versatile pan in any kitchen. Well, in classic Kenji fashion, The Wok shows not just the hows and whys of wok cooking, but why you want the wok to be your favorite pan even if, like me, you've got ju" -- Francis Lam, cookbook editor, author and host of The Splendid Table
"J. Kenji López-Alt’s new book, The Wok, is so expansive, so compendious, and so obsessively detailed (and I mean that in a good way) that it is frankly impossible to give a full enough account of it without running a review of several thousand words!.. [The Wok is] like taking a cookery course with the inspirational teacher of your dreams... This is indisputably an awe-inspiring magnum opus. And yet there is a wit and delight about it, too, that ensure it is captivating rather than drily earnest. " -- Nigella Lawson
"… for a while I wanted to cook everything in my beloved wok, and the 200 recipes in López-Alt’s book made that easy… [THE WOK] taught me tricks and techniques that I will use for years to come, long after I’ve moved on to other books." -- Jennifer Reese - The New York Times Book Review

J. Kenji López-Alt is a chef, parent, and New York Times best-selling author of The Food Lab and Every Night Is Pizza Night. He is a wildly popular New York Times food columnist; the chief culinary advisor for Serious Eats; and the host of Kenji’s Cooking Show, which has more than a million subscribers on YouTube. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

J. Kenji L

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