The Guardian - Life & Style • Feb. 2, 2026, 6:15 a.m.

Enrol in the school of wok and get sizzling with a simple stir-fry and a classic hotch-potch noodle dish. Follow the ‘wok clock’ and both are ready in about half an hour Stir-frying, as its name suggests, is the technique of frying while continuously stirring or circulating heat, and it is the heat that’s all-important.

Stir-frying is all about wok hei , or ‘wok’s air’ in English, which you can think of as the ‘height of fire’, or the level of heat. It’s said that Chinese cooks have good wok hei if they have a true understanding of the heat of their wok and how to handle it in all situations, and a stir-fry’s success is based on the quality of the cook’s wok hei.

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