Stir-frying in a wok (chao)
Salteado en wok (chao)
- Date
- c. 544 · confidence medium
- Place
- Shouguang, Shandong, China
- Credited to
- Jia Sixie and northern Chinese cooks
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Fast cooking of small pieces in little oil over high heat in a round-bottomed vessel. The Qimin yaoshu (c. 544) contains the first written stir-fry recipes and set the course of Chinese cooking.
The cast-iron wok existed in Han times, but stir-frying as a common technique became widespread between the Song and Ming dynasties; the Qimin yaoshu is the first textual reference.
What it led to
- Chinese cooking with high heat and fine cutting
- fuel saving in kitchens with scarce wood
- spread of the wok through Southeast Asia and the world