Wok hay (or the breath of a wok) is the prized taste detected by connoisseurs of wok cooking when the food has been properly prepared. Working with award-winning photographer Alan Richardson, Grace Young creates a fascinating guide to the creation of wok hay and the techniques and sensibilities that underlie it.

Wok cooking at its finest is so much more than a quick sauté and it depends on proper preparation and selection of ingredients, understanding of all the ways in which a wok can be used, and the selection and informed care of fine-quality wok itself.

Drawing on lessons from renowned teachers and chefs, and offering recipes gleaned from and inspired by her travels in Hong Kong and China, Young makes it clear that a wok can be a tremendously versatile and rewarding tool, as well as a window into Chinese cultural attitudes toward food, both there and in the United States.

Rewarding and fascinating.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.