A wok is as much an ingredient as it is a cooking vessel. When used to its full potential, it can add flavour, texture and a unique personality.

The deep-sided bowl shape of a wok essentially gives you two zones of cooking. The hot centre of the wok is where most of the high-heat searing and sizzling takes place. But the sides are also cooking surfaces, and food can be pushed up to make way for new ingredients or to protect ingredients from burning in the centre.

Because of this shape and nature, the wok isn’t just suited to one or two cooking methods. You can harness the smoking heat of a wok to create a ‘roasted’ and wok-charred effect, without having to preheat an oven. The narrow bottom and wide sides mean you can fit more into the wok to deep-fry but also use less oil for shallow-frying. And that wide, open shape encourages fast evaporation to thicken sauces when simmering. Not only that, but you can also utilise a wok for braising, boiling, steaming, poaching and, with a little extra tinkering, smoking, too.

Honestly, the wok is one of the most versatile additions to your home kitchen, able to influence flavour in magical ways.

Everything tastes better when it’s been kissed by the wok.