[mattmaroon]

No offense but you’ve just not seen people doing it properly then. If you live in the western world that’s not surprising.

I can’t find a high enough resolution pic on the internet of the modernist cuisine cutaway to actually read the text but here’s the image:

https://images.app.goo.gl/cZWmqecLWTSdxSeX6

Wok Hei translates to “breath of the wok” for a reason. The food is constantly in the air, which allows it to dry out. The food spends most of its time not even touching the wok so no, you can’t do it on induction.

Here’s a good description from the Michelin guide:

https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/dining-out/what-is-wok...

[danuker]

> The food is constantly in the air, which allows it to dry out

Thank you for treating my ignorance!

Since in order to keep it in the air you have to constantly raise the pot from the cooker, and since induction can't work too far, it is clear why it doesn't work.

[mattmaroon]

Correct! Watch someone who is doing it right and you’ll see the wok and food are in near constant motion. It just can’t be done with anything other than fire.

And there’s no way most of us in the west would know this. Not many people outside of the kitchen a Chinese restaurant would ever see someone do it right here. Most of us just treat a wok like a funny shaped pan.

I’ve been trying to learn the technique for a few years and I’m not great at it.