Luchuan Hand-Forged Cast Iron Wok, Pre-Seasoned | No Coating, Ready to Cook

Most woks sold in Britain are pressed from thin steel and given a non-stick coating, which is the one thing a wok must not have. A coating cannot survive the heat that makes wok hei, the faint smoky char that comes off greens and noodles when metal and oil get hot enough, and it will not survive a metal spatula either. You end up with a pan that stir-fries the way a frying pan does, which is to say it does not.

This one is forged by hand in Luchuan, in Guangxi, where woks have been beaten out over a hammer for generations. Bare iron, no coating at all. Take it to a screaming heat, scrape it with a steel spatula, and it will slowly build its own black patina, the seasoning that makes an old wok slicker than anything sold as non-stick.

It arrives already seasoned, which matters more than it sounds. Bare iron woks normally land raw and grey and need an hour of oiling and heating before they will do anything but stick, and that first hour is where most people give up on them. The workshop has done it for you: unwrap, wash, cook.

Built for a gas hob and happiest on one, since the flame licking up the sides is half of how a wok cooks.

Looking after it

Wash with hot water and a brush, no washing-up liquid once it is running well, then dry it on the hob for a few seconds and wipe a film of oil round the inside. Skip that and it will rust, which is the honest trade for having no coating.

Specifications