Stir-frying (chao — literally 'to stir-fry over high heat') is the fundamental Chinese high-heat wok technique — rapid cooking of small pieces of food in a small amount of oil over the highest available heat, with continuous movement to ensure even contact with the hot wok surface. It is not merely rapid sautéing: the combination of very high heat, the wok's specific thermal properties, the small pieces of food, and the continuous movement produces flavour and texture results that cannot be replicated at lower temperatures or in other vessels. Dunlop's treatment in *Every Grain of Rice* and *The Food of Sichuan* is meticulous — the sequence of ingredient additions, the specific oil temperature, the pre-preparation requirements, and the seasoning timing are all addressed with precision.
**The six requirements of correct chao:** **1. Everything prepared before the wok is heated (mise en place as absolute rule):** Stir-frying happens in 2–5 minutes at maximum heat. There is no time to slice, measure, or find ingredients during cooking. Every component — protein marinated, vegetables cut and grouped by cooking time, aromatics separated, sauce components combined in a small bowl — must be at hand before the wok is heated. **2. The wok at maximum heat before the oil is added:** Heat the dry wok over the highest available flame until it begins to smoke very slightly. Then add the oil. This sequence — hot wok, then oil — prevents the food from absorbing oil by adhesion (which happens when food is added to a wok that is warming with oil in it). The hot wok immediately heats the oil to the correct frying temperature. **3. The correct oil temperature before food is added:** The oil should be visibly hot — just beginning to shimmer, with the faintest suggestion of very light smoke. At this temperature: food added produces an immediate, vigorous sizzle and begins cooking instantly. Below this temperature: food absorbs oil and steams rather than fries. **4. Correct ingredient volumes:** A domestic wok should contain no more than 2–3 portions of food. Overfilling the wok drops the temperature so rapidly that the food steams rather than stir-fries. For 4 people: cook in 2 batches and combine, or accept a less vigorously fried result. **5. The addition sequence — longest cooking ingredient first:** Proteins with thick cuts enter first. Dense vegetables (carrot, broccoli stems) before tender vegetables (leaves, pea shoots). Aromatics (garlic, ginger) usually fried briefly in the oil before the protein is added — 15–30 seconds until fragrant but not coloured. Sauces added in the final 30–60 seconds. **6. Continuous motion:** The cook moves the food continuously — pushing, tossing, spreading across the wok surface — so that all surfaces receive equal heat. The professional technique: tossing the wok contents by tilting the wok and flicking the wrist so the food arcs briefly above the wok surface and lands on a fresh hot surface. At home: a spatula can perform the equivalent motion with slightly less result. **The sauce — added at the end:** Dunlop's standard approach: combine all sauce components (soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch-water mix if thickening is needed) in a small bowl before heating the wok. Add in the final 30 seconds of cooking, toss to coat, ensure the cornstarch has thickened (it thickens within 20–30 seconds of heat contact), remove. **The cornstarch finish:** Chinese stir-fry sauces frequently use a small amount of cornstarch dissolved in cold water as a thickening agent. When the sauce hits the hot wok, the cornstarch gelatinises rapidly and thickens the sauce to a glossy coating consistency. Dunlop specifies the ratio: approximately 1 teaspoon cornstarch per 2 tablespoons liquid in the sauce for a medium coating. More cornstarch = heavier, starchier sauce. Less = thin but glossy sauce. Decisive moment: The moment the protein or the first vegetable enters the very hot oil and the decision to either continue on maximum heat (for tender ingredients) or to add additional elements rapidly (for multi-ingredient preparations). Once food is in the wok at maximum heat, there is no pause — the sequence continues immediately. Sensory tests: **Sound — the correct temperature:** Food entering correctly heated oil in a correctly heated wok: immediate, violent, crackling sizzle — continuous and aggressive. The cook's position of authority: if the sound is gentle and wet, the wok is too cool; if the sound immediately produces charring smell (before the food can be moved), the heat may be too extreme. **Sight — the oil before food is added:** At the correct temperature: the oil shimmers and shows the first shimmer of heat distortion above it. A drop of water flicked into the correct-temperature oil vaporises immediately with a sharp pop. Below correct temperature: water sits in the oil before evaporating. **Smell:** A correctly stir-fried preparation, even at home, should produce the complex aromatic of Maillard compounds from the food surface — nutty, caramelised, slightly smoky. The smell should fill the kitchen immediately as the food enters the wok.
- The pre-fry protein marinade (typically soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, and a small amount of oil) serves two functions: it flavours the surface of the protein and the cornstarch forms a thin protective barrier that prevents the protein from overcooking in the high-heat environment - 'Velveting' (passing the marinated protein through warm oil or boiling water briefly before the stir-fry) is the professional technique for achieving silky, tender meat in a stir-fry — the partial pre-cooking at low temperature ensures the protein is nearly done before it enters the hot wok, reducing the time needed in the wok and the chance of overcooking
— **Grey, steamed protein rather than caramelised:** Wok was not sufficiently hot, or too much protein was added at once (dropped the temperature). The protein stews in its own moisture rather than searing. — **Vegetables collapse and lose colour:** Added to a cooling wok after the protein, or cooked for too long. Tender vegetables need only 30–90 seconds at maximum heat. — **Oily, greasy result:** The oil was not hot enough when the food was added, and the food absorbed the oil rather than frying in it.
Fuchsia Dunlop, *Land of Plenty* (2001); *Every Grain of Rice* (2012); *Land of Fish and Rice* (2016); *The Food of Sichuan* (2019)