Wok in the context of "Stewing"

Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from China, as well as from Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has profoundly influenced other cuisines in Asia and beyond, with modifications made to cater to local palates. Chinese food staples like rice, soy sauce, noodles, tea, chili oil, and tofu, and utensils such as chopsticks and the wok, can now be found worldwide.

The world's earliest eating establishments recognizable as restaurants in the modern sense first emerged in the Song dynasty China during the 11th and 12th centuries. Street food became an integral aspect of Chinese food culture in the 7th century during the Tang dynasty, and the street food culture of much of Southeast Asia was established by workers imported from China during the late 19th century.

Stir frying (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo; Wade–Giles: ch'ao; Cantonese Yale: cháau) is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and the West. It is similar to sautéing in Western cooking technique.

Wok frying may have been used as early as the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), although initially for drying grain, not for cooking. It was not until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) that the wok reached its modern shape and allowed quick cooking in hot oil. However, research indicates that metal woks and stir-frying of dishes were already popular in the Song dynasty (960–1279), and stir-frying as a cooking technique is mentioned in the 6th-century AD Qimin Yaoshu. Stir-frying has been recommended as a healthy and appealing method of preparing vegetables, meats, and fish, provided calories are kept at a reasonable level.

Lavash (Armenian: լավաշ; Persian: نان لواش, romanized: nân-e lavâš, lit. 'lavash bread'; Azerbaijani: lavaş) is a thin flatbread usually leavened, traditionally baked in a tandoor (tonir or tanoor) or on a sajj, and common to the cuisines of South Caucasus, West Asia, and the areas surrounding the Caspian Sea. Lavash is one of the most widespread types of bread in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. The traditional recipe can be adapted to the modern kitchen by using a griddle or wok instead of the tonir.

In 2014, "Lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia" was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In 2016, the making and sharing of flatbread (lavash, katyrma, jupka or yufka) in communities of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey was inscribed on the list as well. Lavash is similar to yufka, but in Turkish cuisine lavash (lavaş) is prepared with a yeast dough while yufka is typically unleavened.

Hot-smoked chum salmon

Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food, particularly meat, fish and tea, by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood.

In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but oak is more often used now, and beech to a lesser extent. In North America, hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, maple, and fruit tree woods, such as apple, cherry, and plum, are commonly used for smoking. Other biomass besides wood can also be employed, sometimes with the addition of flavoring ingredients. Chinese tea-smoking uses a mixture of uncooked rice, sugar, and tea, heated at the base of a wok.

A tava(h) / tawa(h) (mainly on the Indian subcontinent), saj (in Arabic), sac (in Azerbaijani and Turkish), and other variations, is a metal cooking utensil. The tawa is round and is usually curved: the concave side is used as a wok or frying pan, the convex side for cooking flatbreads and pancakes. There are also flat tawas.

The Indian tawa might have a handle or not, and it can be made of cast iron, aluminium, or carbon steel. It may be enameled or given a non-stick surface. The tawa and saj are used in the cuisines of South, Central, and West Asia, as well as of the Balkans. The tawa is also used in Indo-Caribbean cuisine.

A gordita (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡoɾˈðita]; lit. 'chubby') in Mexican cuisine is a dish made with masa and stuffed with cheese, meat, or other fillings. It is similar to the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa. There are two main variations of this dish, one of which is typically fried in a deep wok-shaped comal, consumed mostly in central and southern Mexico, and another one baked on a regular comal. The most common and representative variation of this dish is the "gordita de chicharrón", filled with chicharron (a spiced stew of pork rind) which is widely consumed throughout Mexico. Gorditas are often eaten as a lunch dish and accompanied by several types of sauce.

A Chinese chef's knife — sometimes referred to as a Càidāo (Chinese: 菜刀, lit. "vegetable knife"), is a Chinese, rectangular-bladed, all-purpose chef's knife used to prepare a variety of meats, fish and vegetables. The popularity of this style of knife has spread with the associated cuisines. They resemble Western cleavers in appearance, but most Chinese chef's knives are relatively thin-bladed and designed for slicing, finely chopping and mincing vegetables, fish and boneless meats. The heavier gǔdāo (Chinese: 骨刀, lit. "bone knife") are produced and are used much like Western-type meat cleavers to prepare large sides of beef, pork and other boned meats. However, Chinese-style knives of this mass are not common in the West.

The Chinese chef's knife is frequently incorrectly referred to as a "cleaver", due its similar rectangular shape. However, Chinese chef's knives are much thinner in cross-section and are intended more as general-purpose kitchen knives, and mostly used to slice boneless meats, chop, slice, dice, or mince vegetables, and to flatten garlic bulbs or ginger; while also serving as a scraper to carry prepared ingredients to the bowls or the wok.