Wok History

The wok originated somewhere in East Asia, in what is now China, according to historical sources. It has even been suggested that it originated in various places in South East Asia, since metal working cultures started evolving around the same time in these areas (Thailand, Laos, Khmer, Malay peninsula etc). Every kitchen in South East Asia stocks several woks of varying sizes and some of the best wok cuisine originates in this area. Anyways, who cares who invented the wok. Someone gave us this tool and we've been using it for thousands of years. It had spread to the Indian subcontinent and beyond, to the Middle East. Fuel has been, traditionally, in short supply in these parts of the world and so no doubt this helped to popularize the use of the wok. The wok is portable and easily carried about.

In fact, Central Asian nomads often adopted the technology of the surrounding sedentary cultures, to their own benefit. This was certainly true of the Mongols, who in the thirteenth century, unified these disparate tribes, adopted many aspects of Chinese and Persian technology, and headed west. They carried woks, since these were portable and suited their nomadic lifestyle and required little fuel and maintenance. Its more than likely that woks got a huge boost in popularity as these nomads carried them wherever they went. Woks are used in India, Nepal, Tibet, and even the Middle East, although they are known by different names.

Copyright 2007 Pings Wings Wandering Wok