Commercial Wok Skills

Cook on a wok the way a restaurant kitchen does. In this professional half-day class you’ll work on a commercial gas burner, learn to control the flame and get wok hei on purpose, and cook four restaurant dishes until the timing and the plate come out the same every time. You’ll work in pairs, because the pace is fast and watching your partner’s wok is half the lesson. It’s by application, for cooks who already use a wok, and we run it twice a year. Expect to practise the same dish until you have the skill, not to cook many dishes once. 

The Hero Skill: Wok Hei on Command

You’ll heat the wok until the oil smokes, tilt it into the flame, and learn exactly when and why the oil ignites – then control it rather than fear it. By the last dish, a wok-fried noodle finished over open flame, you’ll be producing that smoky restaurant flavour deliberately, and you’ll know how to repeat it on your own burner at work.

Service From Scratch

• Dry-wok fried rice – single portion, then four portions without steaming the wok
• Blanch-and-flash stir-fry – five plates, one standard, timed
• Sauce-built stir-fry from a pre-mixed base – two orders on one burner
• Wok-fried noodles finished over open flame – the wok hei test
• Oil-blanched and water-blanched protein, prepped for service
• Master stir-fry sauce by the ladle, built to run the wok section. 
• Break in and season a new hand-hammered carbon-steel wok – yours to keep

What You’ll Learn

• Flame work: hot wok, cold oil, tilting into the flame, controlling ignition
• Wok hei on purpose, and how to repeat it
• Oil management and wok care through service: ladle, wipe, re-season
• Speed and sequence: sauce bases by the ladle, blanching protein, dish-up under two minutes
• Consistency: cook the same dish five times and plate five identical results
• Volume: four-portion fried rice and noodles without steaming the wok
• Break in, season and maintain a carbon-steel wok

What to Expect

• Professional half-day class – 10:00am to 2:30pm
• You’ll share a commercial gas wok burner with one other cook, swapping after every round
• Maximum of 4 cooks, with a chef who has run a wok station
• A quick trip to the store to select a wok with an expert chef
• Lunch from the dishes you’ve cooked, then a debrief on what to change in your own kitchen
• Recipe and timing sheets so you can run the same drills again

What's next

Private Advance Wok Session for 1-2 person, your menu or prep, two woks on real gas, taught by a chef with over 10 years on a wok station. 4–5 hours, up to 2 cooks from $1,650 per session, bring your own prep. By application: book, answer five short questions about where and how you cook, and we’ll confirm within two business days. Not a beginner class – if you’re new to the wok, start with Commercial Wok Skills.