I've been a fan of chef and culinary scientist J. Kenji Lopez-Alt ever since his first bestselling cookbook, "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science," was published in 2015. So like so many others, I couldn't wait to get my hands on his highly anticipated follow-up, "The Wok: Recipes and Techniques" (Norton, $50), which hit store shelves on March 8.
It was worth the wait.
The 658-page cookbook grew out of a chapter on the wok that had been edited out of his first cookbook. It makes a compelling case that, when it comes to producing fast, flavorful and versatile meals, nothing beats stir-frying in the traditional Chinese cooking vessel.
