Wok hei is the complex charred and savoury aroma associated with high-heat searing. For home cooks, it is a sensory goal rather than a guaranteed outcome: the cited guidance notes that home stoves generally do not heat a wok to the temperatures reached in restaurant kitchens.
How can a home cook check for it?
The defining check is the aroma. A dish has the characteristic wok hei quality when cooking produces the complex charred and savoury smell associated with high-heat searing. The term does not, by itself, establish a particular burner setting, cooking time, or colour.
Before cooking, the source advises starting with a clean, dry wok. That is a preparation step the reader can verify directly. It does not guarantee the final aroma, however; the source presents wok hei as the result of high-heat searing.
Why does the stove matter?
The difference between home and restaurant equipment affects what can reasonably be expected. A home cook can pursue the same aromatic target without claiming that the household wok reproduces the heat of a restaurant kitchen. The available guidance does not specify a universal temperature, burner setting, or cooking time, so precise figures cannot be supplied from this definition.
What must the reader still confirm?
Before describing a dish as having wok hei at home, three points remain relevant:
- The wok was clean and dry when cooking began.
- The available heat was sufficient for a high-heat sear.
- The finished dish actually developed the characteristic charred, savoury aroma.
The first point is a preparation check, the second depends on the particular equipment, and the third is a sensory judgment. Wok hei is therefore best understood as an aroma-and-searing goal, not a guaranteed result or a fixed heat number.