A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as being popular in other parts of the world. Woks are used in a range of Chinese cooking techniques, including stir frying, steaming, pan frying, deep frying, poaching, boiling, braising, searing, stewing, making soup, smoking and roasting nuts. Wok cooking is often done with utensils called (spatula) or (ladle) whose long handles protect cooks from high heat. The uniqueness of wok cooking is conveyed by the Cantonese term : "breath of the wok". History The origin of the wok is unclear. The first possible depictions of woks in China appeared in the Han dynasty (c. 202 BCE - 220 CE), some scholars believe these are conjectural, since these "woks" were made of clay and were only used to dry grains. However, clay vessels in China have also been used to cook foods since prehistoric periods till the current times. Some scholars believe metal woks only started to appear in China during the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), where it was first used for stir frying, an original Han dynasty innovation. However, there are Chinese researches and evidences that indicate that metal woks or similar metal cooking pots along with stir-fry technique already appeared during the Song dynasty (960–1279) or earlier periods. The Chinese term 鑊 was already used to refer to metal cooking utensils in the Rites of Zhou (周禮) which dates back to the Zhou dynasty (c.1046 BC – 256 BC) and usually referred to bronze round pots or cauldrons without legs. There were also iron variants made in later periods which gradually shared more similarities with modern woks. Some scholars believe the wok may have originated from the South Asian karahi and the Southeast Asian kuali (believed to be the etymon of Mandarin 𡆇), however, this conjecture is likely false due to misunderstanding and misuse of the Chinese language. The Chinese words which indicate to stir-fry cookware are "鑊"(huò or wok) and "炒鍋"(Chǎo Guo), not "𡆇"(mǒu). These are different words and their pronunciations in both Mandarin and Cantonese are all different to the foreign words "Kuali" and "Karahi". Characteristics The wok's most distinguishing feature is its shape. Classic woks have a rounded bottom. Hand-hammered woks are sometimes flipped inside out after being shaped,