More than just a piece of popular niche cookware, most chefs would consider the ordinary wok to be the work-horse of the kitchen – as no other piece of cookware can accommodate as wide a range of culinary techniques. Oriental cuisine aside, the entire gamut of common cooking methods can be performed with a simple wok, occasionally with the addition of accessories such as racks or covers. The concave bottom of most traditional woks enables a small area of intense heat to be maintained with less fuel, and the sloping sides help to keep food from spilling out onto the stovetop. To help you find the ideal wok, one that will occupy a central position in your kitchen for years to come, we listed the five most sought-after woks here for your perusal here.

Image Credit: Buffalo World
Founded in Taiwan back in 1957, Buffalo utilised one of the four largest steel plants in the world to supply the region with the first pieces of stainless steel cookware. By modulating the thickness of the multi-layered steel, in what Buffalo calls the “thickness discrepancy” design, and embedding a layer of high conductivity (likely copper) in between two layers of space-grade stainless steel, Buffalo’s Perfect Cooker is purportedly 25 percent lighter and 30 percent more fuel-efficient than ordinary woks. This particular wok comes with its own internal rack and a cover that is designed to form a watertight seal when steaming.

Image Credit: IKEA
The IDENTISK from Ikea is a standard 32-centimetre wok suitable for a family of three, with a coating of Teflon® on the interior, a powder-coat of grey on the exterior, and a fitted lid of stainless steel. With the base made of aluminum, the IDENTISK is significantly lighter at just over a kilogram in weight; it warms up and radiates heat faster than woks made of iron or steel – which makes working with it easier on the wrists and less likely to result in burnt food.

Image Credit: Thermos
Before the turn of the millennium, the Thermos brand became synonymous with an iconic stainless steel vacuum flask that made up a vital component of the working person’s lunchbox throughout the 20th century. For the last few decades, the Thermos brand has been applied to producing stainless steel cookware for Japan’s largest industrial gas producer – the Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation. The robust 41-centimetre diameter wok from the WOB series of Thermos cookware is a durable five-layer construction of stainless steel that comes with its own cover for steaming or boiling operations.

Image Credit: Zebra
The 42-centimetre diameter Zebra wok is made in Thailand for the serious chef. Its five-layer construction incorporates three layers aluminum for superior conductivity, sandwiched between an outer layer of 430-grade magnetic stainless steel – for compatibility with induction cooker hobs, and an inner layer of 304-grade stainless steel for durability. This particular wok comes with its own perforated steaming plate in addition to a stainless steel cover fitted with a ventilation hole and a control knob to regulate escaping steam.
*Brands are listed alphabetically