t But why does it have to be cooked in high heat and in such a hurry? "That's how to extract the maximum wok hei in the shortest amount of time. So the aroma you unlocked from the Maillard reaction won't escape," explains The Chairman's Yip. Hence, an important component of wok hei -- apart from the fire and the actual wok -- is the chef's tossing skill. The right way to toss a wok Tossing a wok is a skill that takes time to develop. A young chef at The Chairman spends more than a year practicing on the wok by cooking staff meals before he or she is allowed to stir fry a dish for customers.