Russia, Europe, and the US have the frying pan. Asia has the wok. A wok is a deep, round cooking pot with a circular bottom of smaller diameter. The wok first appeared in Chinese cooking about 2000 years ago, beginning as a large pot made to rapidly prepare food for an entire village. Its main purpose has not changed much since then – to prepare a large amount of food as quickly as possible. In Russia, the word wok has come to mean more than just an item of cookware; it’s now a culinary genre that encompasses a wide range of Asian fare. Noodle dishes made in the deep thin- walled wok are often simply known as “woks”. Host Vladimir Pavlov will make his own version of a wok dish, with buckwheat noodles, beef, Brussels sprouts, and a maple chilli sauce. He will explain how to choose the right wok, reveal secrets to cooking with this ancient cookware, and prove with his recipe that nothing beats the wok when you want to fry something fast. Watch The Geography of Taste, only on Russian Travel Guide.