In-person ticket sales: Currently, this program does not have additional in-person tickets available. If you are interested in attending in person, please contact our Customer Service department to be added to the wait list.

Registration Advisory: This program has multiple ticket options depending on your choice to attend in person at the Freer Gallery of Art's Meyer Auditorium or as a streaming program using Zoom. Please read our in-person vs. streaming program procedural information on this webpage carefully prior to registration to assist you with our terms and conditions.

Whether stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, simmering, or braising, the wok is the most versatile pan in the kitchen. Cookbook author, New York Times columnist, and host of “Kenji’s Cooking Show” on YouTube, J. Kenji López-Alt believes that once you master the mechanics of a stir fry and how to achieve wok hei—the special flavor a hot wok imparts to food—you’re ready to cook home- and restaurant-style dishes from across Asia and the United States.

His debut bestselling cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionized home cooking with its science-based approach to everyday foods. And for fast, fresh cooking for his family, there’s one pan López-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok. His new book, The Wok: Recipes and Techniques, features more than 200 recipes, including Kung Pao Chicken, pad Thai, and San Francisco–style garlic noodles. It includes simple no-cook sides, an explanation of knife skills, and how to stock a pantry. López-Alt also breaks down the science behind such beloved dishes as beef chow fun, fried rice, dumplings, tempura vegetables, and more.

In conversation with Ed Levine, founder of Serious Eats and the creator, host, writer, and co-producer of the James Beard Award-nominated podcast Special Sauce with Ed Levine, hear López-Alt discuss the science and technique of cooking in a wok and endless ideas for brightening up dinner.

Copies of The Wok are available for purchase.

Book Sale Information

• Purchase your copy of The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt here.
• SPECIAL NOTE: Politics and Prose is offering a 10% discount to Smithsonian Associates ticket-holders. To claim your discount, enter the code SPECIAL10 (no space between letters and numbers) in the “Coupon discount” section on Politics and Prose's check-out page.
• For In-Person Program Patrons: The featured book will be available to purchase at the program.