I bought a new wok recently, after having the same one for 15 years. My old wok still looks good, but it has seen its better days, and besides, it doesn't match my new kitchen. Sigh. I had been searching for the right wok for many months, and it finally found me.

So why is this important at all? The wok is perhaps the single greatest piece one can have in her kitchen. The wok is far too underrated and much too forgotten by Westerners, and deserves its place in every kitchen. The wok is the staple of all cooking, except perhaps a stunning knife set.

Woks cook quickly, efficiently, and cleanly. The heat is even and less likely to burn. Carbon steel tops them all. The carbon steel Joyce Chen wok is as beautiful as it is useful.

After all, how can one subsist without the most perfect of meals--stir frys? If you stir fry, you must do it in a wok. I stir fry anything and everything, and usually it's a throw-it-in-as-you-go sort of recipe. Chicken, fish, beef, pork, tofu -- all can spearhead a stir fry meal. For veggies, a wok cooks them and keeps them crispy, without the sagging, as long as you don't cook them too long. Get a wok, and keep around the following items:

- Kikkoman's 'lighter sodium' soy sauce. Have a few jars handy at all times.

- Kitchen Bouquet or Gravymaster, both of which are staples for non-soy sauce stir frys, and especially fried rice.

- Wok oil

- Roma tomatoes. Tomatoes are a healthy, tasty addition to almost every stir fry. Though homegrown is tastier, romas are usually smaller, harder, and more texture consistent. They hold up better under heat, and get less soggy.

- Bamboo utensils. Don't ever use the plastic stuff in your non-stick carbon steel wok. They will nick the surface.

- Tofu. Don't laugh unless you have mastered it. Tofu takes on the taste of whatever you cook it with. Buy the "extra firm" for stir frys. Cube it, and use it along with the meat you add. It's a great protein splurge.

- Minced garlic in a bottle in case you have run out of fresh.

- Napa cabbage, an underrated and not-so-commonly-used veggie. Tear the leaves, and dice the stems. Don't cook napa but a minute or two. Add it last.

- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Breats are great, yes, but for a stir fry, thighs are king. Thigh meat is jucier, and so it doesn't dry out as much. When you rewarm the leftovers, the breast dries out while thigh meat stays moist. Yeah, ya gotta fuss with it more: you have to cut all the little pockets of fat off the boneless thighs before you cube it up, but it's worth the extra time. Try mixing breast and thigh.

Don't feel you have to have "recipes" for your wok. Create your own. Oftentimes, I heat up my wok with cooking oil, and add minced garlic and red pepper flakes. This is a good staple for a spicy flavor, no matter what you are cooking. Then you cook your meat (if you have a meat stir fry), take out the meat, and cook your veggies. Then you throw in more spices. Then you begin to pile on, as the fun begins.

A tofu-chicken stir fry can be 40-50 grams of protein per serving, for all you protein people out there. Try some sliced steak for a ravenous appetitie. Tilapia fish fillets also hold up well--flake it and mix it with cabbage and tomatoes.