I'm trying to understand Wok Hei (锅气), in terms of how to create it, and what is the chemistry that goes into it. From what I understand, it's a complicated thing with many factors going into it, including (a) the high temperature of the wok itself, and also (b) food/oil particles moving into the hot flame, which ignites the oil and adds flavor, and (c) the seasoned wok itself adds flavor.
One aspect, as I understand, is that when water/oil steams, oil particles are sent into the air and the intense fire causes it to ignite, adding flavor. I'm wondering if this is just the Maillard reaction, or otherwise how flavor is added through the fire flare-ups that occur. Is there additional flavor added through the combustion of the oil particles?
The food also ends up being a little charred, adding that nice smoky flavor. Is there something special about "wok hei" here, or is this just the Maillard reaction (i.e., slightly charred things taste better)?
What does the seasoned wok have to do with the flavor?
Can a blowtorch emulate the intense fires that chefs use and also help create Wok Hei?
Thanks for reading! If I were to summarize my questions, I'm mostly wondering (a) what the effect of the seasoned wok is, and (b) whether the main point of Wok Hei is that the external fire helps "grill" food a little, helping generate that nice flavor that a grill has, in addition to flavors added through normal stir frying in a hot wok.
