The Jirisan Barbecue Special Wok

The Jirisan looks nothing like the deep wok in your kitchen. It is a wide, shallow cast iron pan, designed for your gas barbecue. Instead of letting vegetables and small pieces fall between the bars of a grill, you sear them on a solid surface. Meat, mushrooms, asparagus: everything cooks side by side, outdoors, while the conversation carries on around the table.

No long handle over the burner: you hold the Jirisan by two handles set on either side of the rim. You grab both sides at once, with the weight spread out, and carry it straight to the middle of the table. Everyone helps themselves from the hot pan. These ergonomic handles make it easy to move, even for someone new to this kind of outdoor cooking.

The Jirisan's cast iron spreads heat across the whole surface. Turn the flame down and your food simmers gently while keeping its flavour, a softer way to cook than a classic grill. Its wide disc feeds a table of two to six: a family or friends' barbecue is cooked on a single pan, without cooking round after round while your guests wait.

The Jirisan doesn't stay in the garden once summer is over. It works over an open fire as well as on gas: if your kitchen has a gas hob, you bring it back indoors when the weather turns. Cast iron resists corrosion and lasts. As soon as you unpack it, it needs seasoning: a thin film of oil spread and heated, which protects the metal and gets stronger with every barbecue.