The second character is transliterated as "qi" ("chi") according to its Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, so "wok hei" is sometimes rendered as "wok chi" in Western cookbooks is the flavour, tastes, and "essence" imparted by a hot wok on food during stir frying. It is particularly important for Chinese dishes requiring high heat for fragrance such as "char kuay teow" and beef "chow fun". Out of the Eight Culinary Traditions of China, "wok hei" is encountered the most in Cantonese cuisine, whereas it may not even be an accepted underlying principle in some of the other Chinese cuisines.