 Chao in Buwei Yang Chao's book "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese" (1945), to describe the "chǎo" technique.The Chinese character "炒" is attested in inscriptions on bronze vessels from the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC), but not in the sense of stir frying.Dry stirring was used in the Han dynasty (206 BC 221 AD) to parch grain.