I have 5 woks in my kitchen!
Well, actually my 20 inch one is in my dining room. Only the 20 in one is bowl shaped - the rest, as you can see, have flat bottoms. Even with flat bottoms, they don't do much on electric - in the summer, on my induction burner, I use it for steaming, but that's about it.
That might be a good idea, to go to the Asian market, to get the feel of the handle, and also see how the lid fits. I have seen some that have the two handles riveted on in such a way that the lid doesn't fit right - it's hitting a rivet on one or the other. And sometimes they just aren't fitting tightly.
The handles go onto the woks at different angles, some angled up to much, even for someone as tall as me! So you definitely want to look at that, and just what it feels like - sort of like knives.
Here's a photo showing the 4 smaller woks I keep in my kitchen. The 20 in one I use for fried rice, but not huge quantities - just regular sized, inside, as even my 20k burners aren't high enough for doubling up in a wok like that. I have to be using it outside on my
Big Kahuna Burner - 65,000 btu/hr, which is still smaller than the burners in a regular Chinese restaurant!
Photo showing 4 of the woks I have, and that mesh cover over the CI wok, on the lower left. by
pepperhead212, on Flickr
Why would someone have 5 woks, you ask? Well, they are all different. The 14 in and 20 in carbon steel for high heat cooking, while the 14 in cast iron one I cook a lot of Thai curry, and similar things in. The 12 in one, is a NS wok, and is used mostly for tossing vegetables in, not over highest heat. The copper colored 14 in one is semi-non stick, with a ceramic type NS surface, and is probably the one I use the most. I use it for "frying" Mexican sauces, like moles, or simpler ones - the type that start with a blended sauce, cooked down 6-7 minutes, until much thicker. Much less messy in a wok, than a sauté pan or skillet! That wok I also use for the bamboo steamer - I don't have to worry about steaming the seasoning off the carbon steal. And that mesh lid I got on Amazon, for 14" woks works great for messy things, and I just pop it in the DW.