“A recipe has no soul, You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe” - Thomas Keller.
If there is one good thing about the lockdown during the pandemic, it is that people had enough "me time". A world with social distancing and no schools, colleges, or work gets pretty lonely. With extended hours on hand and restaurants being shut down, cooking and baking at home had been one of the many activities that people had resorted to. People have developed an appreciation for cooking and have worked on improving their skills. Like many others out there, I have also started to binge cooking shows on Netflix, and try out the various recipes found on the internet. In this series, I am going to explain a few terms and techniques that will help you all appreciate cooking better.
In the previous parts of this series, we had learnt the basic knife techniques of food preparation, and also understood how heat transfer affects the food we cook. Having learnt that, it is time to actually start cooking. There are several techniques to cook food; each requiring a different level of heat, moisture, and cooking time. A clear understanding of what method is appropriate to the given set of ingredient goes a long way in ensuring the best result. In this part, I shall discuss the most common methods of hot cooking that uses a stovetop.
These techniques can be broadly classifeid into 2 categories - moist-heat and dry-heat cooking methods.
Moist-heat cooking methods: These techniques use water, steam, or water-based liquids like broth, stock, and wine for heat-transfer. Examples include: boiling, steaming, simmering, and poaching.
Dry-heat cooking methods: These techniques use the circulation of hot air or direct contact with fat for heat-transfer. Examples include: sautéing, pan-frying, deep-frying, and stir-frying.
Boiling
Boiling is one of the easiest yet effective methods of cooking. Here, the food is cooked immersed in water or water-based liquids such as stock or milk, with the liquid maintained at the boiling temperature - 100°C for water. A wide range of foods can be boiled - vegetables, rice, eggs, fish, meat, pasta, sauces and soups. What is interesting is that certain foods are best cooked when immersed in cold water that is slowly brought to boil, while others are to be dropped in hot boiling water.
Root vegetables like carrot and turnip, tubers like potato take a lot of time to cook and are better suited to be added to cold water. Maximum flavours are to be extracted in stocks, and this requires longer cooking. Green vegetables are cooked pretty quick, cooking them longer results in loss of flavour and nutrients. Any vessel works for boiling provided the ingredients are fully immersed, and the water isn't filled up to the brim.
Note: When the food is boiling, scum may rise to the top. This scum has to be removed as the scum would taint the flavour and affect the colour of the food.
Steaming
As the name suggests, this technique employs water in the form of steam. The ingredients to be steamed is placed in a separate perforated vessel above the steaming water with absolutely no contact with the liquid water. Here, the steam carries the heat from the water to the food being cooked. This softens the food and makes them more edible. It gives the food a moist and tender texture while allowing it to retain its shape. Idli, puttu, idiyappam, dhokla, dumplings, rice cakes are a few common examples of steamed food. Additionally, many cultures steam their cakes, buns, rolls, and bread instead of baking them. Each of the steamed food has a customised steamer for itself, but all of them work by the same principle.
Simmering
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This is another technique that involves the use of water or water-based liquids such as stock or milk. Unlike boiling, the liquid temperature is maintained just below the boiling point of water, at about 85°C - 95°C. The water is first brought to boil, and then the source is reduced to a lower, but constant temperature. Although the temperature range is relatively small, only about 10°C, simmering can still be divided into three different techniques - slow simmer, regular simmer, and rapid simmer.
Slow simmer: This involves cooking the food in the lower temperatures of the range. Barely any bubbles are observed when the food is simmered. This is best suited for stocks and braises.
Regular simmer: This involves cooking the food in the moderate temperatures of the range. Gentle bubbling is observed when the food is simmered. This is best suited for sauces, soups, and stews.
Rapid simmer: This involves cooking the food in the higher temperatures of the range. Rapid bubbling is observed when the food is simmered. This is best suited for sauces that call for reduction.
Simmering food is a common practice in the traditional Bulgarian, Japanese, and Persian cuisine, and Americans cook their stew and Chili by simmering. Any vessel works for simmering provided the ingredients are fully immersed, and the liquid isn't filled up to the brim.
Poaching
This is another moist-heating technique that uses a poaching liquid - water, broth, stock, wine or fats such as butter or olive oil. The liquid temperature is maintained at about 70°C - 80°C while ensuring there is no simmering. Depending on the amount of poaching liquid used, and the extent of submersion, poaching can be Shallow Poaching or Deep Poaching.
Shallow Poaching: In this technique, the insides of a shallow cooking vessel such as Sauté pan is smeared with fat and aromatics are added. Once the ingredient to be cooked is added, cold poaching liquid is poured to partially submerged the food.
Deep Poaching: This technique is exactly the same as Shallow poaching with the only difference being that the food is to be completely submerged in the liquid.
Poaching is best for very delicate foods, such as eggs, fish, seafood, white meat and fruits. Shallow poaching calls for a shallow vessel like a Sauté pan, and any vessel works for deep poaching provided the ingredients are fully immersed, and the liquid isn't filled up to the brim.
Sautéing
This is a dry-heating technique that uses very little fat, such as oil or butter, while employing relatively high heat. Fine dice or chiffonade is employed on the ingredients to prepare them for sautéing. The origin of the term sauté can be traced to the French word sauter, meaning “to jump.” It refers to the way the pieces of food appear to jump in the pan as the moisture is forced out. While all vegetables can be sautéd; garlic, onion, and the tender ones such as asparagus, beans, peppers, and zucchini are best suited. Mushrooms and thin slices and strips of meat, and fish are also generally prefered to be sautéd. Sautéing calls for a shallow vessel like a Sauté pan, but a skillet or wok also works equally well.
Pan-Frying
This is a frying technique that uses a minimal amount of cooking oil or other fats, just enough to prevent the food from sticking to the pan. The oil has to be hot, but the temperatures must be considerably lower than the sauté temperatures. The lower temperatures ensure the outsides are not overcooked by the time the heat reaches the interior. Food is partially submerged in the fat and then flipped over for the other side to be cooked. Foods to be pan-fried are sometimes covered with a batter or breading.
Deep-Frying
This is a frying technique that uses cooking oil or other fats to cook the food that is fully immersed in it. The aim is to get a golden-brown exterior and a well-cooked interior. This requires the oil to be extremely hot, generally in the range of 160°C to 190°C. Canola, peanut, and soybean oils are most commonly used for deep frying because they have a high smoke point. The food that is deep-fried is either starch or has a coating of starch in the form of batter and breading. The crispiness results from the release of moisture from the surface, which appears as bubbles. Although a fryer is an ideal tool for deep-frying, cast iron pots, metal pots, and woks also work well.
NOTE: Dry-heat cooking techniques like roasting, baking, and broiling are commonly employed at both restaurants and homes. They use an oven and hence have not been included in this post.
To know more interesting facts about these techniques, visit https://www.jessicagavin.com
EXTRAS
Stir-frying
This technique is popular in Chinese Cuisine. Here, the ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil for a very short duration of time, while being stirred or tossed in a wok.
Stewing
This technique is used for small-sized vegetables and meat and involves sautéing the ingredients and then simmering them in a liquid such as stock, sauce, beer and wine.
"Boil-in-pan" or Sous vide
This technique involves heating ready-made food sealed in a plastic bag. The bag is immersed in boiling water for a certain amount of time and requires no pan or pot to be dirtied.
References:
https://www.thedailymeal.com/cook/15-basic-cooking-methods-you-need-know-slideshow
Wikipedia pages of the individual techniques.
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