Easy To Do At Home, Know The 5 Most Basic Cooking Techniques

Illustration of basic cooking techniques (Unsplash/Becca Tapert)

JAKARTA – Many health experts say that eating your own food at home is healthier. The reason is, when we cook ourselves we know the quality of the selected ingredients well. We also know how to process an ingredient properly without losing nutrients. Therefore, if you want to start to prepare your own daily food at home, know the most basic cooking methods.

Here are cooking techniques that you don't know or are looking for, these are the techniques you can choose to process your daily menu.

1. Stir fry

There are two frying techniques that are often misunderstood, namely stir fry and stir fry. Saute or in French known as sauté is a combination of fried and grilled. Generally, sauté is used for cooking with different textures of ingredients. As in a menu made of vegetables, meat, and noodles. All three have their own texture.

Sauté means 'to throw', when the ingredients are ready, butter or various oils are heated in a frying pan. When the oil and pan are hot enough, add ingredients from the tightest texture to the vegetables. This is done so that the color quickly browns and tends to caramelize.

In contrast to stir-fried or known as deep-frying, this method is usually used in Asian cuisine. Heat a skillet to very high, oil a little, and measure the ingredients by texture for the first to last fry. This is done so that the components are not overcooked.

Illustration of basic deep frying and sauté cooking techniques (Unsplash/Becca Tapert)

2. Burn

Burning refers to the browning of food, usually associated with meat or fish over a large skillet and heat. The caramelization process uses natural sugar, so another layer of flavor will emerge.

3. Boiling

Are you still confused about the difference between boiled and steamed? Both are different techniques but the goal is the same, soften the texture of the material. Boiling technique, generally used to tenderize meat, both red meat and poultry.

Boiling, is a technique of softening the texture in a hot saucepan with moderate amounts of water. Usually the cross section of the lid covers the pan so that the liquid condenses. The definition of boiling, reported by The Mom 100, Monday, February 21, refers to slow cooking with very little liquid.

4. Steaming

Steaming takes advantage of a consistent flow of hot air. The resulting texture is softer. The steaming technique is popular in Asian cuisine. In this way with a pan with a strainer, under boiling water the ingredients are steamed over a sieve. Usually, water for steaming uses broth, wine, or other infused water.

5. Baking

In contrast to grilling, grilling uses a heat source technique. Circulating heat can make food tender evenly. Baking is done to cook potatoes, vegetables, chicken, meat so that they turn brown in color.

Interested in processing food at home in the various ways above? Take note of the technique and adjust it to the texture of the ingredients to produce a delicious dish.