COOKING STYLES

Shallow Frying Deep Frying Paper Wrapped Frying Steaming

SHALLOW FRYING

There are four methods of frying using a shallow amount of fat or oil.

Shallow Fry :

Cooking of food in small amount of fat or oil in afrying pan or saute pan.

The presentation side of the food should be fried first as this side will have the better appearance because the fat is clean, then turned so that both sides are cooked and colored.

Saute :

Cooking tender cuts of meat and poultry in a saute or frying pan.
After cooking, the fat is discarded and the pan is deglazed with stock or wine.

This forms an important part of finished sauce.

Only tender foods can be used.

Also used when cooking, for example, potatoes or onions when they are cut into slices or pieces and tossed in hot shallow fat or oil in a frying pan till golden brown.

Griddle :

e.g. hamburgers, sausages, sliced unions, are placed on a light oiled, pre-heated griddle (solid metal plate), and turned frequently during cooking.

Stir Fry :

Fast frying in a wok or frying pan in a little fat or oil, e.g.vegetables, strips of beef or chicken.

DEEP-FRYING

Deep frying is used to produce crisp- textured food.

Often, the food is deep-fried, removed from the oil and drained.

The oil is then reheated and the food deep-fried again, so that it is extremely crispy.

PAPER-WRAPPED DEEP-FRYING

Small pieces of meat or fish are seasoned, the food is wrapped in sheets made glutinous rice flour.

Chellophane paper can also be used the food is served in its paper wrapping.The paper is thrown away.


STEAMING

Steaming is a traditional Chinese cooking method that is ideal for today's trend towards healthy eating.
The technique was developed for when a moist dish was required as an alternative to a roasted one.
It's good for vegetables, fish, meat and dumplings.

There are 3 methods that can be used for steaming :

1. The traditional one.

The Chinese use bamboo steamers that stack on top of each other.Dhises needing the least cooking are placed on the top level, while those requiring the most are placed on the bottom layer,near the boiling water.

2. Food is arranged on a plate or bowl, put inside asteamers on a rack and placed over a large pot of boiling water. Alternatively the plate or bowl can be put inside a wok.

3. The bowl of ingredients in partially immersed in water and the food is cooked partly by the boiling water and partly by the steam it produces.

Compared with food cooked by other methods, steamed dishes are more subtle in taste and bring out the taste of ingredients.

So the fresher the ingredients, the better they are for steaming.

ROASTING

The common denominator of these methods is moderate oven (325 - 350 degrees F) and reasonably long cooking time with or without a flash of high heat at the beginning of high heat at the beginning or end of the cook cycle.

ADVANTAGES

Relatively foolproof, this technique provides a well flavored, moist bird with very little attention or expertise required of the cook.

The moderate temperature allows for a reasonable window of time in which the bird is at its peak,letting the cook worry less about pulling the bird out at some absolute moment of perfection.

This is the technique for people who have better things to do than hang around an oven all day.

If you can read aclock and thermometer, then you can cook a good turkey this way.

DISADVANTAGES

Although the flesh is better flavored than a plain slow roasted bird and the skin is crisp.the flavors are subtle, and show themselves best when accompanied by really good gravies, dressings, and sauces.

The food safety issues of slow and low cooking are not as prominent with this technique, but the process from start to finish is still pretty slow (about minutes per pound), so planning ahead is still very important time.

share