2. When sauteing with garlic or ginger, always brown them in oil after salt has been added but before any other ingredients. This will bring out the full flavor ofingredients.
3. Never pierce meats when browning them; the juices will escape and the meats become tough and dry. Use tongs, not fork, for turning them over.
4. When frying several pieces of food at a time, never let the pieces touch each other as they cook or they will stew instead of saute.
5. Brown red meats quickly, over high heat, uncovered. Brown poultry slowly, covered or uncovered.
6. Keep fried foods warm in a 250° F. oven. They may also be reheated by placing them in a 400° F. oven for 15 minutes.
Here are some tips guys if you are into Deep Frying method of cooking. Just follow the easy deep frying tips below:
- The oil must reach a good temperature to brown the exterior of the food quickly while cooking it. That temperature is almost always between 350F and 375F degrees. To be sure the oil is right use a frying thermometer.
- Use canola oil for frying. It is low in saturated fat, has a high burning point, and does not detract from the flavor of the food you are frying.
- Avoid crowding food that is deep-fat-fried. The food must be surrounded by bubbling oil, and you must keep the temperature from falling too much. If you add too much food to a small amount of oil, the temperature will plummet, and the food will wind up greasy and soggy.
- Never fill the pot more than halfway with oil; this will prevent bubbling over when the food is added.
- Dry food well with paper towels before adding to the pot; it helps reduce splattering.
It’s worth bearing in mind that marinating is a cooking process, even though heat is rarely applied. The importance of recognizing this is that, like any other cooking process, you can overdo it.
It’s not just a case of putting the meat or fish in a sauce and leaving it there until you are ready to use it. Many of the fruit juices we use in marinades, such as lemon and pineapple, contain enzymes that break down proteins. In essence, what they do is digest them.
Leaving meat in them for too long would result in an unpalatable mush. If you want to try this for yourself, leave a piece of pork in fresh pineapple juice overnight and then see what happens when you cook it.
You probably won’t like the result.
Why is meat tough?
It’s a tragedy that although we are killing our animals at an earlier age in order to satisfy the demand for fresh meat, the end product still tends to be tough.
There are good reasons for this and it is useful to have a working knowledge of them if only to avoid potential disasters.
It is not, as some cooks would have you believe, simply a matter of finding a butcher who will take the trouble to discuss your needs with you, if indeed such a person still exists outside of the more fanciful cookbooks.
Our meat is tough because it started out that way. And here’s why (if you are squeamish, skip this section):
When an animal is killed its muscles (protein) go into spasm caused by the injection of the well-known fight or flight chemicals released by the brain.
Under normal conditions, that is to say in the natural world, this would be followed by rigor mortis setting in, followed by a gradual relaxing of the proteins back to their normal state.
However because of the speed at which the slaughter and preparation of carcasses is carried out, this vital, natural step is rarely if ever completed. The animal is killed, cooled and frozen in one continuous process.
The result is toughened proteins.
A butcher who hangs his meat can, to some extent, reverse this effect. If you ever find one, hang on to him for dear life. You have found a rapidly disappearing treasure.
The alternative is to use marinades.
Basic principles
Marinades can be wet or dry and you can add just about any flavor you desire to them.
When a marinade is liquid, the base is usually acidic. As I said earlier, this may be fruit juice, but wine, vinegar or even beer may also be used. As a matter of fact I know of one cook who uses Coca-Cola.
If it marinades meat, just think what it’s doing to your insides.
Steeping in the marinade may take anything from a few minutes to several hours, and even overnight in the refrigerator.
Source: http://www.pinoyrecipe.net
Source: http://www.pinoyrecipe.net
