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Like many people, my first cooking teacher in my life was my mother, who taught me a lot of cooking basics, such as hot pan and cold oil, ingredient matching, seasoning use, and so on.
However, she also taught me some "misunderstandings" about cooking.
My mom said that you should put enough seasoning at one time, don't put a little at a time, and put a little bit at a while.
So when I first started cooking, I would find the right time to throw salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce into the pot, and then resign myself to fate.
Even the most experienced old chef can't guarantee that the seasoning is just right, let alone when I was still a rookie.
So at that time, the taste of stir-fried vegetables was completely dependent on luck, and when you were lucky, you could also occasionally stir-fry a dish with good color, flavor, fresh and sweet.
Now that the Internet is very developed, you can see the cooking of many professional chefs, have you found that the older the chef, the less you pursue the way of seasoning, but will taste while adjusting, and then taste and tune.
Like"Stir-fry once seasoned".There are many such "cooking myths", and they are the most misleading for novice kitchen owners.
Cooking is always bad, which really hits self-confidence, and after a long time, I will wonder if I am this material.
In fact, cooking is not so complicated, as long as you understand the principle, get rid of bad habits, uncover the truth of false propositions, and add more frying and practice, it is not difficult to make it delicious.
In this article, I will share with you 2 false truths that have misled me for a long time.
【1.Season once].
Before we understand the order, timing, and frequency of seasonings, let's fundamentally analyze the characteristics of seasonings.
I often say that temperature is the most effective means of bringing out the flavor. From a temperature point of view, what happens to the seasoning at room temperature and high temperature?
The first is spices and spice powders, the volatile oils in spices, will volatilize at room temperature, and the higher the temperature, the higher the efficiency of volatilization.
By frying the spices at a slightly higher oil temperature, more flavors can be brought out faster.
Then there are fermented liquid seasonings such as soy sauce and vinegar, which are more affected by temperature due to their high water content.
Due to the boiling point and high specific heat capacity of the water, the temperature inside the pot will drop.
However, the flavor of sauce and vinegar is more dependent on high temperature, and if the temperature is not enough, the flavor of sauce and vinegar cannot be fully stimulated.
High temperatures can create the aroma, but it can also destroy the umami taste.
High temperature is not friendly to umami, I once saw in some cooking **, some people will smear MSG on the fish before frying it, and then fry it in the pot.
After MSG exceeds 120 degrees, it will turn into sodium pyroglutamate, and the umami taste will be gone.
Therefore, soy sauce and monosodium glutamate need some methods to protect the umami.
After talking about temperature, let's talk about the other protagonist in the wok: water.
The water in the ingredients is the carrier of taste and the key to regulating the taste.
The more water, the more tender the taste; The less water, the crispier the texture.
And salt, as the first of all flavors, directly determines the direction of water.
When salt is added, the osmotic equilibrium is broken, and water is more likely to seep out.
When water seeps out, it takes away some of the original flavor of the ingredients. At the same time, due to the decrease in the moisture content of the ingredients themselves, the temperature protection efficiency is reduced, which will increase the temperature of the ingredients themselves and stimulate the aroma of the ingredients.
Both of these links help to bring out the original flavor of the ingredients, which is the principle of salt to enhance the original taste.
After analyzing the characteristics, the use of seasonings is much clearer.
Seasonings used to enhance the aroma should be at high temperatures.
Seasonings used to accentuate umami should be placed before they are ready to be removed from the pan.
When the ingredients are broken, salt can bring out the original flavor.
Different seasonings should be placed in batches, and the same seasonings should also be placed in batches, so as to achieve accurate and comprehensive seasoning.
There are also many seasonings that have compound flavors, such as soy sauce, which has both umami and aroma, as well as saltiness, and can also tone color.
When you want a fragrance, you should put it hot, either directly or from the side of the pot.
When you want umami, you are afraid of heat, so avoid places that are too hot and put them directly on top of the ingredients.
When you need to mix the color, it will also bring in the salty flavor, so you should mix the color first and then season it.
If you put salt first and then use soy sauce to adjust the color, it will definitely be too salty.
[2: Over-reliance on seasonings].
There was a time when I was having dinner with a friend. This guy belongs to the kind of person who can't hide things in his heart, and will tell me any little secrets.
The same is true for his cooking, no matter what he stir-fries.
In the first step, boil the pot with Sichuan peppercorns, green onions, ginger, garlic and dried chilies.
The second step is to pour in the soy sauce and add the ingredients, stir-fry a few times.
Step 3: Add salt, chicken essence, monosodium glutamate and thirteen spices and continue stir-frying.
Step 4: Add some water, cover and simmer.
Step 5: Drop a few drops of sesame oil and remove from the pan.
Tasting his dishes was stunning at first, but soon became aesthetically fatigued.
Every day after work, he would ask me with a shy face, what are we going to buy?
I thought to myself, in fact, it doesn't matter what kind of food you buy, anyway, no matter what you fry, it's the same taste.
When we partnered with him, we spent more on seasonings than we spent on groceries.
The original mission of seasoning was to add an acceptable flavor to an ordinary-tasting but nutritious ingredient.
It also has another function, which is to meet people's needs for taste after solving the problem of food and clothing.
It supports the flavor of the main ingredient and makes the taste more varied.
However, it has developed to the present, and the seasoning is clearly showing signs of seizing power and usurping the throne.
It no longer makes an effort to compensate for the lack of flavor in the main ingredient or to help enhance the main flavor.