No matter what kind of relationship you have with cooking - good or strained - you still have to cook for yourself and your family members. But in order for the result to always be pleasing, you need to have several tricks in your arsenal that will facilitate cooking and significantly improve the taste of the dish. Novate.ru shares proven tricks.
Technique 1: Uncover the fifth taste
Everyone knows that there are four tastes: salty, sour, sweet and bitter. However, the French chef Auguste Escoffier in the 19th century singled out another one - the taste of soy sauce. Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda scientifically confirmed this hypothesis, because indeed, the sauce cannot be attributed to any of the existing tastes - it is difficult to explain, but easy to feel. Glutamates, which are abundant in the right sauce, create a sensation of meaty aftertaste - this is where professional chefs often play. They add small amounts of soy sauce to soup, rice, vegetable stew, and a variety of other dishes to enhance their flavor. Try it yourself.
Technique 2: Add salt to baked goods
Adding a small amount of salt to the dough will make the baked goods tastier. The ingredient helps the yeast dough rise faster, improves its structure - it becomes lighter and more airy, and the finished baked goods acquire a beautiful golden color.
Also, some types of dough (with the exception of custard, shortbread and puff pastry) will improve a small amount of semolina. Add one tablespoon to half a liter of liquid and enjoy fresh, airy baked goods for a long time. The semolina will not let it get stale quickly, which is very important for pancakes, buns, pies, pancakes.
Tactic 3: Make a Lush Starchy Omelet
Any type of fried eggs, not counting fried eggs, turns out to be more fluffy and tender if cornstarch is present in the recipe. Try adding a little while you beat the eggs and see for yourself. In addition, starch significantly speeds up the cooking time of an omelet - 15-20 seconds in a pan is quite enough. For three eggs, there is one teaspoon of starch.
On a note: There is another secret to a fluffy omelet. Everyone knows that the dish needs to be cooked under the lid. But if you grease it from the inside with butter, then the omelet will turn out higher and softer than usual.
Technique 4: Bring the Oil to the Desired Temperature
Before sending meat, fish or other products to the pan, check the temperature of the oil, as it greatly affects the taste and appearance of the finished dish. Even if the kitchen doesn't have a thermometer, it's easy to determine the correct time to place the ingredients. When smoke starts to flow from the heated oil, you can put meat in the pan, and if bubbles begin to appear when you lower the wooden spatula into the oil, it's time to send vegetables.
Tactic 5: Use Tea When Baking Buns
Granny's buns are an asterisk problem. However, it is quite possible to approach the ideal from childhood. Add a small amount of black tea to the dough. This ingredient will give it a nice brown hue, making the baked goods golden and ruddy. By the way, you can use not pure black tea, but with additives - then the finished buns and pies will exude your favorite flavor. However, keep in mind that cheap tea bags will not work for this purpose - their smell can transform very unpredictably. Therefore, opt for natural blends of tea leaves and fruit pieces.
Technique 6: Add zucchini to minced meat
In the process of cooking cutlets, most housewives add pulp of white bread, previously soaked in milk, to the minced meat. And this is not surprising, because our mothers and grandmothers also cooked this dish. However, there is another, more effective way to make ready-made cutlets soft and juicy - instead of bread, put finely chopped zucchini and whipped yolk. Due to the fact that the vegetable does not have a pronounced taste, it will serve as an auxiliary ingredient and will not be able to interrupt the taste of minced meat. There are other advantages - the zucchini and egg yolk perfectly hold each other together, that is, the cutlets will not fall apart during the formation process. They also significantly reduce the calorie content of the finished dish.
Technique 7: Cook Rice with Vinegar
Sometimes it seems that boiling crumbly rice is a utopia. But there are still several ways. One of them involves the addition of vinegar. If you don't have a persistent aversion to this ingredient, pour a teaspoon of vinegar into the cereal five minutes before setting the pot off the stove. It should be noted right away that it will not be felt in the dish, however, when the rice is on the stove, the pungent aroma will spread through the kitchen.
The vinegar will improve the taste of the rice, prevent it from sticking, and also help it stay crisp white. By the way, the same effect will be from lemon juice, so if you wish, you can safely replace one ingredient with another.
Technique 8: Brew Coffee with Butter
If you can't imagine your morning without a cup of invigorating black coffee, this life hack is just for you. A piece of ordinary butter will help soften the drink, make it more delicate, aromatic with a dense consistency. Yes, yes, it should be added to coffee a minute before cooking or directly into the cup, so that later you can enjoy the original and incomparable taste.
Other secret ingredients include salt, ginger, spices, citrus fruits. The salt will enhance the taste and aroma of the coffee and allow it to develop better. Only a few coarse crystals are needed for a Turk. As for ginger, it should be added to freshly ground grains before pouring water into a Turk, as well as cinnamon, anise, pepper, cardamom, which go well with coffee. But a slice of lemon or an orange zest should be placed after the preparation of the drink, directly into the cup.
Tactic 9: Make Fish Flavorful, Crispy
Fish is ideal for people who are not fond of meat or who are trying to eat a healthy diet. It is not very high in calories, but at the same time contains many useful vitamins and minerals necessary for the body to function properly. However, you still need to learn how to cook this product deliciously.
So, in order to get rid of the pungent smell during the baking process, you should put a piece of fatty bacon on it. Not only will it absorb the unpleasant aroma, but it will also give the fish a hint of its smoky flavor. However, it is not worth eating such bacon - in this case, the product acts more as an absorbent than an ingredient in the dish. If you plan to fry fish in a pan, you can use peeled potatoes, cut into slices, instead of bacon - they will quickly absorb the pungent smell.
Another secret ingredient is butter. They need to grease the fish before cooking so that the dish turns out to be fragrant, with a ruddy and crispy crust. It is best to prepare an oil sauce, only it should have a uniform consistency, without lumps, otherwise you will not be able to achieve the desired crunch.
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