Some Useful Kitchen Tips: Wanna Share Some Too?
By PinkMelody
@PinkMelody (86)
Philippines
September 5, 2010 11:26pm CST
To be an effective cook, we need to know not only the procedures, but also some preparation techniques. Here are some tips I've read and I'd like to share it with you:
1. To "blanch" means to cook vegetables in hot water for a few seconds and immediately shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking process.
2. To reduce the bitterness of eggplants, soak them in water.
3. Use vinegar and baking soda wash to brighten the colors of vegetables.
4. Buy cabbage as a whole because when it's cut, it looses it's Vitamin C.
5. When seasoning food, start seasoning at the beginning, middle and end of cooking time.
6. Ginger removes the fishy taste of seafood.
7. To test if Tortilla is of good quality, use the "crumple test". Crumple the tortilla like paper, and if it goes back to its original shape, it's a good buy.
8. To lengthen the shelf-life of carrots, wrap it in newspaper before storing inside the ref.
9. Before slicing the onions, it would be wise to peel them and put them in the freezer for a while. They won't make you cry when you slice them.
10. Don't melt butter alone. It burns and will make a bitter aftertaste to a fry. Try adding a few drops of vegetable oil or olive oil.
I hope this can help you...Can you share some of your kitchen tips too?
Happy cooking! :)
1 person likes this
4 responses
@durgabala (1360)
• India
6 Sep 10
Well in Indian cooking we have lot of cooking tips to share.
We usually rub a half cut onion to the pan before pouring pan cake batter, the pan cake comes out smoothly and also thin without sticking on to the pan.
while preparing sugar syrups just add a drop of milk, this bring in all the impurities to a place. you can remove them with a spoon.
always place a ladle in the milk pot so that the milk doesn't boil over.
@durgabala (1360)
• India
6 Sep 10
another tip, if you spill oil accidentally on the floor or on the kitchen table, don't panic. after initial cleaning, sprinkle wheat flour. this will leave the place neat and tidy
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
8 Sep 10
I get all the items needed when baking out of my shelf before I start putting the ingredients into a bowl. This way I know everything is available. Also I place the ingredients that go in at the same time together.
Also I suggest all fresh fruit and vegetables are washed. Yes many chemicals can't be removed, but dirt from the yard can be removed. I recommend growing fruit and vegetables when possible. You know they are fresh, as store purchased aren't always very fresh.
@knicnax (2233)
• Philippines
6 Sep 10
Prepare everything you need beforehand, this will save you time by not running around the kitchen
Do stuff at the same time. Recipes are step by step, but if you read trhough, you can find that some steps could be done at the same time. You can save time by doing multiple tasks at the same time
Use a separate chopping board for raw meat and for vegetables/cooked food. Using the same chopping board would transfer the bacteria of the raw meat to the food that's already cooked or don't need to be cooked
Reuse frying oil. Reusing frying oil will save you a lot of money. Just make sure you segregate your used oil. Oil used to fry fish could be used to re-fry fish only, or you can discard it if you want, since the oil already has a fishy stink to it. Used oil is great for fried rice!
use low fire when you want really crispy garlic. Also, in my country we pound our garlic (mortar and pestle) to bring out the great flavors of the garlic into the food. This also works for people who doesn't like biting into cloves of garlic when eating
