Page 157 - Cook with Ease: Tips and Recipes for Small Families - Serving 1-2

Chapter 4
Culinary Jargons

Cooking Term Explanation

Soaking in running water Defrost frozen food (e.g. sea cucumbers) under running water
or let it absorb water and swell up.
Pouring wine Add wine to a dish towards the end of cooking to enhance
its flavour. Wine could also be used in marinades to remove
the undesirably strong smell or stinky flavour of meat or fish,
or the unpleasant smell of frozen food.
Reducing juice Thicken the sauce or juice and intensify its flavour after
evaporation of water upon cooking at low temperature.
Dry heating in pan Heat or cook food in a pan without adding any oil or water.
Frying up Heat oil in a hot pan and stir in ingredients like ginger or
garlic to enhance the flavour.
Low/Gentle heat Cook at low temperature.
High/Strong heat Cook at high temperature.
Open fire cooking Use fuels with visible flames (e.g. liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG), town gas) for cooking instead of induction cookers or
microwave ovens.
Stir-frying The amount of oil used is less than that in pan-frying or deep-
frying. Add in food after heating oil in a pan and keep
flipping it with a spatula until done. It is commonly used for
easily cooked food (e.g. vegetables) and shredded, sliced or
diced ingredients.
Sautéing Quickly stir-fry at high temperature.
Steaming** Put a steaming rack into a pot of water where the water level
just covers the rack. Place a dish (usually a stainless steel
dish for better heat conduction) onto the rack when the water
boils, and cover the pot with a lid until the food is cooked.
The steaming rack can also be placed in a rice cooker to
make use of the hot steam from cooking rice to cook the dish.

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