While many people would like to pursue a career as a chef, the time and training required to achieve this dream can seem monumental. However, cooking can be learned in short sessions. The following article will outline several simple ways you can enhance your cooking.
Always store your spices in a cool and dark place. Warmth, humidity and light will make them stale and unflavorful. When stored correctly, your spices can stay spicy for up to a year. Spices that are kept whole can keep their flavor for about three, four or five years. The length of time that they stay fresh depends on how they are stored.
Try partially frozen meat to make thin meat slicing easier. This provides ideally thin meat for Thai, Chinese, or other Asian recipes. When you slightly freeze the meat, the fibers don’t extend as easily, and therefore slicing is much cleaner. For even cooking, let the strips of meat thaw completely before you start to cook.
It is absolutely essential that you have sharp knives whenever you cook. Make sure your knife is not dull when you are cutting something, this is very dangerous. You will be more apt to cut yourself with a dull knife than a sharp knife, as you’ll spend a lot more time trying to force that dull knife through the food you are cutting.
When cooking vegetables, cook them as quickly as possible to keep their nutritional value. Vegetables that have been slow-cooked are not as nutritional or tasty as vegetables that are cooked in other ways. These quick cooking techniques will produce generally, healthier vegetable sides. You should only cook them just as long as it takes for them to be done.
Cooking with style and using these tips can be the start of a wonderful new hobby. When you learn to cook, you will learn about food, have fun, and have lots of good things to eat. You might even get to know yourself better, while you’re finding out what things you like to cook. The more you cook, the better your food will taste.
