Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
Today I learned that Ma-La (From Kenji Lopez-Alt's exceptional cookbook that I got for Christmas) means "numb spicy" and is a Sichuan concept of mixing peppercorns, chilis, and other spices.
Then, like an hour later I read this post: https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpo...&postcount=511
Clearly I'm going to need to try this. |
I don’t have the Kenji Lopez Alt book but was pleased to see a reference to him
I learned that you can add baking soda when parboiling potatoes, and this will help lead to a crispy exterior when roasting
* bonus - not today, but he also taught me if you are going to salt a steak, either cook it immediately (if you don’t have time) or let the salt sit on it for at least 40 minutes. Anything between 3 and 40 minutes will give the worst results.
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Here's what's going on.
Immediately after salting the salt rests on the surface of the meat, undissolved. All the steak's juices are still inside the muscle fibers. Searing at this stage results in a clean, hard sear.
Within 3 or 4 minutes the salt, through the process of osmosis, will begin to draw out liquid from the beef. This liquid beads up on the surface of the meat. Try to sear at this point and you waste valuable heat energy simply evaporating this large amount of pooled liquid. Your pan temperature drops, your sear is not as hard, and crust development and flavor-building Maillard browning reactions are inhibited.
Starting at around 10 to 15 minutes, the brine formed by the salt dissolving in the meat's juices will begin to break down the muscle structure of the beef, causing it to become much more absorptive. The brine begins to slowly work its way back into the meat.
By the end of 40 minutes, most of the liquid has been reabsorbed into the meat. A small degree of evaporation has also occurred, causing the meat to be ever so slightly more concentrated in flavor.
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