Cooking terms demystified.
Recipes are confusing enough. Here's what they mean.
Cut it up: cube, slice, chop, dice, mince.
Recipes call for vegetables or meat to be cut different ways. Here I’ve listed them from the chunkiest to the tiniest. It’s especially important to pay attention to how you cut garlic and onion (or any other major flavor of the recipe, like ginger, celery, etc.) because the different surface areas produce different strengths of flavor and affect cooking time. If a recipe doesn’t specify how to prepare vegetables, I use the “bite” method my mother taught me: think about how you’d like to bite into it and chop it that size.
(Try a Santoku knife! The secret to chopping, slicing and dicing like the pros? The Santoku knife, of which Vamp Kara says: “they usually retail for well over $50 each, but I was surprised when I saw one at Target by Henckels (one of the top brands in knives) for about $20. One important thing to keep in mind when buying knives is that they should have a full tang (one piece of steel that runs from the blade through the handle). Santoku knives are different from others because the steel is scalloped close to the blade, which makes it very sharp and makes it so that it doesn't stick to whatever it's cutting. I love using mine for chopping and dicing, but it also cuts through raw meat effortlessly. I highly recommend them!
Just remember that even if it says dishwasher safe, never put them in the dishwasher. It will dull the blade and decrease the quality of the knife.”)
Water: rolling boil, boil, simmer.
A rolling boil refers to water that has been boiling for a little while and the bubbles are really big, thus moving the water or stock around a whole lot. A regular boil is when the water just starts boiling, with bubbles moving the surface. A simmer is not quite a boil—there will be little tiny bubbles around the edge, but otherwise little movement. Simmering helps bring out multiple flavors and allows for those flavors to mix together. When in doubt, boiling usually refers to when bubbles are breaking the surface.
On the stovetop: sauté, sear, pan fry:
Sautéing meats or vegetables is done with a little bit of fat (usually olive oil or butter) in a frying pan over medium-to-high heat. This process cooks the meat or vegetables thoroughly, releasing juices that can later be used as a sauce if desired. When a recipe calls for something to be seared, it’s asking for a high heat to be applied quickly, which causes a caramelizing effect. This is also sometimes referred to as browning, as in “brown each side of the beef.” This technique does not cook the food all the way through. Finally, pan frying is a technique that uses less oil than deep frying, but still enough to cover the food that’s being cooked about half-way. The food is cooked throughout, though needs to be turned regularly.
In the oven: broil, bake:
These are common ways to cook meat. Broiling requires the broiler to be used (in some ovens this is a separate compartment from the regular oven; in others, the broiler is at the top and an oven rack needs to be in the topmost position), causing an effect similar to grilling. Baking is the most straight forward, requiring the oven temperature to be set according to the recipe. Both broiling and baking cook the meat all the way through.
