How does the cooking method change a dish?

The same ingredient turns into a different dish when the cooking method changes. It is not only the taste that changes: the oil the dish takes on, the water it loses and the volume on the plate all move together. Changing the method without changing the ingredient is the least laborious improvement you can make in the kitchen.

Below we look at where the methods diverge, how oil comes into it, what boiling costs, and which method works better for which dish.

Where the methods diverge

Cooking methods diverge along three axes: the amount of oil used, the intensity of the heat and contact with water. Those three variables are why the same ingredient gives such different results.

Boiling and steaming work without oil; baking asks for a little oil, sautéing a medium amount and frying a high amount. That ranking decides the total on the plate directly.

The intensity of the heat, meanwhile, builds the texture and the color. The same vegetable softens at low heat and browns at the edges at high heat; these are two different dishes and they suit different meals. The most common reason the same recipe turns out differently in two households is also not the ingredients but the setting on the stove.

How oil builds up on the plate

In frying the ingredient cooks inside the oil and takes some of it on. How much it takes varies with the surface area of the ingredient, the thickness of the slices and the temperature of the oil.

A hundred grams of extra virgin olive oil is one of the densest items used in the kitchen; so the phrase “a little oil” comes to more on the plate than people think. Measuring with a spoon removes that ambiguity.

We covered the difference between the fried and the baked form of the same dish in baking instead of frying.

What boiling costs

In boiling, some water-soluble components pass into the cooking water. When the water is poured away those components go with it; the loss is real, but not large enough to be a reason to give up the method.

The way to reduce the loss is to cook with little water and to make use of that water. When the cooking water is added to a soup, a sauce or the water for a pilaf, it is recovered.

We covered the subject with its measurements in how much does boiling vegetables lower their nutritional value.

When steaming is preferred

Because steaming keeps contact with water to a minimum, it greatly reduces the loss seen in boiling. The texture of the vegetable also stays firmer.

On the other hand it does not suit every dish. Meat dishes and legumes that need long cooking do not reach the consistency you want with this method. For those items a pot or the oven is both faster and better.

The taste of steamed vegetables stays plainer too. That is not a shortcoming; when lemon, olive oil and spices are added at the end, the dish takes on its own flavor.

Why the oven is a practical middle way

The oven brings little oil and high heat together and produces the texture frying gives with less oil. It also asks for no attention once it goes in the tray.

That makes it possible to cook several items at once. A tray of vegetables and a tray of protein prepare two meals in a single operation. That is also why the oven is the method used most on a prep day.

Oil is measured with a spoon in the oven too. Oil drizzled freely over a tray can be several times more than measured oil and takes away the advantage of the method. Tossing the ingredients with oil in a bowl and then moving them to the tray gives both a small amount of oil and an even spread.

Why pot dishes stand in a place of their own

Pot dishes, the backbone of Turkish cooking, bring vegetables and legumes together in the same vessel. Because the cooking water stays in the dish, the loss seen in boiling is also largely recovered.

The most critical point of this method is the amount of oil at the start. Oil put in the bottom of the pot becomes invisible as the dish cooks, but it goes on sitting on the plate.

We explained step by step how to fix the amount on the way from the stove to the plate in the tip how to separate the portion from a dish cooked in a pot.

Where grilling and pan cooking fit

Grilling is one of the methods that lowers the total on the plate, because the fat drips away. On the other hand high heat can leave burning on the surface; charred parts are separated from the plate.

The pan, meanwhile, turns into two different methods depending on the amount of oil used. A sauté made with a spoonful of oil in a nonstick pan gives a completely different result from a fry made with plenty of oil in the same pan.

How taste is kept when the method changes

A dish cooked with less oil does not have to end up tasteless. The flavor that goes missing largely comes back with spices, lemon, vinegar and fresh herbs.

The way to keep the texture is to set the heat right. Vegetables cooked a long time at low heat fall apart, while vegetables cooked briefly at high heat keep their firmness. Shortening the cooking time makes more difference than adding oil does for most vegetables.

In short: change the method rather than the ingredient, measure the oil with a spoon, make use of the boiling water and build the taste with spices. The healthy kitchen habits guide completes the rest of the method in the kitchen.