Corduroy Orange

When you’re using black or white pepper to flavor what you sauté, add it to the hot oil before you start adding the food. The oils from the pepper will dissolve into the sauté oil, infusing it with the spicy flavor. As a result, the same quantity of pepper packs more of a punch than if you add it later in the cooking process.

Be careful, though–this rule doesn’t apply to crushed red pepper flakes. Unless you’re planning on an extremely short cooking time, it’s best to add them later in the process, though before you deglaze the pan. If you add them first, they’re likely to scorch, thereby infusing your dish with a bitter, burnt flavor on top of the spiciness.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 10th, 2006 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Cooking Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.