Fried food is a popular and enticing way of cooking. Many people enjoy fried dishes and want them to be crispy and flavorful. However, frying can be a high-heat cooking method that puts chefs at risk of splattering oil and getting burned more than other cooking methods.
And one of the “lifesaving” tips for chefs is to use flour. The flour here can be wheat flour, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or crispy flour…
What does flour do?
Put a bit of starch into the hot oil (you can use cornstarch, corn flour, wheat flour, or crispy flour) and then heat it up and put the food that needs frying in. You will notice that the frying pan no longer splatters oil, no longer makes popping sounds, and no longer makes the chef reflexively pull their hand back to avoid oil splatters. Starches are water absorbers, so they prevent oil from splattering. Moreover, when adding a bit of flour to the frying pan, the food cooks faster and becomes crispier. However, you only need to add a small amount, not too much, because too much will burn the flour or stick to the food. You can also sprinkle flour on wet fried foods such as meat, fish, potatoes, sprinkle a little, not to make the food become covered in flour. Then, pick them up and put them in the frying pan, and you will no longer experience oil splatters. Especially with some fried foods that need to be crispy, adding a bit of flour will make them even crispier.
You can also use fresh lime
To make fried food even more delicious, many people also use lime.
Here are some ways to use lime for frying:
Drop lime slices into the hot oil, then use chopsticks to swirl them around the frying pan.
Squeeze a few drops of lime juice into the hot oil before adding the items to be fried.
Lime is particularly bubbly, so fried foods that need to be crispy like potatoes, fried cakes, spring rolls, will become crispier and fluffier with lime, and won’t become watery.
Add a few grains of salt or rub a few slices of ginger
You can also use salt or rub a few slices of fresh ginger on the surface of the pan before adding the oil, which will make frying easier, avoiding sticking to the pan.
Drop a fresh banana leaf
Another experience in frying is to drop a washed and dried banana leaf into the pan. This helps you fry food easily without sticking to the pan. Furthermore, banana leaves are rich in antioxidants, making the food more delicious and not smelling strange, because banana leaves do not create a unpleasant odor to other foods.
In addition, when frying food to make it crispy and delicious, you should pay attention to:
Always dry the pan before adding oil
If the pan is wet, when adding the oil, more oil will splatter, increasing the risk of oil splatters causing burns. You should heat the pan until it is dry, but not smoking. At that time, the pan is too hot, adding oil at too high a temperature will alter the nutrients and cause scorches.
Adjust the oil temperature before adding the food to fry
An important tip to ensure that the fried food is crispy on the outside but still sweet and moist inside is to adjust the heat of the oil and then add the food to fry. You should heat the oil to a simmering but not smoking temperature, you can dip a chopstick in and when you see bubbles surrounding it, it is ready. If you add the food when the oil is not hot enough, the food will absorb more oil inside, making it greasy, and also making the fried food less crispy and reducing the sweet flavor inside. If you add it when it is too hot, it will scorch.
The food to be fried should be completely thawed and drained to make frying easier and tastier.
When preparing to lift the food out, you should turn the heat high to make the oil boil, which helps prevent the oil from being absorbed into the food. When lifting it out, place the fried items on a rack, a slotted spoon, or a plate lined with absorbent paper. To keep the food crispy for longer, do not leave it on the plate for too long, as it will make the food wet and soggier.