Sauteing basics
I am not a fan of ginisa (saute) mixes. First of all, they provide no added texture to the cooked food. Secondly, there are no natural nutrients found in them. Thirdly, they do not give the dish that interesting mix of colors that only real herbs, spices and vegetables can. When I saute, I start with fresh everything. Like I did this morning when I made an anchovies and egg breakfast. I will post the recipe for that later. For now, let’s talk about sauteing basics, a.k.a. how to peel garlic, chop onions and whether it’s really necessary to scoop out the seeds of the tomato.
How to skin garlic cloves
The most common mistake in dealing with cloves of garlic is to try and peel them before crushing.
It’s easier if you crush them first — not with full force but just to break the skin. That way, skin comes off easily.
Then, you just chop the garlic as finely or as coarsely as you wish.
How to chop onions
Chopping onions can sting the eyes. True. And the little pieces do have a nasty tendency of flying all over during the process of chopping. Again, true. But you don’t have to chop onions to cut them into little pieces. You can slice them all the way. The added benefit is that the onions do not lose as much juices as when chopping them. Here’s what you do.
Cut off the bottom part of the onion then peel off the skin. Leave the other end intact.
Slice the onion without cutting all the way through the top. How thick or how thin the slices should be depends on how fine or how coarse you want to chop the onion.
Give the onion a quarter turn and slice perpendicularly to the first set of slices. And, voila! You have chopped onions. Just discard the end when you’re done. It’s not like it’s wasteful because you do discard both ends anyway so you’re just discarding one end after the chopping is done.
Is it necessary to scoop out the seeds of the tomato?
That depends on how you intend to use the tomato. The centers are where most of the juices are. If you’re going to add it to a stew, then you really want those juices in the stew. So, leave the centers alone. But if you’re using the tomato for a saute and the cooked dish is supposed to be dry, then that’s when you want to scoop out the centers.
Use a teaspoon to make a clean scoop. Then, chop or dice the onion tomato and you’re good to go.
So, forget about ginisa mixes. There’s nothing hard about sauteing from scratch.
Comments
13 Responses to “Sauteing basics”If you want your own pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Stay updated!
View the archive
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Oct | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Spanish sardines spaghetti
Sweet and spicy fish and tofu
Talakitok (trevally) steaks with homemade pesto
Rice, chicken and vegetables dish
Pandan macaroons
Appetizers
Asian
Birthdays & Parties
breakfast club
cakes
cheese
Chinese
chocolate
Christmas & New Year
Cooking for one
Daddy cooks!
Filipino
Italian Job
muffins & cupcakes
omelet
pasta
salads
School lunchbox
spring rolls
Superb soups
Conversations
- Crisma on 'Chocolate chip cookies with fresh mint': How many cookies were you able to make, Connie? And...
- cia on 'Lemon chicken': can i use the ordinary ginger instead of the turmeric? thanks…
- RobKSA on 'Honey-glazed, herb-crusted whole leg of lamb': Since no pork here in Saudi Arabia, this is a...
- MAria on 'Baked macaroni': ive been using this recipe of urs as my recipe for bake mac my famly here in...
- solraya on 'Chocolate chip cookies with fresh mint': I love chocomint too! This is a great one, why...
The onion technique is a very good one!!!
This is great— GINISA 101! Practical and easy to follow. And you promote healthy cooking too because doing it this way eliminates the need for phosphates and other unknown additives that might even be cancer triggers.
Thank You Ms. Connie, sometimes simple information like this makes life easier and healthier
Hello Ms. Connie. Dagdag lang to the onion technique. If you shock it with cold water, or put it in fridge/freezer before slicing, it won’t make you cry as much.
Eversince I read in a magazine that you have to be very patient in waiting for the flavors to come out and blend, my simple sauted veggies don’t need special seasonings.
Connie, I really like your new approach to step by step with photos
Wow! The onion trick is a very useful one, especially for a novice, trying-hard cook like me. Love the tips, love the photos, love your blog!
I do the onion trick too, except i take out the end first. I just cleanly and compactly hold the entire thing when I’m slicing. I’m going to try your way, see if I do the prep faster that way.
one trick that always works for me is to light up a candle when slicing onions. Have the lighted candle right next to your cutting board.
Hi Connie,
Thanks for the practical tips. Especially the one about peeling garlic. I have long wished I had one of those silicone garlic peelers. But they’re so expensive. Come to think of it, I hardly ever need peeled whole garlic. After peeling, I either chop them or mince them when I cook so parang hindi practical bumili ng expensive garlic peeler. Besides smashing the garlic is fun.
Like Maria, I also put onions in the freezer but I peel and cut them in half first. 10 minutes is enough to really minimize the tears.
PS. Ganda ng pictures mo. Did you take a food photography class?
Nins
Re photography class. No I didn’t. Practice lang.
hahaha! very useful for a trying-hard cook like me!
ganun pala mag gayat ng sibuyas. ha ha ha.
You mean maghiwa. “Mag gayat” means to grate and what’s shown in the photos is slicing / chopping, not grating.