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What's the most basic thing you can't do? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 5 months ago by CraigOhMyEggo@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Often I overcook or undercook things, use too much or too little of some ingredient, and generally have no intuition for the quantitative side of things. These aren't exactly recipes, just literal fundamental skills like cooking meat or vegetables for the right amount of time, at the right heat, with the right seasonings, etc.

[–] newbeni@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

So, I was in the same spot for a long time. The one thing I can suggest is to get a tiny portion of something you want to cook, for instance you want to make fried chicken at some point; in the beginning just get like 2 thighs that you aren't planning on really eating. It's literally just a test. The pressure is off for dinner that night and you get room to explore while still knowing if you have to throw it all away you are okay with it.

[–] 0ops@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

I used to struggle with picking seasonings too, but here's a strategy that I picked up from the internet somewhere:

Decide which basic flavor(s) you need
Pick an ingredient that will satisfy one or more of those flavors.

Here's a baseline "basic flavors" that should always land you a flavorful meal:

heat (eg peppers, wasabe)
acid (fruit, vinegar)
salt (table salt, soy sauce)
fat (butter, bacon grease)

But there's a few others that might come in handy, like:

sweet (sugar, honey, fruit, many veggies)
mint (thyme, rosemary, basil, black pepper)
bitter (grapefruit, many veggies)
savory (soy sauce, meats)
whatever flavor alliums have (onions, garlic)

Of course, figuring out which basic flavors you need is still a skill to develop, but this two-stage process helped me a lot. Plus, if you're trying to stay traditional, then the second stage where you pick the ingredient may already be chosen for you. Mexican food needs acid? Lime. Italian needs heat? Red pepper flakes. Asian needs salt? Soy sauce.

TL;DR: Don't go straight to choosing ingredients you need, instead choose a basic flavor you need then pick ingredients that will satisfy that flavor.