We’re always talking about hacks to improve the way we work in the kitchen. But here are some things which you should not pick up if you want to improve your cooking skills. — Compiled by PATSY KAM
1. You don’t preheat the oven before baking
Did you know that it’s super important to preheat your oven before baking? When a recipe calls for your cake or cookies to be baked at 170°C, you should put in your batter only when the oven has actually reached the right temperature first. If you put it in too early, the first five minutes or so don’t really count as your oven hasn’t reached its optimal temperature yet. This means your cake or biscuits will be under-cooked and turn out wrong, and then you ask why the recipe has wrong instructions! To ensure your oven is at the right temperature (as you may not always be able to trust the displayed figure), get an oven thermometer.
2. You open the oven door while baking
Just as preheating the oven is crucial when baking a cake, don’t ever open the oven door in the middle of baking! Otherwise, the cooler air gets in and interferes with the baking temperature, and will affect your cake significantly. Worst case scenario, your cake will sink in the middle and it’ll be a disaster! To check if your cake is rising properly, use the oven light or a torchlight to have a peek. When it’s almost at the end of the stipulated baking time, then you can open the oven door to check, and maybe add another five or 10 minutes more if need be.
3. You wash the pasta
Some wantan mee sellers give their noodles a quick cool water bath before dunking it back in hot water. But it’s not the same for pasta, so you should never do this as this will strip off its starch which would otherwise add towards making the sauce silky. The texture of local noodles and pasta is quite different. If you’re frying the pasta later, then perhaps it’s alright if you want to remove the excess stickiness.
4. You don’t salt the pasta water
A lot of people don’t add enough salt to their pasta water when boiling. Most people will say, “Oh, but it’s not healthy to eat so much salt. We’re not big on salty food.” But when it comes to cooking pasta, make an exception and salt the water adequately. The pasta will absorb part of the water and you’ll be draining the rest anyway. Otherwise, your food will be bland and extremely salty sauce doesn’t make up for it. And it’ll taste much worse than salty pasta. In fact, Italians have a saying that pasta water should be “as salty as the sea”!
5. You don’t season in between
The best cooks are the ones who taste their own food. And the trick is to season the food in between, and not just at the end of cooking the dish. You’ll notice that the taste notes come out quite differently when you do this. So, the right way is to add salt and pepper, and whatever else, throughout the cooking process. And add some more at the end if necessary.
6. You can’t leave the ingredients alone
Some of us have restless hands and cannot wait to flip the chicken or fish, or whatever it is that’s being fried. Of course, you don’t want it to get burnt either. But have some faith, and let it cook a while – don’t keep shuffling the ingredients around in the pan while it’s frying. Leaving it alone for sufficient time will give it a chance to develop a nice crust or caramelise nicely.
7. You overcrowd the pan
We want to speed things up so the more in the pan the merrier, right? Wrong, as loading up the pan with eight or 10 items instead of just five means overcrowding, and this means it takes longer for the oil to reach optimum heat. This may also increase moisture and the food will end up soggy instead of crispy and golden brown. Take heed when you’re roasting, pan-frying or sauteing – give the ingredients some room to breathe and expand.
8. You don’t use a measuring scale
Yes, our grandmothers and mothers used to cook in the agak-agak method, or “guestimate” the ingredients. You can do that if you’re cooking a dish perhaps, as you can always salvage it later. But if you’re baking cookies or a cake, a measurement scale is imperative for accuracy as it makes a difference between success and failure. And really, it’s not that expensive to invest in a measuring scale.
