Definition, use, and examples of the word frying.
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I’m Jenn de la Vega and this is your culinary word of the day.
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Today’s word is frying
It is spelled...F-R-Y-I-N-G.
According to Merriam Webster, frying is a “transitive verb, to cook in a pan or on a griddle over heat especially with the use of fat.”
In Encyclopaedia Britannica, “frying, the cooking of food in hot fats or oils, [is] usually done with a shallow oil bath in a pan over a fire or as so-called deep fat frying, in which the food is completely immersed in a deeper vessel of hot oil.
The technique of frying is ancient, ubiquitous, and highly versatile; it has been used since antiquity and in most cultures to prepare meats and fish, vegetables, and breads. This popularity, together with the fairly low cost of large-scale frying, made fried foods staples of the late 20th-century fast-food industry.
Fatty meats such as bacon and ground beef are usually fried in their own rendered fat. Relatively lean meats, fish, and vegetables are often floured or dipped in batter before being fried.
In addition to meat drippings, butter, and lard, once easily rendered in the home, commercially produced corn, peanut, and other seed oils are common frying mediums.”
Kate Williams for Southern Kitchen writes,
“Unlike steaming or boiling, frying is a dry cooking process, like sautéeing or roasting. It occurs over moderate heat — most fried recipes will call for oil to be heated somewhere between 325 and 375 degrees — and, when done properly, results in food with a moist, just cooked center, and a crisp, well-browned exterior.
When a piece of food is dropped in hot oil, a few things happen: First, moisture from the inside of the food rapidly heats up and turns to steam, quickly migrating out from the food to the oil. This process causes the oil to bubble rapidly as it gives off all of that steam. Quick moisture loss on the outside of the food creates a dry surface, which will crisp in the hot oil. Because oils can heat up far past the boiling point of water, they allow for both the caramelization of starches and the browning of proteins, which is referred to as the Maillard reaction.
As moisture evaporates from the fried food, it leaves behind tiny little surface craters, into which small amounts of oil move. The more moisture that escapes the fried food, the more craters it leaves behind and, therefore, the more oil is absorbed.
In a piece called, “The Science of Frying” Fine Cooking Magazine continues,
In the initial moments of frying, as the surface dehydrates, it forms a crust that inhibits further oil absorption, while continuing to conduct heat to the interior of the food, where the heat causes starches to gelatinize (as in french fries), proteins to denature (in fried chicken), and fibers to soften (in fried zucchini).
Maintaining the correct oil temperature is key to frying. If the temperature drops too low, the crust forms slowly, allowing the food to absorb more fat and become greasy. If the oil gets too hot, the food burns on the surface before it cooks through.
Different fats deliver better results in each instance. A fat’s level of hydrogen saturation is the most important variable. Highly saturated fats, such as lard and shortening, are solid at room temperature, while polyunsaturated fats, like vegetable and canola oils, remain liquid at room temperature. Food fried in highly saturated fat has a more pleasant, less-oily-tasting surface than food fried in unsaturated fat, because the saturated fat re-solidifies as it cools. Plus, many saturated fats, like duck and beef fat, are more flavorful than refined liquid oils. So from a flavor and texture standpoint, solid fats make a great choice for frying.
For further reading, check out “How to Fry Foods,” in Better Homes and Gardens.
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I’m Jenn de la Vega and this has been your culinary word of the day.
Next time on Culinary Word of the day, we go deeper.
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