Instructions:
1. Form a
group in pairs or threes. (Other group numbers are not allowed.)
2. Read up
about the 11 different types of cooking methods (below).
3. Select 1
(one) type of cooking method and search a foreign dish that uses this cooking
method (e.g. Baking – Italian <dish name>). Include a picture of this
dish.
4. ‘Adopt’ the
dish by adapting with a Singaporean twist / flavor. (e.g. adding an local
ingredient or dressing). The ‘adopted’ dish should have a local name. (Note:
Nothing rude or offensive.)
5. Include a
picture, the ingredients and the cooking methods used to cook the 'adopted'
dish.
6. Mention why
this dish is healthy for a student’s diet.
7. All
submissions to be posted up on your respective class blogs, stating your
<full names> and <name of dish> as the title of the post.
Due Date: Monday, 10 September
Introduction
In cooking, there are some basic
methods of cooking that are used. These commonly used basic cooking methods are
divided into two general groups. The groups are: Dry heat cookery methods and
Moist heat cookery methods. The methods of cooking are divided into these two
groups because of the way food is cooked and the type of heat that is
used.
Let us have a look at the Dry Heat
cookery methods:
Dry Heat Cookery Methods
In dry heat cooking methods, the food
being cooked does not use water to cook the food. The food is left dry and heat
is applied to cook the food. Such methods of cooking are: baking, steaming,
grilling, and roasting. When heat is applied to the food, the food cooks in its
own juice or the water added to the food during its preparation evaporates
during the heating process and this cooks the food. Heat is applied directly to
the food by way of convection thus making the food to get cooked. The action or
movement of air around the food, cooks it. Let us now have a look at each of
these cooking methods.
1. Baking
In baking method of cooking, the food
is cooked using convection heating. The food is put into an enclosed area where
heat is then applied and the movement of heat within the confined space, acts
on the food that make it get cooked.
2. Steaming
To steam food, water is added to a pot
and then a stand is placed inside the pot. The water level should be under the
stand and not above it. There is no contact between the food and the water that
is added to the pot. Food is then placed on the stand and heat is applied. The
hot steam rising from the boiling water acts on the food and the food gets
cooked. It is the hot steam that cooks the food, as there is no contact between
the food and the water inside the pot. This method of cooking for vegetables is
very good as the food does not lose its flavour and much of the nutrients are
not lost during the cooking.
3. Grilling
There are two methods of grilling that
are used these days. One type of grilling is the one that is commonly used by
the people in the village. This is when food is cooked over hot charcoal on an
open fire. The food is placed on top of the burning charcoal. Sometimes people
improvise by using wire mesh and place it over the open fire to grill fish or
vegetables. The other method is using grills that are inbuilt in stoves. In
this method, the griller, which has a tray, is heated up and the food is placed
on the grill tray to cook. The heat can be gas-generated or electric-generated
depending on the type of stove used. The food is again left to cook on the
grill with the doors of the grill open. People who can afford to buy a stove
would use the grilling part to grill their food. What happens in this type of
cooking is the heat seals the outside part of the food and the juice inside the
food cooks it. The flavour of the food is not lost and much of the nutrients
are not lost either. Food is frequently turned over to prevent it from burning
and to ensure that equal heating and cooking time is applied to both sides of
the food. By doing this, the food is cooked evenly and thoroughly.
4. Roasting
With roasting, direct heat is applied
to the food. The heat seals the outside part of the food and the juice inside
the food cooks the food. Roasting is mainly used when cooking fleshy food like
fish, meat or chicken. When heat is applied to the outer covering of the food,
it seals it up thereby trapping all the juices inside the food. The action of
direct heating, heats up the juices inside the food, which then cooks the food.
Again there is very little nutrient lost and the flavour is not spoilt. Food is
frequently rotated over the spit so that there is even heating applied to all
parts of the food. This is so that heat is applied evenly to the food to make
it get cooked properly.
Moist Heat Cookery Methods
In moist heat cookery methods, liquid
is used as a medium to cook the food. Such medium could be water, coconut cream
or oil. These liquids are added to the food before heat is applied to it or
sometimes heat is applied to the liquid before the food is added into the
cooking utensils to be cooked. The moist heat cookery methods include: boiling,
stewing, shallow frying, deep frying, barbequing and basting. All these moist
heat cooking methods use liquid to cook the food in.
5. Boiling
This is the most common method of
cooking and is also the simplest. With this method of cooking, enough water is
added to food and it is then cooked over the fire. The action of the heated
water makes the food to get cooked. The liquid is usually thrown away after the
food is cooked. In the case of cooking rice, all the water is absorbed by the
rice grains to make it get cooked. During the heating process, the nutrients
can get lost or destroyed and the flavour can be reduced with this method of
cooking. If you over cooked cabbage, all the nutrients can get lost.
6. Stewing
In the process of cooking using the
stewing method, food is cooked using a lot of liquid. Different kinds of
vegetables are chopped, diced or cubed and added to the pot. Sometimes pieces
of selected meat, fish or chicken is also chopped and added to the stew. The
liquid is slightly thickened and stewed food is served in that manner. This
method is also used when preparing fruits that are going to be served as
desserts. With this cooking method, every food is cooked together at the same
time in one pot. The flavour, colours, shapes and textures of the different
vegetables that are used, makes stewing a handy method of cooking. The only
disadvantage is that some of the vegetables might be overcooked and thus the
nutrient content becomes much less. It is therefore important that the
vegetables that take the longest to cook to be put into the pot first and the
ones that need least cooking to be put in last. In this way much of the
nutrient contents of the food does not get lost.
Frying
When food is fried using oil or solid
fat it is important that you observe some rules in handling oil or fat. Simple
rules to follow when frying: 1.Make sure there is enough oil or fat put in
the frying pan or a deep frying pan. 2.The food to be cooked must not have
water dripping from it. This is because when water comes into contact with hot
oil or fat, you will have the oil sizzling and spitting out of the pan, which
could burn your skin if you are not careful. 3.Put the food into the hot oil
carefully. Try not to make a big splash as the oil could burn your skin. 4.The
oil of fat should be heated to the right temperature before putting food into
the pan to be fried. If the food is put in when the oil or fat is not heated to
the right temperature, the food will soak up the oil and you will have food
that is all oily or greasy. If the oil or fat is over heated, you will end up
with food that is burnt. Sometimes the food especially dough nuts will turn
brown on the inside but the dough inside is uncooked. To cook food using the frying
method, there are two ways of doing it. There is the shallow frying and the
deep frying methods.
7. Shallow Frying
In shallow frying, food is cooked in a
frying pan with a little amount of oil or fat. The oil or fat is heated to the
correct amount and the food is put into the heated oil. The food is turned over
a few minutes or is stirred around a couple of times before it is cooked and
dished out. If patties, potato chips or coated foods are fried, it is best to
put a piece of brown paper or paper napkin inside the tray to soak up any oil
from the food before serving it.
8. Deep Frying
This is when a lot of oil or fat is
used in cooking the food. The oil or fat is usually put into a deep pan and is
heated to boiling point. Food is then put into the hot boiling oil and is
cooked in that way. Such food as fish fingers, potato chips, meat balls, and
dough nuts to name a few, are cooked using the deep frying method.
9. Barbequing
The method of cooking food by
barbequing is usually associated with fund raising activities, parties or
picnics. It is most suitable to cooking meat cutlets, fish or chicken pieces.
The food is usually marinated with spices and tenderizers (for meat cuts) for
sometime before it is cooked. With this method of cooking, a sheet of metal
with stands is heated up and oil is used to cook the food. A sufficient amount
of oil is heated up and food is added. The food is then turned over a couple of
times before it is dished out.
10. Basting
This method of cooking is usually associated
with roasting. The juice or liquid that comes out of the meat being cooked is
spooned over the roast frequently while it is being roasted. The outer part of
the meat is moistened frequently during the cooking process with the juice that
is being spooned over. Usually, the extra juice from the cooked meat is added
to a mixture to make the meat sauce.
