Sauteeing Vegetables

[rotuts]

I do a similar dish w whole spinach

 

but I put the spinach in a covered bowl in the microwave to 'steam' then do the rest as noted

 

I end up w that sort of spinach hors'dovers you get in japanese restaurants, but warm

 

the microwave is an easy and excellent way to warm and partially cook veg.

 

i micro whole potatoes after jabbing them w a fork so they dont explode pre-baking.

 

they a warm when I put them in the oven and cut down on the baking time quite a bit

 

micro heats the inside, not just the outside.

[Smithy]

Beautiful tutorial, Soba! Thanks for taking one for the team and showing how a small distraction, like taking time to take a photo, can throw your timing off. ;-)

Tex, I'm with the others: those veggies probably were given a head start. Blanching as discussed above is one option. A short burst in the microwave, in a covered dish with a touch of water to steam, is another method worth considering. It probably won't be as beautiful as that blanch-and-shock method, but it'll be quicker. (Edited to add: I see rotuts, who posted while I was typing, had the same idea.)

[SobaAddict70]

They probably pre-cook them as other folks have noted.

Thanks everyone.

I can demo another dish later -- sautéed asparagus with coconut and cardamom. This is a somewhat more complex prep, but don't worry, I'll be holding your hands every step of the way.

[blue_dolphin]

Loved Soba's tutorial!  I sometimes make that into a pasta dish by adding the cooked pasta to the partially cooked greens, adding a ladle of pasta-cooking water and letting everything finish cooking together.  Yum!  

 

I didn't watch the video to see if it's similar but the cafeteria at my workplace has a cook-to-order pasta station where they do what the OP described.  Here's what I've observed:

• The vegetables are cut very, very thin and some do look like they've been blanched in advance
• They don't actually put very much veg into each serving, at least compared to what I would serve
• It's just a single serving in the pan - cooking  a family-sized portion would take a lot more time and/or heat
• They start with the oil and aromatics and then add the veg and let them saute a bit.  Then they usually add a bit of sauce, broth or water (depending on the recipe) and cover the pan with another pan to let things steam-cook for a minute or so before adding the cooked pasta and letting things warm through. 

If I'm making pasta with veggies, I like a lot of veg and I pre-cook them each separately (or sometimes sequentially, adding the firmer ones to the pan first) before tossing everything together.

[huiray]

For myself I do not do what Soba did.  I almost never blanch my vegetables first when sautéeing (or stir-frying) them, with some exceptions depending on what I am doing or what I want to achieve.  Leafy veggies never get blanched first.

 

If I blanch my leafy and soft vegetables (like the spinach that Soba used) then it is purely for wilting it and just barely cooking it (wilted with a slight darkening of color = cooked, in my books) but in OILED hot water; followed by draining it and tossing with oyster sauce, ponzu sauce, etc...plus a grind of pepper... and eating it forthwith.  I've described this in many posts here.

 

With me, the washed spinach would go straight into the very hot pan (stainless steel, not non-stick pans) preheated before adding any oil at all.  The garlic goes in, followed by the spinach very quickly after.  It's tossed around a bit with the spatula (again, hot pan, full flame) and it wilts down and cooks in no time flat.  Done.  For myself, if I were to blanch the spinach first, wring it out, then sauté it the result would be too mushy and soft for my tastes.

 

When cooking harder stuff (like broccoli florets) they also go in without pre-blanching, again into a very hot pan (preheated before adding oil) but I would then COVER the pan for an appropriate amount of time.  Even with the spinach I might do so briefly, so as to return the aromatics that come off in the first couple of seconds back to the pan.  (Very hot pan + very hot oil + wet vegetables = a WHOOSH and immediate roar of vapors.  Covering it within the second the veggies go in traps those aromatic vapors and returns them to the pan and food being cooked)  With appropriate wetness/dryness and covering one also achieves a tasty browning of the veggies (this is especially nice with green beans) while cooking the stuff through. A splash of additional water may or may not be called for, again depending on the circumstances.  One could consider it a partial "steaming" of sorts being a part of the process, yes.

 

In a sense this is reminiscent of what Weinoo mentioned upthread.   There are elements of stir-frying in this.

 

I add pasta to the dish at the end, when I am aiming for such a dish and with appropriate ingredients (meats and other proteins may become ingredients in the progression of the process) to generate the kind of dishes the OP described in his initial post.  I've described such dishes here on eG as well.  (Some recent examples here, here, here, and here; various others hither and yon.)

 

In a related sense, it is certainly true that in stir fries "hard" vegetables (like that broccoli, kai lan, big pieces of bok choy, carrot pieces, etc) get blanched first in the wok with some boiling water.  They are then sieved out and may or may not be shocked by cold water (not iced), the wok cleaned out, the rest of the stir fry commenced on and the veggies added back in at the appropriate time.  If one watches an open kitchen in a Chinese restaurant (or your friendly neighborhood Chinese take-out) one can see this being done.  :-) 

 

((Shrug)) Different strokes for different folks.  As Soba alluded to, there is no single way to do this.

Edited June 13, 2014 by huiray (log)

[weinoo]

If we could only get Soba to do this in video form, then we'd have something.

[SobaAddict70]

If we could only get Soba to do this in video form, then we'd have something.

I've thought about that, but unfortunately I wasn't born with an extra set of hands.

More on topic:

The demo I did is just a template. The technique of blanching, then sautéing is quite a common method in Italian and other types of cuisine. One of my favorite Italian foodblogs, Memorie di Angelina, describes the ripassare technique in this recipe for sautéed spinach.

Throughout, there are many points in which you can branch off. For instance, you can skip the blanching step; you can leave the vegetables whole instead of rough-chopping them after having shocked them; you can add other aromatic ingredients in addition to the garlic and anchovy or omit them entirely, or sub something else like onion or shallot instead of the garlic.

The recipe that I depicted is one of my own devising, but it's adaptable to many other veg. Besides the veg I listed, it occurs to me you can also use carrots like this Ina Garten recipe, or string beans or green beans.

Now there are other ways to sauté veg as a few folks have replied. The demo for tonight will involve a variation on the ripassare technique mentioned above in which the asparagus will be sautéed in spice-infused ghee (clarified butter), then combined with slow-cooked onion seasoned with ground cumin seed.

Edited June 13, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[paulraphael]

Blanching before sautéing is a restaurant technique. It's not required, and it's more work than cooking in one step, but it off-loads the work from service to prep. In general there is unlimited time for prep, but at service everything hits the fan at once, and so the fewer steps (and the less attention required for each one) the better. Having your greens properly blanched and the colors "set" means you can sauté and season at the last minute, quickly, and with very little to worry about. 

 

These techniques also work well for dinner parties ... another situation where it helps to cut down on things to do at service. You may not be cooking a la carte for 200 people, but you probably want to hurry up and join the party, and if you're doing it right you already have a glass of wine in one hand.

[Texas Crude]

Blanching before sautéing is a restaurant technique. It's not required, and it's more work than cooking in one step, but it off-loads the work from service to prep. In general there is unlimited time for prep, but at service everything hits the fan at once, and so the fewer steps (and the less attention required for each one) the better. Having your greens properly blanched and the colors "set" means you can sauté and season at the last minute, quickly, and with very little to worry about. 

 

These techniques also work well for dinner parties ... another situation where it helps to cut down on things to do at service. You may not be cooking a la carte for 200 people, but you probably want to hurry up and join the party, and if you're doing it right you already have a glass of wine in one hand.

 

Very helpful.  I'll try that this weekend -- we'll blanche the peppers, broccoli, and snap peas ahead of time, and then see how long it takes to get them sautéed with the noodles.

[Texas Crude]

Loved Soba's tutorial!  I sometimes make that into a pasta dish by adding the cooked pasta to the partially cooked greens, adding a ladle of pasta-cooking water and letting everything finish cooking together.  Yum!  

 

I didn't watch the video to see if it's similar but the cafeteria at my workplace has a cook-to-order pasta station where they do what the OP described.  Here's what I've observed:

• The vegetables are cut very, very thin and some do look like they've been blanched in advance
• They don't actually put very much veg into each serving, at least compared to what I would serve
• It's just a single serving in the pan - cooking  a family-sized portion would take a lot more time and/or heat
• They start with the oil and aromatics and then add the veg and let them saute a bit.  Then they usually add a bit of sauce, broth or water (depending on the recipe) and cover the pan with another pan to let things steam-cook for a minute or so before adding the cooked pasta and letting things warm through. 

If I'm making pasta with veggies, I like a lot of veg and I pre-cook them each separately (or sometimes sequentially, adding the firmer ones to the pan first) before tossing everything together.

 

This is helpful, and actually what I'm trying to recreate in my kitchen.  We tried it the other night but didn't precook anything, so my broccoli was rock hard and everything kind of fell apart from there.  Everyone's suggestions, especially the tutorial with pictures, have been helpful!

[quiet1]

Very helpful.  I'll try that this weekend -- we'll blanche the peppers, broccoli, and snap peas ahead of time, and then see how long it takes to get them sautéed with the noodles.

Depending on how you like your snap peas, precook ing might be overkill. I've never encountered any that took much time at all, but I do like them pretty crisp and hate them at all soggy.

[SobaAddict70]

This is helpful, and actually what I'm trying to recreate in my kitchen.  We tried it the other night but didn't precook anything, so my broccoli was rock hard and everything kind of fell apart from there.  Everyone's suggestions, especially the tutorial with pictures, have been helpful!

You probably won't need to blanch the peppers. I have never done that, but that doesn't mean that someone hasn't. It's just that I've never heard of that before.

What I would do is slice them thinly, like the ones in the pic below:

I'm still at the office, but I'll make sure to buy a pepper on the way home and demo that as well.

Agreed on the snap peas (I'm assuming you mean sugar snap peas), but if you do decide to blanch them, I recommend 2 minutes in lightly salted boiling water. Another tip: make sure you "destring" the peas when you prep them.

[SobaAddict70]

This is a somewhat more complex dish compared to the other demo.

I chose this dish because it's a dry-sauté, in which the vegetables are cooked with barely any liquid in the pan, instead relying on the moisture already present in them. Useful with potatoes, root vegetables, peppers, onion, mushrooms, broccoli and brussels sprouts, amongst others.

This dish has a lot of prep, but the actual cooking time is quite short.

Let's get started, shall we?

Clockwise from top left: 1 tablespoon toasted black cumin seeds (the seeds were toasted in a hot, dry pan), 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds, 3 green cardamom pods, about 1 tablespoon grated ginger and garlic cloves. If you'd rather not grate fresh ginger, ground ginger is fine or you can omit it. I'm using it for a touch of "heat" without using actual chiles.

Grind the cumin seeds coarsely in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.

Should look like this. If you don't have cumin seed, ground cumin is okay.

Crush the cardamom pods in the mortar. You'll be using the seeds inside the pods.

It occurs to me that maybe I wasn't clear enough in yesterday's demo regarding peeling garlic, so here it is again (with more pictures!)

Looks a bit like this. The peel will slip right off.

Slice thinly. You should end up with about 1 tablespoon.

This is about 1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped. If you'd rather not hand-chop it, a food processor will work wonders. (I received one for my birthday last year and it's proven invaluable. I don't know how I ever managed without one. We can just let that be our little secret. )

Slice your asparagus on their bias into 1/3" to 1/2" lengths. Why? If you slice them this way, you increase their surface area and it also makes for a more elegant presentation.

This is about 2/3 cup asparagus. I might have misjudged the size of the lengths, but no worries. Y'all aren't eating my food.

I recognize I can make my own ghee but I'm a lazy hobbit; I'd rather buy it ready-made.

Melt your ghee in a skillet over high heat, about 1 tablespoon's worth.

Add the ground cumin seed. Stir once or twice. The spice will bloom in the ghee and infuse it with its flavor.

Add the onion and a pinch of salt.

Sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, or until the onion becomes golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Should look like this when done.

Melt another tablespoon of ghee over medium-high heat and add the black mustard seeds.

After about 1 minute or so, the seeds will begin to "pop". They'll sputter and spit in the pan, like so:

You might not be able to see it, but they're starting to change color.

The pan is really hot and if you blink, things will burn. Add your garlic and grated ginger. Stir once or twice, then add the cardamom seeds, 1 tablespoon dried coconut, the asparagus slices and a pinch of salt. Stir in the sautéed onion.

Sauté the asparagus, stirring every so often, taking care that the asparagus doesn't burn. If the pan seems too dry, add a tablespoon of water. The asparagus is done when it's started to brown. Remove from heat, stir in some chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. Serve at once.

Dry-sautéed asparagus with coconut and cardamom

Time: One hour, including prep.

[nickrey]

Of course, Soba is doing it properly, as opposed to differently.

Once again we come up against Western versus Eastern. I can see where Huiray has an issue with this statement. It shows a strong amount of cultural bias.

[Smithy]

That's another great tutorial, Soba. Thank you. I love the vibrant colors, so different than the results when a nice green vegetable just gets bunged into the microwave for 5 minutes.

[SobaAddict70]

That's another great tutorial, Soba. Thank you. I love the vibrant colors, so different than the results when a nice green vegetable just gets bunged into the microwave for 5 minutes.

Thanks!

It's just another technique that's a different method of sautéing vegetables.

[weinoo]

Blanching before sautéing is a restaurant technique. It's not required, and it's more work than cooking in one step, but it off-loads the work from service to prep. In general there is unlimited time for prep, but at service everything hits the fan at once, and so the fewer steps (and the less attention required for each one) the better. Having your greens properly blanched and the colors "set" means you can sauté and season at the last minute, quickly, and with very little to worry about. 

 

These techniques also work well for dinner parties ... another situation where it helps to cut down on things to do at service. You may not be cooking a la carte for 200 people, but you probably want to hurry up and join the party, and if you're doing it right you already have a glass of wine in one hand.

Of course there are many ways to cook vegetables; whatever works for the cook is good, isn't it?

 

In addition to what Paul mentions above, another really good reason for blanching/shocking is that the end product, in many cases, is just better in my opinion.  Better color, better flavor, better texture, etc.  

[gfweb]

This is a somewhat more complex dish compared to the other demo.

I chose this dish because it's a dry-sauté, in which the vegetables are cooked with barely any liquid in the pan, instead relying on the moisture already present in them. Useful with potatoes, root vegetables, peppers, onion, mushrooms, broccoli and brussels sprouts, amongst others.

This dish has a lot of prep, but the actual cooking time is quite short.

Let's get started, shall we?

Clockwise from top left: 1 tablespoon toasted black cumin seeds (the seeds were toasted in a hot, dry pan), 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds, 3 green cardamom pods, about 1 tablespoon grated ginger and garlic cloves. If you'd rather not grate fresh ginger, ground ginger is fine or you can omit it. I'm using it for a touch of "heat" without using actual chiles.

Grind the cumin seeds coarsely in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.

Should look like this. If you don't have cumin seed, ground cumin is okay.

Crush the cardamom pods in the mortar. You'll be using the seeds inside the pods.

It occurs to me that maybe I wasn't clear enough in yesterday's demo regarding peeling garlic, so here it is again (with more pictures!)

Looks a bit like this. The peel will slip right off.

Slice thinly. You should end up with about 1 tablespoon.

This is about 1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped. If you'd rather not hand-chop it, a food processor will work wonders. (I received one for my birthday last year and it's proven invaluable. I don't know how I ever managed without one. We can just let that be our little secret. )

Slice your asparagus on their bias into 1/3" to 1/2" lengths. Why? If you slice them this way, you increase their surface area and it also makes for a more elegant presentation.

This is about 2/3 cup asparagus. I might have misjudged the size of the lengths, but no worries. Y'all aren't eating my food.

I recognize I can make my own ghee but I'm a lazy hobbit; I'd rather buy it ready-made.

Melt your ghee in a skillet over high heat, about 1 tablespoon's worth.

Add the ground cumin seed. Stir once or twice. The spice will bloom in the ghee and infuse it with its flavor.

Add the onion and a pinch of salt.

Sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, or until the onion becomes golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Should look like this when done.

Melt another tablespoon of ghee over medium-high heat and add the black mustard seeds.

After about 1 minute or so, the seeds will begin to "pop". They'll sputter and spit in the pan, like so:

You might not be able to see it, but they're starting to change color.

The pan is really hot and if you blink, things will burn. Add your garlic and grated ginger. Stir once or twice, then add the cardamom seeds, 1 tablespoon dried coconut, the asparagus slices and a pinch of salt. Stir in the sautéed onion.

Time: One hour, including prep.

 

Great tutorial.

 

Did that really take an hour to do?

Edited June 14, 2014 by gfweb (log)

[Smithy]

Remember that he also stopped to position everything and take photos. I think it would take me somewhat less time without that extra step, but given my knife skills, I doubt I could do it in less than 45 minutes.

[SobaAddict70]

Great tutorial.

 

Did that really take an hour to do?

It probably took more than an hour with all of the photography.

I always overestimate the amount of time needed because not everyone has the same amount of manual dexterity. Things like chopping/slicing onions, mincing garlic cloves and so forth seem to take up quite a bit of time. I don't want to say "20 minutes"; what if someone decides to make this dish and then it takes them 90? He might think "I'm doing something wrong" or "this recipe is poorly written". Just something I need to be aware of.

In particular, I'm thinking about a thread on peeling garlic elsewhere on eG that first made me reflect on my own preconceptions of what people ought to be able to do in the kitchen, vs. what people actually do in real life.

[Texas Crude]

Soba -- looks like you're using a cast iron pan?  Is that preferred over a stainless steel or non-stick type pan?

[SobaAddict70]

Soba -- looks like you're using a cast iron pan?  Is that preferred over a stainless steel or non-stick type pan?

 

It's a non-stick 10" pan.  Tramontina is the maker.

 

I use whatever works for me.  I don't have a preference.  Not sure if that answers your question.

Edited June 15, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[quiet1]

It's a non-stick 10" pan.  Tramontina is the maker.

 

I use whatever works for me.  I don't have a preference.  Not sure if that answers your question.

There is definitely a lot of personal preference in pots and pans in terms of what you prefer to handle and work with. The handy thing is that there is also a lot of cross over in terms of what nonstick vs stainless, etc. can do in the hands of most cooks, so you can go with what you feel most comfortable with or have to work with, rather than having to run out and buy a specific brand of pan just to try a recipe. (There are some recipes which do legitimately call for specialized cookware, of course, and certain cuisine types, but for this kind of thing, you really don't need x specific brand anything.)

I think the most important thing would be size - you want room to move things around when sautéing. So you won't get the same results at all if you try to cram the same amount of ingredients into a smaller pan.

[SobaAddict70]

There is definitely a lot of personal preference in pots and pans in terms of what you prefer to handle and work with. The handy thing is that there is also a lot of cross over in terms of what nonstick vs stainless, etc. can do in the hands of most cooks, so you can go with what you feel most comfortable with or have to work with, rather than having to run out and buy a specific brand of pan just to try a recipe. (There are some recipes which do legitimately call for specialized cookware, of course, and certain cuisine types, but for this kind of thing, you really don't need x specific brand anything.)

I think the most important thing would be size - you want room to move things around when sautéing. So you won't get the same results at all if you try to cram the same amount of ingredients into a smaller pan.

true, but I cook for one 99% of the time; very often, a 10" will work just as well.

it also does depend on whatever it is I'm making.

if I'm sautéing LOTS OF THINGS (I know that's terribly vague), then I'll switch to a larger pan. that kind of recognition comes with practice though; the OP will eventually acquire it in time as his skills improve.

[philippeberthoud]

Ill go with ahpadt. Probanly banched before.