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The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
series • cooking
PG
series • cooking
PG
Fans of The Cook Up will be familiar with Adam Liaw's tendency to toss a nugget of wisdom into each of his recipes. This secret ingredient goes a long way to ensuring Adam's recipes are either bursting with unexpected flavour or lightning-fast to make. Often both.
We've rounded up some of our favourite Adam tips to inject into your cooking. We promise that each of these little gems will make getting dinner on the table a whole lot more fun.
Soak your grains
Begin this recipe a day in advance by rinsing the glutinous rice well then soaking it overnight. Credit: Jiwon Kim
Soaking rice for at least three hours before cooking does a few things. Firstly, soaking of grains and potentially the ability of your body to absorb their nutrients. Secondly, soaking allows all of the rice to absorb water so it cooks more evenly. Thirdly, soaked grains cook faster, so if you're pressed for time, putting your rice out to soak in the morning can make cooking more efficient in the evening.
Prick your eggs
When making a classic , before you boil your eggs, poke a tiny hole in the larger end. This releases any gas inside and prevents flat-bottomed eggs (which definitely do not make the rockin' world go round).
Pop your bubbles
We all know that if you want a smooth, fluffy cake you need to get rid of any extra-large air bubbles without removing the air in the batter.
Everyone needs a secret recipe for the perfect chocolate cake to whip out on special occasions. This is Adam Liaw's.
If gently tapping the cake tin on your bench top doesn't deflate the bubbles, feel free to pop them using a skewer.
Another cake tip is to really make sure you beat the butter and sugar together well. It should be light and fluffy so your cake ends up light and fluffy too. But don't sweat it if you have a few failures along the way.
"I hate being wrong, but you've just got to be wrong when you're starting to learn to bake," said Adam on a of The Cook Up. "You've just got to have disappointments and failures." That's how you get better.
Microwave your mushrooms
To speed up cooking time, concentrate flavour and reduce oil absorption, microwave on high for five minutes before finishing off in the frying pan.
Bicarb your chicken
Adding a small amount of bicarbonate of soda to the batter increases the tenderness and juiciness of fried chicken.
A little added bicarb results in the ultimate, crispy, tender fried chicken. Credit: Jiwon Kim
This actually works for all kinds of meat. The bicarb raises the pH level on the surface of the meat and this increased alkalinity stops it from seizing up and losing moisture when it's heated over high heat.
Do note that only a tiny amount of bicarb is needed; for example, the recipe above uses just a quarter of a teaspoon. Any more will affect the flavour of your dish (if you've ever tasted pure bicarb you'll know exactly how important it is to carefully measure the dose).
Hide your veggies
Don't be scared to add extra vegetables to your ragu. In (ingeniously made using elbow pasta - don't let a lack of pasta sheets put you off making a lasagne), a whole 500 grams of extra veggies hit the pot. Add in whatever you have on hand, broccoli or mushroom stems, zucchini, eggplant, anything goes. The stealthy veg brings a boost of both flavour and nutrition but slides by unnoticed by even the fussiest eater.
Cool your rice
If you're making fried rice, always refrigerate your cooked rice right up until the minute you add it to the hot pan.
Make the perfect takeaway-style fried rice by using leftover cooked rice straight from the fridge. Credit: Jiwon Kim
The colder rice grains are less likely to become mushy, clump together or generally become overcooked during the stir-frying process. Rice kept in the fridge until cold (preferably overnight) is far less moist than just-cooked warm rice. It's how you get the bitey, crispy fried rice restaurants are famous for.
Speed up your pork
Bring on all the big flavours of with a much, much smaller time commitment. Rather than slow-braising a large cut of pork for hours, just use the frozen, thinly sliced pork available at Asian grocery stores. You're going to slice your slow-cooked pork for the stir-fry anyway, and the frozen stuff that's usually used for hot pot tastes (almost) as good. Especially when you consider that a dish that usually takes hours now takes 10 minutes.
"One of the easiest things you can do to speed up your cooking I reckon is to cut things small so they cook faster," Adam on The Cook Up.
Fake your gelatine
The best stock is simmered for hours on end to extract the natural gelatine and flavour from the bones.
This pepper steak frites recipe combines modern speed with classic French flavour. Credit: Jiwon Kim
That's great if your full-time job is Chief Stock Maker. but for the rest of us, adding powdered gelatine when making a sauce speeds up the process nicely. You get the same, gelatinous flavour and texture without the time commitment.
Unfreeze your fish
Frozen fish fingers are an affordable, handy way to enjoy fish and we are here for them. Yep, it's time to stop pretending we don't all keep a box in the freezer and instead make them taste wonderful.
Here's a recipe to get you started:
Fish finger tacos
Toast your breadcrumbs
How can you get that golden, crunchy coating on your chicken tenders without deep frying? By toasting the breadcrumbs first then air-frying, that's how.
These chicken tenders have a satisfyingly crisp shell without the deep-fried in oil factor. Credit: Kitti Gould
Mayo up your life
Whenever you're out thinking 'hmmm, why is this recipe so remarkably yummy compared to how I make it?" the answer is probably mayonnaise. Add it to , use it to butter your , and spoon it into your . Trust us, mayo is the secret ingredient that other ingredients are envious of.
