Glossary and terminology of various cooking methods…
Blanching is a process wherein the food is plunged into boiling water and removed (normally within a short time) and then plunged into ice (or cold) water.
The process is often used to preserve colour and texture of veges, to eliminate smell and blood (meat and bones) or for easy skin-peeling (tomato etc).
Braise
Braising is a process to cook (normally meat products) with moist heat in a covered pot with liquid (water, stock etc).
The process normally take longer time (sometimes hours) to make really tender meat or to make a good soup.
Deep Fry
Deep-frying is a process wherein the food is submerged into hot oil. The cooking process is usually fast and results in crunchiness of the food. Not really a healthy cooking method though.
Red Cook
Red cooking is a Chinese cooking method similar to braising. The different is that red cooking generally cooks the food (normally meat) into a reddish (or brownish) colour using soy sauce (and sometimes sugar and other ingredients) whereas braising doesn’t really matters.
The cooking times vary, and may involve some stir frying or deep frying as well.
Simmer
Simmering is basically the same as braising (cooking in liquid with moist heat). I am not sure if there are any difference to both the terms… I assume it’s the same meaning.
Stir Fry
Stir frying is a Chinese cooking process wherein the food is stirred and tossed inside a wok with high temperature. The cooking method gives extra taste and aroma especially when served immediately after cooked.