Frying has been an integral part of cooking for much of recorded history. Evidence has been found to suggest that ancient Egyptians were frying fish over 4,000 years ago, and stir frying was in widespread use in Asia at least 1500 years ago. Despite it’s prevalence, frying has a reputation for being unhealthy, and while its true that eating a diet heavy in “fried foods” does open the door for high fat diet risks; done properly, frying can produce a healthy, tasty meal.
Healthy Frying – A Beginner’s Guide
Start by choosing a healthy cooking oil. This provides substantial benefits to the chef; and not just because fat is good for flavor. Fats also offer the following advantages over some other modes of cooking:
- Fats allow for a uniform, indirect transfer of heat from the source to the food
- Fats can be heated to higher temperatures than water (at the same pressure) without boiling or decomposing
- Fats are naturally resistant to bacteria
This combination makes fats an ideal medium for cooking. It allows for foods to be cooked faster than broiling or boiling, while sealing in flavor.
There are four basic frying methods available to the nascent chef.
Deep Frying
Usually considered the least healthy of all frying methods, deep frying is most commonly associated with foods like fried chicken. The chef starts by coating the food to be cooked in a batter, which generally includes an egg and flour mixture. The coated food is then immersed in hot oil. Temperature of the oil ranges from 375-degrees Fahrenheit to 450-degrees Fahrenheit, and cooking times range from mere minutes, up to several hours in the case of items like whole turkey. This complete (or near-complete) immersion of results in rapid cooking, and when done properly, seals in moisture.
Other foods commonly associated with deep frying include donuts, deep fried whole turkey, churros, and tortilla chips. Although they don’t exactly make a pin-up for healthy eating, when properly prepared, some deep fried foods can rival the nutritional quality of broiling. One example of this is fried turkey. When properly prepared, fried turkey (minus the skin and breading) approaches broiled turkey for nutritional benefits, coming in at 0.5-grams more fat in a 6-ounce serving.
Stir-Frying
Stir frying is synonymous with Asian cooking. Originally developed as a method of cooking that would conserve precious fuel, stir frying conserves oil, requiring only very small quantities. The technique came into widespread use during the Tang Dynasty around 700 A.D. Properly stir fried foods are cooked at temperatures approaching 600ºF, which is above the smoke point of most oils. Temperatures above the smoke point lead to partial decomposition of the oil, which can impart objectional taste if the process is done too slowly.
The secret to properly cooked stir fry is the wok. The combination of the rounded shape of the wok and high heats used in stir fry cooking result in a heat gradient across the slope of the pan, such that the pan is hottest at the bottom, and cooler near the top. This heating gradient is the reason traditional stir frying mandates the food be “tossed” and stirred constantly. Whereas the traditional Chinese wok has a rounded bottom, its more common for Western woks to have a flat bottom, which makes them more akin to a frying pan. It’s also true that doing it properly over an electric burner is extremely difficult, due to the necessary tossing required. In my humble opinion, this is the best way to cook asparagus, as well as a number of other vegetables. Done properly, even my kids will eat them. Sometimes.
Searing
Another high heat cooking method utilizing oil, searing is a method usually reserved for cooking meats. Searing meats is done in small amounts of oil, heated to temperatures of 350ºF to 450ºF. This process carmelizes the surface of the meat, which generates a thin crispy layer on the outside of the meat. This combination of a crispy outer layer and tender inside is prized by many meat-lovers.
Traditionally, it was thought that searing helped “lock in” moisture, which protected the meat from moisture loss during later cooking. More recent scientific studies have shown this not to be the case. In fact, searing seems to promote the loss of moisture. Regardless, the process is still highly prized for its contribution to flavor and texture of the finished dish, and is a favored way to prepare foods like tilapia and bluegill.
Sautéing
Sauté is French for “to jerk.” This variation on frying is reserved for cooking thin slices of food, whether it be vegetables or meats. Performed at temperatures lower than other frying methods, its not uncommon for butter or olive oil to be used in this cooking method. These oils have a lower smoke point than many other cooking oils, so heating to higher temperatures will lead to faster degradation. Choosing to use butter, which has the lower smoke point, is known to give a more flavor, but is less forgiving to the chef.
To properly sauté, one must start with the right pan. The technique demands a flat bottomed pan, with either straight or sloped sides. The most important part of the pan is the bottom, which needs to be heavy, for uniform heat transfer. The pan should be pre-heated dry to at least the boiling point of water before adding the oil. The chef then adds just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. The thinly sliced food is added, and cooking is accomplished with constant stirring, or shaking of the pan.
Sautéing is another fast cooking method, and perfectly sautéing food locks in moisture while also carmelizing the outer layer of any meats being cooked. For this reason, one should never use a fork during cooking, which will pierce the food, releasing moisture. To accomplish the task of rapid cooking while carmelizing, food should be of uniform size and shape, while any seasoning included should be chopped into very small pieces to more quickly release flavor.
Although frying has a reputation for being unhealthy, oils are in many ways, perfectly suited for providing flavor while still allowing healthful meals. The above techniques provide the discriminating chef the tools to enjoy healthy cooking while still enjoying the flavors made available from proper application of these age-old methods.
