Condiments and Other Basic Ingredients

I would say, welcome back Emma to your Saturday Kitchen Exploration blogging. It's been awhile...

Anyways, I hope I can do this more often. This section of my blog is to provide some tips on how to use the bits and pieces that we see and use in our fun cooking.  Most of the information I'm going to have in here are from the books I read or from www. ;-)

Hope you enjoy reading and find it beneficial.

Onion! Oh Onion! Why you make me cry?

Onion is one of the commonly used spices because of the great taste it brings to our food but if we overcook it will become bitter, so be little sensitive with time when frying it.

Before cooking, we have to cut it first and I think most people doesn't like doing it because of the tears it brings into our eyes.  To avoid crying while preparing your meal, just wear  a solid plastic goggles.

Do you know what causes tears when slicing the onion? It is due to the sulfuric acid that forms when the fluid in our eyes react against the chemical "propanethiol  S-oxide".

Garlic, why you smells so good?

Garlic isn't just for our food, it is also know to be good as a herbal medicine. I think the smell of it is good enough to get rid of your headache.

The more you chop and mince garlic, the more intense the aroma and the flavor becomes. This is due to the reaction of the two molecules (allin and allinase) presence in garlic when you slice it.

Salt, when to use or not to use you?

I bet, most of us uses salt even just a pinch of it every time we cook. Yes, it is beneficial to our body but be careful in using it because of its sodium content. Note, that too much sodium can cause high blood pressure.

Don't use salt for food that have a long and slow cooking time such as beans because it will become tough. You can also add salt to your cooking water as it raise the temperature to at least 1 deg Fahrenheit. Now I know why my mom put salt in boiling  pasta 😛

Sugar, why are you sooo sweet?

Sugar is one of the most commonly used condiments in our kitchen. Other people can't start a day without the taste of its sweetness.

Do you wonder why, sugar is so sweet?  I do and here's what I've got.

Most of the sugar we consume is produced from beet root and sugar cane which is the source of sucrose. When sucrose interact with the  taste receptor for sweetness in our tongues then we taste the sweetness of sugar.