The first thing to keep in mind, before you pick up the oil and turn on the glass-ceramic, is to know what kind of frying pan you have. You may think otherwise, but the quality of the frying pan conditions the quality of the food you are going to cook. Low quality pans make it almost impossible to get properly cooked food, mainly because it gets stuck. It is always better to make an investment and get yourself a resistant and manageable frying pan with long-term guarantee.
Another point to consider is size. The best option is to have different frying pans with different sizes. You never know when you may need one or the other. If you live alone, think of it as an investment for the future, as frying pans are an everyday use type of thing. You really don't need to go crazy and buy a huge collection of frying pans. Three or four sizes of pans can make the trick for almost any type of home.
How to cook in a frying pan
There are a number of different techniques when we talk about cooking in a frying pan. But today we are only going to cover the two most important ones: frying and stir-frying. If you learn these two, you can make most dishes you can think of.
Frying
This may seem one of the simplest things in the world. You take a piece of something and throw it in the frying pan. But still there are some people who manage to do this wrong. Unlike other preparations, poor frying increases a lot the calories of the food you are going to eat.
The key to a good frying is to reach the perfect oil temperature. The grease needs to be very hot, so it cooks the food on the inside. But don't let it get too hot, because this can generate potentially toxic substances. A temperature around 180ºC-190ºC is the perfect for a good fry.
It is also very important that you don't use too much oil. Avoid soaking food in oil, as this won't help cook it better. Also you need to keep an eye on the oil and prevent it from smoking. If you see smoke, it means that the oil is burning and it won't serve you to fry anything.
Stir-frying
This technique basically consists of cooking with some hot fat any product with the intention of getting it quickly browned and served immediately. It is mainly used for small pieces or chopped giblets (meat, vegetables or fish).
It is important that you don't use too much fat, just a little oil is enough. Also, you must make sure that the temperature is very high, but the oil is not burning or smoking. Throw the pieces of food in the frying pan, stir continuously, and remove from the heat when you notice a golden colour and a mouth-watering smell.
