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Sautéing = Stir Frying? .... well, kinda

Village Idiot
Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
I thought I'd take an old recipe of mine for Scampi and stir fry it on the wok. But, it immediately became clear that there is a bit of a difference between the two methods. In stir frying, I am usually using peanut oil, which has a high smoke point, with very high temperatures, while sautéing usually calls for butter. A high temperature cook would burn butter.

There are other nutritional and methodological differences between the two, but not important with Scampi.

Other than that, it was the same. The wok allowed for excellent infusing of the garlic and onion into the butter, and the Scampi was excellent on a bed of linguini.

scampi.jpg
__________________________________________

Dripping Springs, Texas.
Just west of Austintatious


Comments

  • Gary,

    That looks great.

    I know virtually nothing about woks. But I'd like to get one for the egg and learn. I was thinking seriously about getting the spider rig and the wok from ceramicgrillstore.

    Would you mind explaining why the wok was good at infusing garlic and onion into the butter? I mean, what makes it a "preferred" method for that?

    What are the "other nutritional and methodological differences"?

    Also, could you describe specifically how you did this cook, including temperature of egg, location of wok relative to coals, how you set the wok in the egg.

    I really want to learn how to wok in the egg. It just seems to me that it would be great fun and better for nutritional value.

    Thank you again for your post. I'm loving the hell out of learning so many cool things about the egg and cooking.
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    Nice looking, I agree with the peanut oil high temp, next time try using some ghee and not so high heat. The ghee imparts a slightly nutty flavor and with the garlic it should do fine. I find that ghee will stay in the frig in a closed container for months.

    Butter, Ghee (Indian Clarified Butter)

    This is the recipe that I use for making ghee and is reprinted verbatim from the cookbook. The cookbook is a good one that I use often.Except for the cooking restrictions of a handful of religious sects, the haute cuisines of North and Central India has always demanded clarified butter for cooking fat. Clarification removes the milk solids and moisture from butter, leaving only the pure oil. This has a higher smoke point than olive or mustard oils and imparts a delicious flavor to any dish in which it is used. Most important, as far as the hot climate of India is concerned, ghee needs no refrigeration and will last as long as a year without turning rancid, if stored in a cool, dark place.Because or the relative expense of ghee, many Indian families use 75 percent vegetable shortening or clarified margarine to 25 percent butter in their cooking, producing a less rich dish which still retains some of the flavor.


    Ingredients:
    2 lb unsalted (sweet) butter




    Cooking Directions:
    1 Place a pan over medium-low to low heat and add the butter. Melt it and bring it to just below the simmering point. Adjust your heat setting, if necessary, to keep it at that temperature.
    2 As the foam gathers on top, keep stirring it back into the oil. Leave the butter oil over the heat for 45 minutes. At the end of that time, the moisture will have evaporated and the milk solids will have formed a layer of sediment on the bottom of the pan.
    3 Remove the pan from the heat and let the contents cool to lukewarm.
    4 Place a sieve, lined with 2 or 3 layers of paper towels, over the top of a pitcher or bowl and slowly pour the clear butter through it, keeping a much of the sediment as you can in the pan
    5 Discard the sediment, wash and dry the pan and set it back on the same heat setting. Pour in the oil and bring it up to under a simmer. Hold it at that temperature for five minutes and then remove it from the heat.
    6 Line the sieve with fresh paper towels and strain the oil through once more. It should now be crystal clear.
    7 Pour into a wide-mouthed jar, cap tightly and store in a cool place, or refrigerate. You will notice that you will have lost about ¼ pound of the butter by removing the moisture and the sediment.
    Special Instructions:
    Advanced Preparation And Storage Notes
    1 Make the clarified butter whenever you have the time to spare. If you decide to double the recipe, increase the cooking time by one-half. If the ghee is stored unrefrigerated, it will solidify during cold weather and liquefy when the temperature rises. This in no way affects the quality of the flavor.


    Servings: 1
    Yield: 1-¾ pounds

    Recipe Type
    Sauce, Butter

    Recipe Source
    Author: RhumAndJerk FrenchiePKT@Yahoo.com

    Source: BGE Forum, RhumAndJerk, 2006/06/15

    The Cuisines of Asia by Jennifer Brennan



    ai
  • Beli
    Beli Posts: 10,751
    Gary se vé muy bueno mi amigo, even the botanic garden against that tablecloth
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    I could eat that whole plate. :P
  • Hey, thanks Richard !

    I think I'll try this. It calls for a trip to Costco for unsalted butter in bulk. :)
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • I did. burp. :laugh:
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    This past weekend "Land 'O Lake" butter in Winn Dixie was $4.99/lb. Time to go back to peanut oil and bacon grease..
  • Beli wrote:
    even the botanic garden against that tablecloth

    Yep, there's something about red, white, and green that I love. ¿ tambien tu ?
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,568
    will that extend the shelf life of the butter, seems i always have some coming up on expiration.probably have 5 pounds sitting in the freezer at camp with people showing up all summer, why dont they leave booze :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,568
    woks are made for high temps but you dont have to cook so hot in a wok. it works nicely when you want to flip things and move them around, the same cook could be done in a pan but a spatula in a pan is a little awkward chasing small foods around to flip. if you get the wok, you want the spatula, shovel, that fits it, makes flipping things and moving things extremely fast and easy.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Gary,

    That looks great.

    I know virtually nothing about woks. But I'd like to get one for the egg and learn. I was thinking seriously about getting the spider rig and the wok from ceramicgrillstore.

    That's where I got mine. You will not be disappointed.

    Would you mind explaining why the wok was good at infusing garlic and onion into the butter? I mean, what makes it a "preferred" method for that?

    I like the wok's curved bottom. It makes it very easy to manipulate the food with a special spatula.

    What are the "other nutritional and methodological differences"?

    Stir frying is usually cooked over very high heat and very fast, which makes the food, especially vegetables, more nutritious because the high heat and fast cooking causes some searing without leaching out the nutrients. Also, sautéing is usually done all at once, whereas, stir frying is typically done in steps so that each ingredient is cooked at it's best time and in the right order. Often, you will cook the meat (somewhat), then take it out of the wok while you are cooking your veggies, then add it back at the end to finish cooking with the rest.

    Also, could you describe specifically how you did this cook, including temperature of egg, location of wok relative to coals, how you set the wok in the egg.

    I brought the egg up to about 350° - 400° (guess). I put the spider on top of the fire box and the wok sat in the spider. Pretty straight forward.

    I really want to learn how to wok in the egg. It just seems to me that it would be great fun and better for nutritional value.

    I'd recommend getting Breath Of A Wok or Stir Frying To the Sky's Edge. Both are excellent and very informative.

    Thank you again for your post. I'm loving the hell out of learning so many cool things about the egg and cooking.

    You're welcome. Stir Frying will open up a whole new world for you. :)
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    I am not sure of the butter's shelf life, the government has been known to keep it frozen for over a year. The ghee that I have made over many years has been known to get lost in the frig for over a year and is just as good as the day I made it. Nice nutty flavor. Be careful not to burn the solids.
  • Spring Hen
    Spring Hen Posts: 1,578
    Gary, we use an extra light olive oil that says to use for sauteing and baking by Carapelli. You might give that a try...Shrimp look good.... one of my favorite dishes...
    Judy
    Covington, Louisiana USA
  • Better than butter? Oh my, my whole set of paradigms are shattered.

    What hath God wrought? :ohmy:
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Looks nice, as usual.

    How's going green working for you?

    See you soon.

    Spring "Still Doing Brown Here" Chicken
    Spring Texas USA
  • Spring Chicken wrote:

    How's going green working for you?

    Great ! My newest addition is a 7 chamber bat house. It's on order. A true organic garden must have an ecological way to rid the plants of pests, without using chemical pesticides. Besides, guano makes great fertilizer. :)

    http://www.batmanagement.com/Ordering/batboxes/metal/SevenChamber.html
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,768
    Gary you do us proud ;)
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Just given a Mini to add to the herd. 

  • I built some multi-chamber bat houses for us and friends a few years ago because home construction was driving all our bats away.

    Then some kid in Katy got rabies from a dead he touched and suddenly everyone was anti-bat. I even tried circulating bat info but it was a waste of time. Seems that three million people would prefer to lose blood to a trillion mosquitoes than risk one person getting rabies because they messed with a dead animal carcass.

    Spring "Bats In My Belfry" Chicken
  • Yep. I've been given the "rabies lecture". I think I'll get a cat to serve as a decoy. :laugh:
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Well, thank you kind sir. :blush:
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Gary, the scampi linguine looks fabulous! :)

    I agree with Richard, it's nice to have clarified butter or ghee on hand.
  • Thanks, Rebecca.

    I can't wait to make some ghee.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Thank you Gary.

    I'll add the wok to my Christmas list (combo rig is on it already). I'll also get one or both of those books.

    The idea of more flavorful NUTRITIONAL cooking really appeals to me. Especially since everything, to me, is better with 2 sticks of butter in it and wrapped in bacon. heh.