Understand sautéing

Understand sautéing. Sautéing is a quick cooking method which involves cooking food in a pan, over a high heat, in a small amount of fat. It imparts a lot of flavor to food, and is perfect for cooking tender cuts of meat and chunks of vegetables.

• It is very important that a high-quality pan is used for sautéing. A good pan will heat the food evenly and be very responsive to temperature changes. A heavy stainless steel pan, with a layer of aluminum in the core and heavy metal plating is ideal.
• In terms of fat, oil or butter can be used. Olive oil or canola oil are most commonly used. Butter will impart great flavor to food, but will burn quicker than oil.
• With sautéing, the most important rule is that both the pan and the fat be heated to a high temperature before adding the food. Otherwise, the food won't cook properly - it will absorb some of the fat and stick to the pan. To check if the pan is hot enough, a good tip is to add a couple of drops of water to the pan - if they sizzle vigorously and evaporate within a couple of seconds, the pan is hot enough.
• Once the food is in the pan, it is important to keep it moving. The term sautéactually means "jump" in French, so keep tossing the food as you cook. This ensures that the food cooks evenly and that the pan stays hot. You will need room in the pan in order to toss food properly, so avoid overcrowding.
• In term of foods that can be sautéed, almost anything goes - with the exception of thick or tough cuts of meat (shank or brisket), entire roasts or chickens, or hard root vegetables. This is due to the fact that these types of foods will be burned on the outside long before they are cooked in the middle.
• However, any small, tender cuts of meat will respond well to sautéing, along with the majority of vegetables. Just make sure that the food is chopped into equal-sized pieces, to ensure even cooking.
• Some vegetables will cook quicker than others, even if they are cut to the same size - account for this by either chopping the harder vegetable into even smaller pieces, or by adding the faster-cooking vegetable to the pan at a later point.^[2]

Resource: wikihow.com