8.1 Sauté and pan-frying

The heat reaches the food mainly by conduction. Conduction means heat passing straight from the hot pan into the food that touches it. Done well, a sauté browns the outside and keeps the food's own texture, moisture and flavor.

Getting the food and the pan ready

• Cut the food small, or slice it thin. Small pieces cook through in the short time a sauté takes.
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• Choose a pan wide enough for every piece to lie flat in one layer. Steam then has room to escape. A crowded pan traps the steam, and the food stews in its own liquid instead of browning.
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• Sauté pans are a type of pan made for this job.
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Choosing the fat

A sauté is cooked at medium-high heat, so the fat must stand that heat without smoking. The smoke point is the temperature at which a fat starts to smoke. Some oils have a smoke point too low for sautéing. Common choices are sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and clarified butter.

Plain butter tastes better, but it holds milk solids. These burn at a lower heat and sooner than other fats. Clarified butter is the better choice for a sauté.

Cooking

Everything goes into the hot pan together and cooks quickly. Keep it moving. You can stir with a spoon or spatula, or toss the food by jerking the pan.

When the food is meat, chicken or fish, browned bits stick to the pan. These bits are called fond. Cooks often finish the dish by deglazing the fond, turning it into a sauce.

Sauté or sear?

Searing is not the same as sautéing. A sear only browns the surface of the food. In a sauté, the food is browned and cooked quickly all at once.