Way to Differentiate between Necessary vs Additional Ingredients in Recipes
I'm mostly cooking for myself and I'm inexperienced with cooking, so when I go onto any recipe website, I can't tell the difference between the ingredients & steps that are necessary to make a dish, and the ingredients and steps which are additional. For example, in an ideal world, I'd like a recipe to read something like this:
Base Ingredients:
X g of A
X g of B
X ml of C
Ingredients for Improved Taste:
X g of Some Exotic Herb
X g of Some Additional Spice
X ml of Red Wine
Steps:
Base Dish: (Takes 15 minutes to prepare, 20 to cook)
Step 1:
...
Step 2:
...
...
Step n:
...
Additional: (Takes 35 minutes to prepare, 25 to cook.)
Before beginning, Prepare the X, Prepare the Y and Prepare the Z.
On step 2, add X to the dish and add 3 minutes to the cooking time.
On step 4, add a splash of red wine to the pan and cook for 2 minutes longer.
Or something to that effect. Just something separating the two.
This however is not what I find on recipe websites. So I need some way to differentiate the basic thing from the "chef's touch" you could say. I just need to be able to make things that taste reasonably good, quickly, and not be spending hours.
What ends up happening is since I can't differentiate, I find that my shopping list becomes very long, and cooking takes far too long for someone inexperienced like myself. I want to build up from the basics ideally.
Best Answer
Get a stack of 10 or 20 trustworthy recipes for a dish - and compare.
Also take advantage of ingredient slots that seem optional in one dish - sometimes they are a way to use up something that you bought for another recipe where it is not optional.
Classify ingredients by the role they play in the dish:
What do they do to the balance of the basic six tastes? Can the balance be kept by using another, more generic ingredient (eg add vinegar or lime if you leave out a sour ingredient)?
Is there a functional reason for a sour/alkaline, salty, sweet, fatty ingredient? pH can matter to how something cooks; salt and sugar can interfere with liquid balance; sugar can be textural; fat can do heat transfer; fat or alcohol can put aromas into solution.
Is there an aromatic role - and is there something with a similar aroma?
Is there a textural role? If yes, is it ONLY textural because seasoning overwhelms the taste/aroma anyway?
Also - there are a lot of "exotic" ingredients that exist across ethnic cuisines in a similar form but under different names - though sometimes salt/fat/sugar balances can be different. One example would be korean doenjang and japanese dark miso. Experimentation might be needed at first.
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How would you confirm the requirements from a standard recipe?
A good standardized recipe will include:Why is it important for ingredients to be used in exact amounts and in order in a recipe?
Ingredients are listed in the exact amount as needed. The specific form of ingredient is also stated. Ingredients should be listed in the order they are used in the recipe in order to prevent leaving out any ingredients. The recipe should have directions for how to prepare it.What are the 3 different types of recipes?
There are three commonly used formats for recipes: Standard Format, Active Format, and Narrative Format. This recipe format is easy to follow and takes up the least space. Ingredient list is a quick reference to determine if ingredients are on hand and listed in order of use in recipe.What two components does a recipe need to be considered a recipe?
A recipe really only needs either ingredients or directions ( the preparation method) to be considered complete. At a minimum most recipes have a title, ingredients list, and preparation method.Top 10 Must-Have Kitchen Ingredients
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Answer 2
I suggest that you invest the time and effort to “learn to cook”. No, I’m not saying that what you do at the moment isn’t cooking, but from what I read in your question, you are following an instruction to the letter. A good book on basic cooking can help you understand the principles and basic techniques. In other words, you understand why a recipe tells you to do something. After that, you can easily recognize the building blocks of a recipe and determine the optional frills or cooks’ touches.
Example:
Flour and fat roasted in a pan form a roux, which combined with a liquid makes a sauce. So if you change the liquid, you alter the flavor, but changing the fat-and-flour step alters the texture. Once you understood this, you have the knowledge to decide whether for example switching the liquid will give you something close enough.
Rackandboneman’s advice of comparing multiple recipes of the same dish to recognize the common ingredients is spot on. Let me suggest that you can later push the principle a step further: Compare different dishes from a certain cuisine and you will notice that they have their standard sets of frequently used herbs and spices. And also notice if something seems “off”. If an Asian-inspired stir-fry calls for soy sauce, it’s probably not optional. If someone suggests soy sauce in a Bolognese, I’d be wary: that’s an individual cook’s touch and if you don’t have it, you shouldn’t worry. You can use the insights on the “most frequently used herbs and spices” to decide where you want to invest and where you can save a bit, especially if you reduce the regional scope of dishes while you still learn.
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