When should garlic be added to the pan to get maximum pungency?
When you crush raw garlic and use it as seasoning for vegetables, is it best to put it the pan first and let it begin to cook before adding any other ingredients, or is it best to add it later on?
Which order is best if you want the garlic flavor to be strongest?
Best Answer
Garlic's pungency is released by cutting it. The more finely the garlic is cut-up, the stronger its taste will be. So minced garlic will be stronger than chopped garlic. Chopped garlic will be stronger than sliced garlic. Etc.
Cooking mellows the sharp pungency of garlic. More cooking - milder flavor.
In order for garlic flavor to be strongest, you should mince the garlic and cook it briefly. Assuming you are trying to flavor vegetables, you should add your minced garlic shortly before they are cooked to the point where they ready to be served - give the garlic 30 seconds or so.
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When should add garlic when cooking?
It's crucial that you don't add the garlic to the pan until at least half-way through the cooking process (in the case of stir-fries and saut\xe9s), or very soon before you add a liquid element (such as pasta sauce) to the pan, which will bring down the temperature and prevent burning.How do you cook garlic to get the maximum benefit?
Cook with garlic. If you're using garlic in a recipe, use at least 1-2 cloves per dish. As with raw garlic, make sure to crush, chop or mince it to release the compounds that boost health. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes to get maximum benefits from your garlic.When should garlic be added when sauteing?
Once the oil is heated, stir in the garlic with a wooden spoon or spatula. Saut\xe9 the garlic until it is fragrant, about 20 to 30 seconds. As the garlic cooks, keep stirring it to prevent it from burning. Turn up the heat if the garlic is taking too long to cook.How long does it take for garlic to release allicin?
In the case of alliin, the resulting sulfenic acids react with each other to form a thiosulfinate known as allicin (half-life in crushed garlic at 23\xb0C is 2.5 days). The formation of thiosulfinates is very rapid and has been found to be complete within 10 to 60 seconds of crushing garlic.How to Use GARLIC Like an Italian | 4 Techniques for Better Garlic Flavor!
More answers regarding when should garlic be added to the pan to get maximum pungency?
Answer 2
Ana it really depends what sort of a dish you are making, and what texture and flavour you are after and the nature of garlic state: chopped, crushed, minced, pounded, etc.
If you want that pungent taste of garlic to be tasted, then you could add these crushed, chopped, sliced ones into your dish in the middle stage. If you do not want to taste too much of garlic, but just to go along, then minced ones are better and you may add a vee-bit at the earlier stage of the cooking. (I had to edit this passage as I had written it swapping the stages)
Garlic can be used for both oil based and water based dishes. Even for salads without oil! but with some flavours of lemon/lime and salt. We usually blend one raw garlic clove (as per the quantity) when making guacamole!!!
So are you sauteing vegetables? Or a gravy based dish? Should the dish go alone or with another set of course based dishes? =)
** Update as per OP's edit:---------- **
I must say it is quite rare to see chefs wanting to preserve the best pungent flavours of garlic/onions... ;)
Cooking the garlic by, say, roasting or frying it affects it in another way: its flavor changes as chemicals break down and reform into novel aromatic compounds. It also becomes sweeter as large sugars and carbohydrates break down into simpler sugars like fructose and glucose, both of which taste quite sweet to us.
The key to really great garlic flavor? Use a combination of techniques as indicated in the above article. Personally I like to do couple of things. Marinating with crushed/chopped/sliced garlic would be in your favour. The longer main-ingredients wrapped with raw garlic before cooking, the better they absorb the flavour as well as aroma. This only works for fast/short cooking dishes. Because longer cooking kills the pungency and makes the dish sweeter.
It all comes down to the chemistry of ingredients and heat - not to mention the experience you may get along!
Answer 3
In Thai dishes, I put oil then garlic. This way garlic's smell and taste get mixed with oil. Putting garlic later on makes it soft and unappetizing for me.
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