Why would I add garlic to a recipe after onion with such a small time difference?
I have a recipe for Tomotillo & Green Chili soup that calls for one diced onion to be sautéed for 3 minutes prior to adding the four diced garlic cloves all of which is then cooked for an additional one minute. After this, the liquids and most of the other ingredients of the soup are added.
(FWIW; I personally don't feel like this is long enough to cook either of these, but that's the recipe...)
Is there difference in flavour development that I could expect by following the recipe as opposed to adding both the onion and the garlic at the same time?
BTW, I can rule out texture as a reason for this as the whole lot is hit with an immersion blender after cooking.
Best Answer
This is standard in most recipes. Onions take a lot longer to cook and become aromatic. Garlic does it within 30 seconds to a minute. Three minutes is a long time for garlic. I promise you, you don't want burned garlic in your soup.
When you add the remainder of the ingredients, particularly the liquids, you reduce the direct heat that the garlic is subjected to and prevent it from burning.
Here's some supporting info from The Kitchn:
Early in our cooking career and for a long time after, we assumed that you needed to cook garlic as long as its cousin, the onion. Our results were spotty: sometimes it was ok, sometimes we picked burned bits out of our dinner. It wasn't until we got serious about cooking that we learned another way...
Whether they're being used in a quick stir fry or as the base for a soup or sauce, both onions and garlic need to be cooked at least little to get rid of their raw bite. However, while onions benefit from a longer cooking time, garlic will quickly burn and become acrid if cooked the same way.
Garlic usually does best if it's cooked quickly and over medium heat. About thirty seconds will do the trick. This is just enough time to cook off the rawness, allow the flavor to mellow into the dish, and let the aroma to hit its peak. You'll know it's done when you can smell the garlic and your mouth starts watering!
To account for these different cooking times, start the onions first, cook all the other main ingredients, and then add the garlic last. We like to clear a little spot (or "clean slate") in the middle of the pan to let the garlic cook by itself for a few seconds before stirring it into the rest of the dish.
Pictures about "Why would I add garlic to a recipe after onion with such a small time difference?"
Should you add garlic before or after onions?
Onions and garlic must be cooked first so that it adds flavor to the oil. This way, the taste is absorbed better by the food that's being cooked, such as pork or beef. As stated earlier, onions go first and garlic later. The last-second inclusion of garlic in the cooking process allows for a more robust garlic flavor.Can garlic and onion cook together?
To help cooks avoid burning their garlic, a lot of recipes call for saut\xe9ing other aromatics first, like onions, carrots, and celery, and then adding the garlic for the last few minutes.Do onion and garlic cancel each other out?
It was an absolute rule in their house that onion and garlic should never be combined in the same dish. And yes, they associated this with "the Old Country."What does garlic do in a recipe?
Garlic is most often used as a flavoring agent but can also be eaten as a vegetable. It is used to flavor many foods, such as salad dressings, vinaigrettes, marinades, sauces, vegetables, meats, soups, and stews. It is often used to make garlic butter and garlic toast.Think twice before eating onions \u0026 garlic | Sadhguru
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