Sautée

Sautéing is a method of cooking that uses a small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Ingredients are usually cut into pieces or thinly sliced to facilitate fast cooking. The primary mode of heat transfer during sautéing is conduction between the pan and the food being cooked. Food that is sautéed is browned while preserving its texture, moisture and flavor. If meat, chicken, or fish is sautéed, the sauté is often finished by deglazing the pan's residue to make a sauce.

Etymology

The term comes from the French verb sauter, which means "to jump", a reference to the action of tossing while cooking.

Technique

Sautéing is performed over a burner on medium to high heat in a hot, shallow pan. The process requires a small amount of oil or fat, and the food is tossed so that it "jumps" in the pan. The heat used in sautéing should be high enough to promote browning but not so high as to burn the food. The food is stirred frequently to prevent it from sticking to the pan.

Equipment

The pan used for sautéing should be large enough to hold all of the food in one layer, so the food cooks evenly. It is typically a frying pan or a sauté pan – the latter has straight sides, while the former has flared sides.

See also

• Stir frying
• Pan frying
• Searing
• Browning (partial cooking)