Salmon steaks are one of the more underrated dinner options, but they come with one small problem. As popular as salmon is for easy, healthy meals, almost all the salmon you see in stores or recipes is cut into fillets. Those are your classic long, flat pieces, usually with skin on the bottom, and they're made by cutting salmon parallel to the spine.
"It is always good to add zest to your fish when frying, baking, grilling or poaching after it is cooked," Darkwah recommends. "[This] brings out the umami flavor of the fish." Like juice, zest works to balance and highlight other qualities: brightness versus richness and umami. It's the unexpected ingredient that makes a pasta dish sing and that elevates just about any meat or vegetable dish or dessert with a fragrant lift.
According to Sarah Grueneberg, Chef and Owner of Chicago's Monteverde restaurant, the key to nailing the texture of this quintessentially Northern Italian dish is in the first 5 minutes of preparation. In that short amount of time, constant stirring is what rehydrates the cornmeal and suspends it in the liquid - making it much less likely to clump or scold. "If you spend these 5 mins whisking and stirring, it'll simmer and not stick," the expert chef and author of the cookbook, " Listen to Your Vegetables," told Tasting Table. "Otherwise, it will only sink and burn," she added.
While it may sound complicated, with just a couple of ingredients, you can whip up a satisfying breakfast in under 10 minutes - made quicker by the fact that there's no need to soak the rice paper first. The quickfire editing of TikTok or Instagram reels might have you believe that not every step in the recipe is shown, but it's actually important that you use the rice paper directly from the packet.
Overcooking is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when searing ahi tuna, and it may cost you the integrity of the entire steak. Despite its buttery taste, the fish has a low fat content that prevents it from retaining moisture when it encounters excessive heat. Cooking it quickly ensures that you end up with a center that's perfectly tender and flaky.
This simple step, recommended by Marissa Stevens of Pinch and Swirl and shared in a recent interview with our sister site The Takeout, does more than just pre-cook the surface. It begins tightening the skin, draws out surface moisture, and primes the pork for the kind of high-heat blast that leads to the crunch you crave. What makes this trick especially useful for home cooks is that it mimics the results of restaurant techniques without needing special tools.