I finally caught why my stews went from watery to perfect

For months every stew I made was thin and sad, then last Tuesday I let the onions caramelize for a full 20 minutes before adding anything else and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had that one small step change everything about a dish they make all the time?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley38510d ago

Hmm... I actually found that short caramelization gives a fresher, cleaner taste to my stews.

david5629d ago

Whoa hold on, I gotta jump in here. Short caramelization is actually the opposite of what you want for most stews. The whole point of browning meat or vegetables for a long time is to build that deep, rich flavor through the Maillard reaction - that's the sciencey term for the browning process. If you just give it a quick sear, you're barely scratching the surface of that flavor development. You need to let it go until it's a dark mahogany color before you add the liquid, not just a few seconds of sizzling. Trust me, let it go longer next time and you'll taste the difference immediately.