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Why do my onions lose their flavor when I steam them/saute them on water? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 8 months ago by SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml to c/food@beehaw.org

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They keep their flavor when I fry them, but I'd like to cut down on fried things.

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[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Ah, I didn't think of the maillard reaction. True, that's not gonna happen at boiling temperature

[–] jcarax@beehaw.org 1 points 8 months ago

No, but you can boil/steam to extract flavor before frying. I do this when I make fried potatoes, and a lot of other things. I start the potatoes off in a bit of water with the alliums, butter, and spices added. I cover it loosely, and once the water boils off, the potatoes start frying.

This accomplishes a couple things. First, it keeps the potatoes from ending up hard (not raw, but hard), because the water draws some starch out and hydrates the potatoes. Second, it extracts the flavor from the allium (I favor shallots) and spices, mixing with the starch that ends up coating and browning. The starch being pulled out of the potatoes, but being left to coat them, also makes the end product more cohesive, with shallots clinging better to the potatoes.