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Welcome to Cook Like a Pro, in which we ask some of our favorite chefs for their essential techniques, along with advice on fearlessly frying, flipping, seasoning, and more.
What’s the difference between us and a professional chef tossing food two feet in the air over a raging flame? Confidence. That’s why we asked some of our favorites for 12 essential techniques, along with advice on fearlessly frying, flipping, seasoning, and more.
The single most important thing I took away from my (brief) restaurant career was the importance of the mise. An abbreviation of the French term mise en place, it means you get all your prepped ingredients in one place before you even turn on the stove. I do it every time I cook at home. And when I don’t, something bad happens—like I leave the eggs out of the pie filling. Or the top pops off a container of cayenne into my chili. (True stories both.) So do like the experts, and prep until you can’t prep anymore. —Claire Saffitz
You know the move: a flick of the wrist, food suspended midair, then a soft landing back in the pan. The pan-flip ensures that food cooks evenly over high heat, marries pasta to sauce—and it does it all sans pesky spoons. —Andy Baraghani & Meryl Rothstein
Lift up your eyes from your plate, and you never know what you might learn. We jotted down a few lessons from the kitchen counter at Avec in Chicago.
“Joyce Chen snips ($26) are the tool that every chef is using but no one talks about. Knives can be hard on soft herbs like basil; these scissors are more sensitive and can make a gentler cut. It’s the best way to make small, precise snips, like for cleaning lobsters, slicing fish, or deveining shrimp. The tiny blade is strong enough to cut through the meat but won’t damage it. I carry mine in my apron pocket at all times.” —Vinny Dotolo, co-chef, Jon & Vinny’s, L.A.
There’s nothing more restaurant-y than deep-frying: webbed-metal baskets hoisted into bubbling vats of oil, the threat of third-degree burns at the slightest spattery misstep. Yet there are few places doing it with the precision of Wildair, where typical calamari and marinara are replaced with segments of squid encased in a golden chicharron-like shell, primed for dipping into aioli. —Andy Baraghani
Sometimes the simplest chef-y tool can revolutionize your weeknight dinner. Take the humble sizzle platter ($6 each), which is used in practically every restaurant for roasting or broiling individual portions of, well, basically anything. Why do you need one? Because breaking out a big, bummer-to-clean sheet pan to toast a handful of nuts, broil a steak, make cheesy toast, or bake four chicken nuggets for the kid that won’t eat pasta is just kind of amateur. —Amiel Stanek
What are you supposed to do with that wilted head of forgotten lettuce in your fridge? We asked Abra Berens from Stock in Chicago to teach us how to make something lovely from the frosty depths of the crisper drawer. —Christine Muhlke
Where most chefs used to just reach for kosher salt, there are now many paths to savory goodness. Hawker Fare chef James Syhabout uses briny fermented agents to pack flavor and salinity in a single punch. So why would you add saltiness only to your food when you can add complexity as well? Well, you wouldn’t. —Claire Saffitz
Chefs everywhere know it: Fire is where the magic happens. The closer you get food to mankind’s OG kitchen appliance—smoldering wood—the more of that smoky, primal quality it takes on. Turns out, the one tool you need to make a wood-fired meal yourself is right there in your living room. —Lilli Sherman & Amiel Stanek
“Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.” Or does it? We extoll the virtues of medium-rare pork, raw eggs, and past-its-expiration-date dairy. —Amiel Stanek
A sliver of cake, a swoosh of sauce, a quenelle of whipped cream…sometimes a dessert looks more like a work of art. Might seem a bit much for your average night at home, but who doesn’t love a party trick? We made a video with quenelle maestro Kristen Murray of Måurice showing off her elegant one-handed skills. —Emma Wartzman
Don’t forget the humble mainstay. Here’s how pros use them for more than making cookies.