Braising

Why it works

Dry heat builds flavour on the surface — the browned crust is not decoration. Moist heat at a gentle simmer then dissolves connective tissue into gelatin, which is why a cheap cut becomes spoonable and why the liquid thickens without flour if you give it time. The pot should smell concentrated, not boiled. Chicken adobo, kimchi jjigae and a tomato-butter chicken gravy all use this logic, even when nobody says the word braise.

How to do it

1. Dry and season the meat or vegetables. Wet food steams instead of browning.
2. Brown in a heavy pot in batches. Do not crowd. Colour is flavour; grey is a missed step.
3. Add aromatics and cook them in the fat you just made.
4. Add enough liquid to come partway up the sides — not a swimming pool. Wine, stock, soy, or the recipe's souring liquid all count.
5. Cover and cook low until a fork meets little resistance. A hard boil toughens and turns fat into scum.
6. Uncover and reduce the liquid if it tastes thin. Salt at the end, because reduction concentrates.

Common mistakes

• Boiling hard, which toughens meat and emulsifies fat into a greasy broth.
• Too much liquid, which stews instead of braises and dilutes the fond.
• Skipping the brown step and wondering where the flavour went.
• Salting only at the start of a long soy or fish-sauce braise, then reducing to a salt lick.

Recipes using this

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