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Cooking encyclopedia Techniques

Emulsifying

Also called making an emulsion

Dispersing fat and water into each other so they behave as one smooth sauce.

What it is

Add the fat to the water phase slowly at first, with enough agitation to break it into fine droplets, and keep an emulsifier in play. Once the emulsion is established it will take fat much faster.

Why it works

Fat and water do not mix; an emulsion is one broken into droplets suspended in the other, held apart by an emulsifier — egg yolk lecithin, mustard, garlic protein, starch, gelatin. Smaller droplets and more emulsifier make a more stable sauce. Too much fat too fast leaves droplets large enough to find each other and merge, which is what splitting is.

When to use it

Mayonnaise, aioli, hollandaise, vinaigrette, butter sauces, satay sauce, tahini sauces.

What goes wrong

Adding fat too quickly at the start; too little water phase for the amount of fat; ingredients at very different temperatures; whisking a broken sauce harder instead of rebuilding it into a fresh emulsifier.

Meridian cooking encyclopedia — Watchman Productions

More on this shelf

  • Blanching Brief cooking in heavily boiling water, usually followed by cooling.
  • Blooming spices Heating spices briefly in fat or a dry pan to release their aroma before they meet anything else.
  • Braising Browning, then cooking slowly in a small amount of liquid in a covered pot.
  • Deep-frying Cooking fully submerged in hot fat, usually 160–190 °C.
  • Deglazing Dissolving the browned residue in a pan with liquid, to turn it into sauce.
  • Grilling Cooking over or under direct radiant heat, close to the source.
  • Poaching Cooking submerged in liquid held below a simmer, around 70–85 °C.
  • Reducing Simmering a liquid uncovered to evaporate water and concentrate what is left.
  • Resting meat Leaving cooked meat off the heat before cutting it.
  • Roasting Cooking in dry oven heat, uncovered, so the surface browns while the inside cooks.
  • Sautéing Cooking small or thin pieces quickly in a little fat over fairly high heat, moving them often.
  • Searing Cooking a surface hard and fast to brown it, before or after the inside is cooked.