Techniques

The skills behind the recipes.

Chopping Vegetables Before the pan gets hot, there's the board. The tap-tap-tap of a knife through an onion is probably the most familiar sound in any kitchen on earth, and…Technique

Frying Pan A frying pan is just a shallow pan with a handle, and it might be the hardest-working object in your kitchen. Eggs, pancakes, a steak, a quick stir of…Technique

Grilling Grilling is the oldest trick in the kitchen: food, fire, and nothing much in between. Every continent has its version, from Korean tabletop galbi to…Technique

Kneading Dough Push with the heel of your hand, fold the dough back over, give it a quarter turn, and do it again. Before long, a shaggy lump of flour and water turns…Technique

Knife Skills for Home Cooks Basic knife skills for home cooks: choosing a knife, the pinch grip and claw, the main cuts, sharpening, and how to cut safely without slowing down.Technique

Mortar and Pestle A bowl, a club, and a bit of elbow grease. That's the whole kit, and people have used it for at least 35,000 years . Stone Age foragers crushed grain in…Technique

Steaming Lift the lid on a bamboo basket and a cloud rolls out, carrying the smell of pork buns or prawn dumplings. Steaming is about as simple as cooking gets:…Technique

Stir-fry A stir-fry is over almost before it starts: a roaring flame, a smoking wok, a splash of oil, a clatter of the spatula, and dinner is on the plate. The…Technique

Wok Cooking A wok is a deep, round-bottomed pan, and few pieces of kitchen kit work harder. Its name comes from Cantonese (wohk, 鑊); in Mandarin it is often called…Technique