How To Use A Chopstick To Make Perfectly Fried Food
Isn't fried food delicious? Anything deep-fried tastes instantly better. Picture some fried calamari along with aioli sauce, or imagine yourself having tofu nuggets after deep frying your favorite source of veggie protein. The options are endless in the kitchen, and most results reach a perfect crunchiness and fattiness that makes food taste divine.
But, whenever frying food, you should be careful. Time and temperature are key to mastering it, or the results would be very disappointing. In a few words, frying food can be tricky, and the biggest mistakes when frying can happen at any moment, from choosing the wrong oil to crowding too much food in the pan.
Don't feel bad. Even the greatest of chefs stress about this — the reason why many own fancy kitchen gadgets is to have perfectly fried food. Many recommend having a thermometer for several tasks, like knowing when your food is ready to work with, including oil, explains Cuisine at Home. But, if you don't have a thermometer in your kitchen drawer, you might count on cheaper and simpler utensil to see if the oil you are using to fry food is ready for your ingredients. We don't want you eating raw food, so go and grab a chopstick!
Look for bubbles
According to Taste of Home, dipping a chopstick in the center of a pan filled with oil can indicate if you are ready to fry or not. When is it ready? When bubbles appear around your chopstick, or when you can hear the oil bubbling gently.
As reported by NPR, a group of scientists confirmed that when you hear a nice bubbling sound, not too loud or crackling-like, the oil is just right to go. They recommend wetting the pointy end of the chopstick for better results. Of course, if you don't see or hear any bubbles, you will probably need to heat your oil more time. Remember: the oil temperature varies depending on the food. Chicken is fried between 300 and 325 degrees Fahrenheit (via Cook's Country), but some other proteins or veggies need different temperatures.
Delishably suggests that if the oil bubbles quite strongly, enough that you may feel a tiny splash, it is probably better to let it cool off before frying. Keep checking with your chopstick until you are ready. A tutorial was posted on Reddit where you could see how gently the bubbles emerge when sticking the tip of the chopstick in the oil. We hope you do have a chopstick to practice this easy, fast, and cheap trick — if not, next time you order sushi or a poké bowl, ask for additional chopsticks and keep them for when you are craving fried anything!