No one just wakes up and becomes a professional chef .
It takes a lot of skill, practice, knowledge of curse words (looking at you, Gordon ), and more.
If you’re struggling more than normal, one thing that may be standing between you and great food is the very way you cook food .
So come get a free cooking class by learning how to properly cook these 19 foods. Aprons on!
Stirfry
While the name implies to stir, this Redditor learned that the key is to stop stirring it so much and to let it brown a little. They said that this helped make the flavor so much better.
Corn tortillas
“This applies to both corn and flour tortillas. Cook your tortillas, y’all. Throw them on a comal, a cast iron skillet, a flat top, an open flame. Whatever it takes. It makes all the difference in the world.” – u/ bobfnord
Rice
This Redditor learned a lot about cooking from dating a man who lived in Japan. Once he taught her about the importance of washing rice, she wrote that it’s been night and day ever since. She doesn’t mess with a rice cooker; she simply washes the rice several times and cooks it on the stove with enough water to rest above the rice.
Pork chops
“I always cooked them until they were straight rubber because the fear of trichinosis had been hammered into me from a young age. I just use a meat thermometer now.” – u/ RubyRogue13
Caramelized onions
This Redditor used to make caramelized onions the old-fashioned way i.e. low and slow for 30+ minutes. But their life changed once they started to add a few tablespoons of water to the pan and covered on med-high heat to steam the onions. They wrote that once all the water cooks off and the onions start to fry, they’ll already be extremely soft and the caramelization process gets sped up.
Pasta
“Literally learned from Alton Brown on his show ‘Use as MUCH water as possible, the pasta needs to move around.’ Saw him live a few years later and when asked if he could take back a piece of advice what would it be? He said ‘cooking pasta. When cooking pasta you should only use enough water to just cover the noodles. ‘ I have to admit, less water does a much better job.” – u/ Turboginger
Ground beef
Is your ground beef not browning when cooking it in a pan? It could be that you’re crowding the pan, which is a mistake this Redditor used to make.
The trick is to treat it like a burger; let it sit on one side of the pan until it’s like a cooked burger and then flip to get a similar crust on the other side.
Mushrooms
“I always cooked them in oil until I saw a video. Nope… dry pan, medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms until they sweat their moisture (stir, stir, stir). The flavors are super intensified. Umami off the charts.” – u/ KaneHau
Sausages
People usually cook sausages dry in the pan. Well, this Redditor wrote that you’re actually supposed to add water to the pan and let the sausage cook in it until the water evaporates. Then, you fry it to a golden brown since they’re already cooked inside from the water.
Poached eggs
“It wasn’t until I watched Julia and Julia that I realized that I should place the cooked poached eggs on paper towels for a few seconds and gently dab dry (top and bottom) and then place on toast. DUH – NO MORE SOGGY TOAST!” – u/ Sunshine_Tampa
Fried potatoes
If you want some of the best fried potatoes of your life, preparation is involved. This Redditor wrote that restaurants blanch the potatoes and then put them in the fridge or freezer to cool down. When you cook them later, they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and way tastier.
Steak
“It took me 35 years, cooking for nearly 31, to make a steak less than shoe leather. I had to get a thermometer and have culinary science tell me flatly ‘I know it looks weird and bloody but its safe to eat.'” – u/ TurkTurkle
Brussel sprouts
We’re going to blame our parents for this one. Since they boiled Brussel sprouts instead of roasting them, they’ve tasted horrible all of our lives.
Spaghetti carbonara
“I did it like most people, with cream, eggs and ham, until I learned, that real Carbonara doesn’t contain cream, but out of grease from the bacon, egg yolk, cheese and a little water from the boiling noodles, you make an emulsion, that looks just like cream, but the taste is a whole other world.” – u/ Buerste85
Cheese sauce
While David and Moira from Schitt’s Creek were busy arguing over how to “fold in the cheese,” they should’ve been more focused on making a roux. This is what this Redditor calls a much better way of making any type of cheese sauce.
Taco shells
“I would eat out of the box and wondered why they were always stale until many years later a friend told me you have to bake them before serving. I found love for taco shells.” – u/ InternationalArmy991
Grilled cheese
A good grilled cheese calls for lots of cheese, bacon… and mayo? Apparently so! According to this Redditor, putting a bit of mayo on a grilled cheese before cooking is a game-changer.
Fried eggs
“My good fried egg tip I picked up is using a good amount of oil and when your whites are setting, just basting the yolk to help set the outside. Gives you that nice set whites with a beautiful runny yolk.” – u/ JustARandom
Stocks/broth
“I always threw everything in after an initial simmer on the bones, come to find out veggies start to add bitterness after about an hour, so my stocks were never really clean tasting. Throw in your veggies in the last 45 minutes and never let it come to a fully boil. Game changer.” – u/ CrossFox42
H/T: Reddit
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