Chicken Fabrication and Sauté

 

Sautéing, derived from the French word 'sauté' meaning 'jumped' or 'bounced', refers to a cooking method that uses a small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over high heat. There are various techniques for sautéing.

Description

Typically, ingredients for sautéing are cut into small pieces or thinly sliced to maximize surface area, which aids in rapid cooking. The primary heat transfer mode in sautéing is conduction from the pan to the food. Sautéed food is browned while its texture, moisture, and flavor are preserved. When sautéing meats, poultry, or fish, the process often concludes with deglazing the pan to create a sauce.

Sautéing is sometimes compared to pan frying, where larger cuts of food, such as chops or steaks, are cooked quickly in oil or fat and turned over once. While some chefs differentiate the two based on the amount of oil used, others use the terms interchangeably. However, since large cuts of protein do not involve the 'jumping' action implied by 'sauté', using the term for such cooking is technically incorrect.

Unlike searing, which only browns the food's surface, sautéing involves cooking the food more thoroughly.