The Cooking Tips Handbook!By CairoCooking • June 14, 2015

This is a collection of accumulated cooking tips and tricks… it is continuously being updated so make sure you come back for more inspirations.

• Soak wooden skewer sticks in water before using on the barbecue to prevent them from burning.

• Rub lemons in your hands before you cut into them in order to be able to squeeze out the most juices.

• It is advised to wash rice before cooking in order to get rid of the excess starch and help it cook better.

• After frying aubergine, soak it in hot water for 30 seconds to get rid of the excess fat and saltiness.

• Braising is just an elegant term for cooking on high heat in a liquid like water or stock.

• When cooking with basil, it should be added at the end of the cooking time since it releases a bitter taste when overcooked.

• When cooking pasta, add a drizzle of olive oil in the boiling water to prevent the pasta from sticking to eachother.

• To keep your veggies green and al dente after boiling (like broccoli, peas or asparagus) – once cooked, empty them in a bowl of ice to stop the cooking process and keep its vibrant colour.

• You need to wash mussels thoroughly to remove any sand or residue. If during the washing, some mussels remain unopened – these shells are often rotten – you just need to disregard them from your dish.

• You can replace homemade broth with 2 stock cubes per 1 liter water or you can replace with water for a milder taste making sure you increase seasoning in the dish.

• Mozzarella is traditionally served super fresh (the day after it is made). It can stay up to a month in the freezer and only for a week in its brine (salted water) in the fridge.

• Whisk cream cheese before adding it to any other ingredients to make sure you don’t get any lumps in your creamy mixture.

• When you zest a lemon or an orange, make sure you only get the yellow, green or orange skin not the interior white bits, since they are mostly more bitter.

• Wash your soft fruits (mainly berries) just before serving, by soaking them in damp water for a minute then draining them on a kitchen tissue.

• For health benefits, add grated fresh ginger to your kids smoothies.

• Freeze bananas before getting too black and ripe and blend later for instant healthy ice cream

• Grating the ginger is much easier when it’s frozen (which is also the best way to store it at home). Straight from the freezer, peel it with a cucumber peeler, then grate it into your favorite dishes.

• To thicken your sauce: mix a few table spoons of the sauce with one table spoon of flour in a separate bowl, whisk well (to avoid lumps), and return into the main pot.

• To avoid the extra calories of the creamy tuna sandwich, add one table spoon of labnah to the tuna instead of mayonnaise.

• If Asian food is a favorite in your household, it is useful to always have light soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil in your fridge, fresh ginger in your freezer, and any dry noodles in your pantry. The rest is easy.

• When cooking asparagus, broccoli  or green beans, move them into ice cold water right after they’re cooked in order to stop the cooking process making sure they retain their colour and texture.

• When making fish stock, do not let it boil and only allow it to simmer for 20 minutes otherwise it’ll get bitter.

• To dry fresh mint at home, wash it well and pat it dry until most liquid is gone then spread in it stem on a large piece of newspaper near a window. It will dry up in a couple of days and you can enjoy it on your dishes or for your homemade mint tea.