It is interesting how ideas and techniques become bonded to certain applications. For instance we bread eggplant for frying in advance so the crumbs stick but we don't think about flouring soft shell crabs in advance. Instead we remove them from their marinade and dredge them to order. This is pretty stupid. It slows down cooking, makes our hands all gummy in starch and doesn't produce a better result. Actually we found that flouring soft shell crabs and fried chicken in advance allows the starches to hydrate. Then when we fry, the starches gelantinize and crisp up wonderfully. We found the pre-floured softies to be as crispy as their a la minute floured counterparts. Made to order is not always better, sometimes its better to work through the whole process and see what's happening and discover what is possible.
Years Past
