CookBook Glossary and Techniques

lour and liquid, with sometimes the inclusion of other ingredients.
Beat – to move an implement back and forth to blend ingredients or to achieve a smooth texture.
Bind – to cause a mixture of two or more ingredients to cohere as a homogeneous product, usually by adding a binding agent.
Bitter melon – ampalaya in tagalog

Ampalaya or Bittermelon
Blanch – to cook an item briefly in boiling water or hot fat before finishing or storing it.
Blend – to mix two or more ingredients so completely that they lose their separate identities.
Boil – a cooking method in which items are immersed in liquid at or above the boiling point.
Chop – to cut into pieces of roughly the same size. Also a small cut of meat including the part of the rib.
Coriander – the English term for wansoy. This is usually called cilantro or Chinese parsley. This imparts a lemony, pleasingly pungent flavor.
Cube – to cut into small squares, with 1/3” square for medium and ¾ square for large standard.
Deep fry – to cook in hot oil, usually about 2 to 3 inch deep.
Devein – to remove the vein of shrimps, found on the backside. This is done by slitting the back slightly with a sharp knife and lifting the vein out.
Dice – to cut ingredients into cubes, with ¼ square dimension
Double-boiler – a cooking utensil made of two parts, the bottom part to contain water, and the upper portion, to cook the ingredients. This is used for easily scalded preparations where low heat is required.
Fish sauce – the equivalent of patis.
Fold – to mix a whipped ingredient lightly with another ingredient or mixture by gently turning one over the other with a flat implement.
Sauce – a thick dark reddish brown sauce generally made from soybeans, flour, garlic, sugar and spices. Available in ready to serve bottle in leading groceries.
Kombu-dashi – kelp seaweed, used in Japanese cookery as a base for soup stock; sometimes called dashi – kombu available in Japanese stores in powder form.
Lemon grass – the English term for tanglad
Mirin – a sweetened Japanese cooking wine that is made from rice.
Mix – to combine ingredients in such a way that is made from rice. If unavailable, substitute equal parts of sugar and sake, dry sherry or white wine.
M.S.G. – monosodium glutamate used to enhance flavor awareness.
Pre-heat – to turn the heat on to the desired temperature even before placing the food in the oven.
Radish – the English term for labanos
Sake – a Japanese rice wine that can be used for drinking and cooking. Any warmed sake cannot be served as drink anymore, but can be used for cooking. Inclusion of sake in a dish improves flavor, tenderizes the meat and removes some odor. Acceptable substitutes are dry vermouth or sherry.
Sauté – to cook in little oil over high heat.
Score – to create an incision either by running a fork through an unpeeled ingredient or removing lengths of the peel to create alternating peeled and unpeeled section of the ingredient.
Shelled – to remove the shell of shellfish  ie..shrimps, crabs, oysters, etc.
Simmer – to maintain the temperature of a liquid just before boiling. Also, a cooking method in which items are cooked in simmering liquid.
Swamp Cabbage – the English term for kangkong
Whip – to beat with a rapid lifting motion to incorporate air into a food.
Techniques:
Slice -to cut a cross-sectional portion of the ingredient; slices may vary in thickness.
Julienne - vegetables, potatoes or other items cut into thin strips; 1/8 inch square by 1 to 2 inches long is standard. Fine julienne is 1/16 inch square
Dice
To cut ingredients into small cubes ¼ inch square dimension.
Chop
To cut into pieces of roughly the same size. This can be done by a ‘rocking’ motion with the pointer finger on the tip of the knife and the other hand gripping the handle.
French Fry
To cut into strips of 1/3 to ½ inch square by 3 inch long.
Cube -to cut ingredients into small cubes 1/3 inch square for medium and ¾ inch square for large standard.
Deveining Shrimps
1. Remove head. Cut or simply pull off shrimp head.
2. Remove shell. Tail may be left intact or the tail may be shelled too, depending on the recipe.
3. Slit off back of the shrimp lightly just to expose the vein.
4. Remove vein as this contains some elements which can cause allergic reactions to some.