Xiaosong Liu Corvallis Cook Discussed The Best Tips for Making Your Dishes More Appealing

CORVALLIS, OR, USA, November 12, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Whether you’re just getting started or you consider yourself an amateur chef, there are always ways to improve yourself in the kitchen, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis home cook. Just remember that, just like any skill, your cooking will improve through practice and patience. So even if some of these tips don’t work out the way you wanted on the first try, persevere! You’ll see the improvement you’re looking for in no time.

Xiaosong Liu Corvallis Home Cook Gives Us His Cooking Tips
Mise en Place
Mise en Place is a French term and a technique practiced by chefs all over the world. It literally translates to “putting in place”. It’s a relatively simple concept, but using it in your everyday cooking can completely transform it, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis amateur chef. 

Read through your recipe and gather and prep all of your ingredients and tools before you start cooking--it’s as simple as that. Chop your veggies, bring your butter to room temperature, butterfly your chicken breasts--whatever you need to do for your ingredients to be ready for cooking, go ahead and complete those steps at this stage. That way, when you’re ready to start cooking, everything is within reach and ready to go. 

No more burning butter while you chop garlic. No more forgetting an ingredient because you skipped over it while running around the kitchen! Mise en place uses extra dishes, but it makes up for it by providing you with a seamless and more pleasant cooking experience says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis cook. 

Use Sharp Knives
This is one of the most important tips we can give you, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis cook. Taking good care of your knives will result in cleaner cuts, better ingredients, and a safer kitchen. 

Believe it or not, dull knives are much more dangerous than sharp ones. If your knives are too dull to cut through ingredients easily, you will end up applying more force to the knife. If it slips and cuts you, that extra force goes straight into your hand or finger, causing much more damage. 

Dull knives can also cause uneven cuts and damaged ingredients, resulting in a messier, more unevenly cooked plate. 

Only use wood or plastic cutting boards, sharpen often, and store them in a knife block or on a magnet strip to prevent them from chipping in a drawer. 

Read the Recipe
This may feel incredibly basic, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis cook, but if you’ve ever cooked halfway through a recipe only to find that there’s a step for overnight refrigeration, you understand why this is an important step. 

Reading all the instructions allows you to understand the time the recipe will take, what tools you’ll need to be successful, and how the ingredients are meant to work with one another. Prevent easy mistakes and always read before you cook.

Xiaosong Liu Corvallis Cook Discusses The Best Tips for Making Your Dishes More Appealing

You’ve probably heard the phrase “you eat with your eyes first”. And if you’ve ever become hungry scrolling through the foodie side of Instagram or peeking into a bakery window, you know it’s true. Something about an attractive, well-plated dish makes it taste even better! This is a trick that all professional chefs use, but it’s not difficult for home cooks to put to use in their own kitchens, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis home cook.

These are his favorite tips and tricks for making your delicious food even more appealing and photogenic!

Master Plating Techniques, Advises Xiaosong Liu Corvallis Home Cook  
Just like setting the composition up for a photo or painting, plating is all about setting the stage. With proper plating, you can elevate delicious food into a work of art, enthuses Xiaosong Liu of Corvallis! 

When you plate your food, you’ll need to take into account the colors, textures, shape, and size of both the food and the dishes. White plates are usually best because they allow the colors of the food to pop and become the central focus. You should also choose a plate that is small enough to make the food feel abundant, but large enough to leave a visible rim around the edge. This keeps the plate from feeling overstuffed or messy. 

In keeping with the feeling of “abundance,” you should also build your plate vertically rather than horizontally when possible. So instead of two slices of chicken next to one another, try laying up with one slice partly on top of the other. This makes it feel like there’s more chicken on the plate, without offering an overwhelming serving. 

Color Coordination
A good dish should be artfully coordinated, says Xiaosong Liu Corvallis home cook. Choose your side dishes, garnishes, and sauces, to complement and contrast with the main course. 

If you’re not sure where to start, just look up a basic color wheel and start with contrasting colors. Red and green, purple and yellow, black and white--when colors contrast it draws the eye and holds the focus. Using pops of color and contrast wisely can make your dish much more appealing.   

For instance, if you’re serving steak and potatoes, consider using purple or red fingerling potatoes instead of brown ones. Serve with a side of squash and a drizzle of red wine sauce. These contrasting colors keep your plate from becoming monochromatic, flat, and visually unappealing. 

When in doubt, an herb garnish can immediately freshen up any dish with a pop of green.

Use Sauce Wisely
Sauce isn’t just a delicious vehicle for flavor and moistness, it can also add greatly to the visual appeal of your dish. Our brains appreciate contrast and multiple textures on a plate make the dish appear more satisfying. Meat looks more succulent and juicy with sauce poured over it. A cream sauce can make a vegetarian dish look incredibly rich.

You can also take advantage of the color theory we discussed above when you’re creating sauces, says Xiaosong Liu of Corvallis. Cranberry sauce is a fantastic pop of color on turkey. Chimmichurri makes skirt steak look like a fresh summer meal. 

Above all, you should be having fun with your plating, says Xiaosong Liu, Corvallis cooking enthusiast. Cooking and plating are both creative processes, so figure out what style works for you and run with it!

Caroline Hunter
Web Presence, LLC
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