Ingredient Notes

I N G R E D I E N T N O T E S

j B Y S T E V E D U N N , A N D R E W J A N J I G I A N , L A N L A M , A N N I E P E T I T O & K R I S T I N S A R G I A N I S k

Tasting Ground Turmeric

We’ve always used turmeric in Indian-inspired curries, rice, and vegetables, but now this vibrant orange spice is showing up in all sorts of foods and drinks. The uptick in popularity is due in large part to curcumin, a compound in turmeric that has gotten a lot of attention for its antioxidant properties, although no scientiic studies have proven that eating it confers any health beneits.

Does it matter which ground turmeric you buy? To ind out, we purchased ive products priced from $2.10 to $3.46 per ounce and sampled them in warm milk and in our Turmeric Chicken Salad.

Our tastings gave us a newfound appreciation for turmeric. In recipes, we typically combine it with other bold spices, but when we were able to home in on just the turmeric, we found that many samples were warm and “zippy,” some had a “piney” lavor, and others were “vegetal” and “grassy.”

We also took a closer look at curcumin, which, in addition to being responsible for turmeric’s purported health beneits, is the source of its bright orange hue. (It has little bearing on lavor.) Three manufacturers told us that their turmeric contains between 3.6 and 5 percent curcumin; the others declined to comment. Our top two products contain about 5 percent curcumin. The winner of our tasting, Frontier Co-Op Ground Turmeric, stood out in a crowd of good options thanks to its strong “loral,” “earthy,” and “gingery” notes. For the complete tasting results, go to CooksIllustrated.com/jun18. –Kate Shannon

R E C O M M E N D E D

F RO N T I E R C O - O P Ground Turmeric PRICE: $3.99 for 1.9-oz jar ($2.10 per oz) CURCUMIN: Minimum of 5% COMMENTS: Our winner had a hint of the “warm,” moderate heat that we associate with ginger and cinnamon. Both in warm milk and in turmeric chicken salad, it was “aromatic” and “earthy.”

M O RTO N & B A S S E T T Turmeric PRICE: $6.19 for 2.4-oz jar ($2.58 per oz)

CURCUMIN: 5% COMMENTS: Our second-place turmeric had a pronounced “woodsy,” “earthy” flavor with a pleasant “bitter” finish. That bitterness was balanced nicely with a strong “aromatic” and “floral” quality.

Cilantro: More than Just Leaves

Coriandrum sativum—better known as cilantro or coriander—is an entirely edible plant. The leaves and stems are used widely in Asian and South American cuisines. Coriander “seeds” are the dried fruit of the plant (and inside each fruit is a seed). They’re used whole, crushed, or ground and are a common ingredient in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes and in vegetable pickling. The plant’s roots, while not as widely used as the leaves and seeds, are sometimes found in Asian curries and soups, particularly in Thailand. In general, delicate cilantro leaves are used as a garnish before serving or added late in the cooking process because they quickly lose their aroma when heated, whereas the heartier roots and seeds are typically added earlier to contribute to the foundational lavor of a dish. Interestingly, around 12 percent of the global population are able to detect particular fatty aldehyde compounds in cilantro that give it an unpleasant “soapy” lavor. –S.D.

Seeds: Toasty, soft, citrus lavor reminiscent of leaves but with more “perfumy” hints of peppery spice Leaves: Floral, herbal, bright, grassy, slightly peppery

Roots: Slightly sweet, citrusy, and vegetal

Pancake Mix-In Strategy

We don’t suggest stirring fruit, chocolate chips, or nuts directly into thick pancake batters, such as that for our Easy Pancakes (page 13). This will overmix the batter, compromising the pancakes’ height and texture. Instead, add items (cut into ½-inch pieces) immediately after portioning the batter into the skillet. The batter will partially surround the add-ins during cooking. –L.L. Stems: Similar in lavor to leaves but more potent

D O N ’ T M I X T H E M I X - I N S Add them in the skillet.

Buying and Trimming a Side of Salmon

A side of salmon—that is, a single illet that runs the length of the ish—typically weighs between 4 and 5 pounds. Most of the illet is uniformly thick and will cook evenly; however, the tail end tapers, so we prefer to trim of that portion if the illet weighs more than the recipe calls for. For our Roasted Whole Side of Salmon recipe on page 7, look for a 4-pound piece that is relatively uniform in thickness.

Ideally, your ishmonger will remove the tail portion for you, but you can easily do it yourself with a sharp knife. We also recommend trimming of the belly fat, which is a heavily marbled strip that runs most of the length of the illet. If you trim the salmon yourself, save the excess for making salmon cakes or gravlax. –A.J.

Purple Potatoes

These days, many supermarkets and farmers’ markets ofer eye-catching varieties of purple potatoes. We know that certain recipes are best made with low-starch, waxy potatoes, while others require high-starch potatoes. We wondered where purple potatoes fell on the starch continuum.

We roasted Adirondack Blue, Purple Creamer, and Purple Majesty potatoes and found that all the samples tasted quite earthy and that they ranged in texture from fairly smooth to very grainy. Despite their diferences, all three varieties seemed similar to Yukon Gold potatoes, a medium-moisture, medium-starch variety. To further explore how their starch levels would afect their use, we made home fries and gnocchi using russet, Yukon Gold, and the three types of purple potatoes. While all the purple potatoes made acceptable home fries, the purple gnocchi were dense and gummy across the board, due to their low starch levels. We recommend skipping purple potatoes in recipes where the starch content is critical to success, such as potato latkes or gnocchi. Instead, substitute them in recipes that call for Yukon Gold potatoes. –L.L.

PURPLE MAJESTY PURPLE CREAMER

Shopping f or Lo Mein

Our recipe for Beijing-Style Meat Sauce and Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian) (page 19) calls for lo mein noodles. These golden-colored strands are made from wheat and egg and contain a pair of salts (sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate) that raise the pH of the dough and strengthen its gluten network, giving the noodles their characteristic chewy texture and elastic spring. Fresh lo mein noodles are usually packaged as a loose, curly tangle and are found in the refrigerated section of Asian specialty markets and some high-end grocery chains.

If you can’t ind lo mein noodles, your best alternative actually comes from Italy: dried linguine. These noodles are close in size to lo mein and have a similar irm chewiness when cooked al dente, though they lack the elasticity of the alkaline noodles.

We also tested our recipe with various vacuum-packed “Chinese-style” fresh noodles from the refrigerated section of the grocery store, but we were disappointed in their gummy, pasty texture and do not recommend using them in this recipe. –K.S.

THE REAL DEAL Fresh lo mein noodles

BEST ALTERNATIVE Dried linguine

DON’T BUY IT “Chinese-style” fresh noodles

D I Y R E C I P E Quick Candied Nuts

This sweet-salty treat is great for gifts; as a crunchy topping for our Chocolate Semifreddo (page 21), ice cream, yogurt, or salad; as a coating for tru es; as an accompaniment to a cheese plate; or even just eaten out of hand. We toast the nuts, which brings out their lavor and aroma, and then toss them in a mixture of sugar and salt that’s been dissolved in hot water. Baking the nuts until they are crisp and dry to the touch (no longer tacky) ensures that they’ll be crunchy once completely cooled. –A.P.

QUICK CANDIED NUTS

MAKES ½ CUP

We like this recipe prepared with shelled pistachios, walnut or pecan halves, roasted cashews, salted or unsalted peanuts, and sliced almonds. If you want to make a mixed batch, cook the nuts individually and then toss to combine once you’ve chopped them.

½ cup nuts 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 tablespoon hot water ⅛ teaspoon salt

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant and slightly darkened, 8 to 12 minutes, shaking sheet halfway through toasting. Transfer nuts to plate and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not wash sheet. 2. Line now-empty sheet with parchment paper. Whisk sugar, hot water, and salt in large bowl until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add nuts and stir to coat. Spread nuts on prepared sheet in single layer and bake until nuts are crisp and dry, 10 to 12 minutes. 3. Transfer sheet to wire rack and let nuts cool completely, about 20 minutes. Transfer nuts to cutting board and chop as desired. (Nuts can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

Add Just a Touch of Rose Water

Rose water, a widely used ingredient in Persian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cooking, is, as its name suggests, water infused with the lavor of roses. Traditionally enjoyed in sweets such as cakes, nougat, baklava, rice pudding, and the yogurt drink lassi, rose water is predominantly made with petals from the Damask rose (Rosa x damascena). Featuring an intensely loral aroma and lavor, it’s typically used quite sparingly.

We substituted an equal amount of rose water for the vanilla in recipes for rice pudding and sugar cookies and found that an even swap delivered a rose lavor that was too intense for most tasters. Using 50 percent of the amount of vanilla called for in the recipe produced a more subtle, pleasant result. That said, if you really love the lavor of rose water, you may want to bump up the amount to 75 percent. –S.D.

Cooking with Carrot Tops

We like to buy carrots with their green tops still attached, as we’ve found they have deeper, more complex lavor than bagged carrots. We wondered whether we could put the tops to use, much like we do with the greens from beets, turnips, and radishes, which we sauté or braise. After sampling the feathery greens raw and sautéed, we found that they tasted grassy and slightly bitter in both applications. Ultimately, we liked carrot greens best when we treated them like we would an herb: inely chopped as a garnish or blended into pesto with an equal amount of basil. The ibrous stems can also be used to add a light vegetal lavor to stock. –A.P.