Give me 31 minutes and I'll change the way you cook Vegetables.

[00:00] Chopping and cooking with vegetables is

[00:02] something we do almost every time we

[00:04] cook. But the way we're taught about

[00:06] them is completely backwards because no

[00:09] one ever tells you what vegetables are

[00:11] actually doing in a dish. Seriously,

[00:14] have you ever wondered why does an onion

[00:15] taste different from a carrot, a potato,

[00:17] a bell pepper, or leafy greens? And then

[00:20] beyond that, what's the point of all

[00:21] these different cuts? Why would you

[00:23] finally mince something versus dicing it

[00:25] versus just leaving it whole? And why

[00:27] can the same vegetable taste completely

[00:29] different all depending on how you cook

[00:32] it? Well, in this video, we're going to

[00:34] break down the five mistakes that most

[00:36] people make when it comes to vegetables,

[00:38] but we're going to do it from a food

[00:40] science perspective. And I specifically

[00:42] order the mistakes in this way because

[00:44] each one builds on the prior one. And by

[00:47] the end of this video, I promise you'll

[00:49] never look at vegetables the same way

[00:52] again.

[00:54] Now, before we get too deep into the

[00:55] food science and some of the other

[00:57] experiments we're going to do in this

[00:58] video, I need to tell you about my

[01:00] history with this carbon steel griddle

[01:02] that is about to turn four years old.

[01:04] And it comes from today's sponsor, Made

[01:06] In. This exact carbon steel griddle

[01:08] first appeared in a kebab video of mine

[01:10] on June 24th, 2022. And ever since then,

[01:14] it's become a recurring character on the

[01:16] channel. Whether that's breaking down

[01:18] burger science, learning about why you

[01:20] need to cook frozen meat, running spice

[01:22] experiments, or most recently cheese

[01:24] steaks along with about 20 to 30 other

[01:26] videos on my second channel in the past

[01:28] year. And the reason I keep using this

[01:30] is simple. It just makes cooking at home

[01:33] a lot easier. The griddle spans two

[01:35] burners, so you've got tons of space to

[01:37] cook multiple things at once without

[01:39] overcrowding. So if I'm testing

[01:40] different versions of something or just

[01:42] cooking a lot of food at once, it solves

[01:44] that problem immediately. And the best

[01:46] thing I can say about it is I just keep

[01:48] reaching for it day after day, week

[01:50] after week, and truly year over year.

[01:53] So, you can check out the Carbon Steel

[01:55] griddle and my other favorite cookware

[01:56] from Maiden by using the link in my

[01:58] description to save on your order. And

[02:01] thank you again to Maiden for sponsoring

[02:02] this video and being a longtime

[02:04] supporter of the channel. And I think

[02:06] what we both do well is just making

[02:07] cooking easier and more approachable.

[02:09] And this is exactly what we're going to

[02:11] get into with mistake number one when it

[02:13] comes to chopping vegetables. So, let's

[02:16] break it down. The first mistake we need

[02:18] to fix is thinking vegetable prep is

[02:20] about skill when it's really about

[02:22] setup. And when most people try to learn

[02:24] how to chop vegetables, they think being

[02:25] able to chop really fast, having perfect

[02:27] technique, or mastering a bunch of

[02:29] different cuts is what's important. But

[02:31] for a home cook, what actually matters

[02:33] is much simpler. It just shouldn't be

[02:36] miserable to chop your vegetables on a

[02:38] daily basis when you need to cook. And

[02:41] if you don't like chopping vegetables or

[02:43] think it takes way too much time, you

[02:45] probably just have a bad setup. At home,

[02:48] my vegetable prep usually takes three to

[02:50] six minutes depending on the dish. And I

[02:51] have a second channel with over 50

[02:53] real-time videos where you can see that

[02:55] I'm not rushing, just talking to the

[02:57] camera. And when I have a good setup,

[02:59] chopping vegetables is generally one of

[03:00] the parts of cooking that I enjoy.

[03:03] However, there is one situation where I

[03:06] am forced to cut vegetables very slow

[03:07] and it's an absolutely miserable

[03:09] experience and that is when I go to an

[03:12] Airbnb because every time it's the same

[03:15] story. There's typically two tiny

[03:16] cutting boards in a drawer, a knife that

[03:18] hasn't been sharpened in 8 years, and

[03:19] suddenly I'm chopping very slowly,

[03:21] frustrated, and wondering if I'm about

[03:23] to slice my finger open. And this is not

[03:26] a skill issue. This is a setup issue.

[03:29] So, the two questions you probably have

[03:31] are, what are the fundamentals of a good

[03:33] setup? And secondly, do I need to spend

[03:35] a lot of money? Well, the answer to the

[03:37] second question is no. Because if every

[03:40] Airbnb had this $40 cutting board, this

[03:42] $20 knife, and a way to keep it sharp

[03:44] like a wet stone, I would be perfectly

[03:46] happy. Because a good setup comes down

[03:48] to the three S's: sturdiness, space, and

[03:52] sharpness. If you have these three,

[03:54] chopping vegetables becomes faster,

[03:55] easier, and way more enjoyable.

[03:59] Sturdiness means your cutting board

[04:00] shouldn't move. Use a drawer liner or a

[04:02] damp towel. Just lock it in place so

[04:04] you're not fighting it. Space is

[04:06] twofold. First, you should have a

[04:08] dedicated spot for your cutting board so

[04:10] you're not constantly needing to set it

[04:12] up and put it away. It's more important

[04:14] than any other appliance on your

[04:16] counter. And secondly, you need enough

[04:18] room on your cutting board to be able to

[04:20] work with multiple ingredients. And I

[04:22] believe that a 24-in or 60cm wide board

[04:25] is the optimal size for most home cooks

[04:27] because most counters in the US and

[04:29] Europe at least are 25 in or 63 cm deep.

[04:33] So even if you're in a small kitchen,

[04:35] you can rotate it vertically and still

[04:36] have plenty of space to work. And

[04:38] lastly, we have sharpness. Your knife

[04:41] should be sharp and you need a way to

[04:43] keep it that way with something like a

[04:45] wet stone. This is what's going to make

[04:46] chopping actually feel good instead of

[04:49] frustrating. And that's it. If you get

[04:51] the three S's right, chopping your

[04:53] vegetables each night won't feel like a

[04:54] miserable chore. Instead, it's something

[04:57] you can experiment with. And this

[04:59] mistake is a really important one to fix

[05:01] in your kitchen because if you hate

[05:03] chopping vegetables, you're never going

[05:05] to want to learn what they actually

[05:06] taste like in mistake number two. And

[05:09] this is a shame because personally, I

[05:10] think this is where things get a lot

[05:12] more interesting and a lot more fun.

[05:17] This might seem like a dumb question,

[05:19] but if somebody asked you, "What flavors

[05:21] do vegetables actually provide?" Could

[05:24] you explain it? And this is where things

[05:26] are going to start to break down because

[05:27] what seems like a simple question is

[05:29] fairly complex. For example, a carrot we

[05:32] would typically say is orange, it's

[05:34] crunchy, has kind of a fresh smell, and

[05:36] maybe it's a bit sweet, but if you then

[05:37] roast that same carrot, it's going to

[05:40] have a completely different flavor. The

[05:42] first thing you'll notice is it's now

[05:44] soft instead of crunchy. But it's also

[05:46] much sweeter on your tongue and has

[05:48] deeply brown caramelized aromomas that

[05:50] we can smell. And the problem is if you

[05:52] don't know what flavor vegetables

[05:54] actually have, you also can't control

[05:56] them. So instead of being able to feel

[05:58] confident experimenting with new

[06:00] vegetables at the farmers market or

[06:02] using what you already have in the

[06:03] fridge to substitute them, this kind of

[06:04] leaves you stuck following recipes for

[06:07] the rest of your life. So to fix that,

[06:09] we're going to break down the flavor of

[06:10] vegetables into six properties. Taste,

[06:13] aroma, texture, sight, physical, and the

[06:16] human element. So let's start with

[06:18] taste. Our tongue registers five core

[06:21] tastes. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and

[06:23] umami. Now overall, vegetables are

[06:26] fairly mild in terms of pure taste,

[06:28] which is why we often add things like

[06:30] salt, citrus juice, MSG, and sugar sweet

[06:33] sauces while we're cooking. However,

[06:35] depending on the vegetable you are

[06:37] using, one of the five tastes could play

[06:39] a big role in the dish you are making.

[06:42] And the question that I always had is

[06:44] where do these tastes come from? Like

[06:45] what signals in our brain that makes a

[06:47] sweet potato sweet or arugula taste

[06:49] bitter? And as it turns out, the taste

[06:51] we experience are tied to specific types

[06:54] of molecules. And vegetables, like all

[06:56] food, are just made up of molecules. At

[06:59] a basic level, most raw vegetables are

[07:01] 80 to 95% water, 3 to 15% carbohydrates,

[07:05] which includes things like sugars,

[07:07] starches, and fibers, 1 to 5% proteins,

[07:09] 0 to 1% fats, and about 1 to 3% other

[07:13] vitamins and minerals. So, let's take a

[07:15] look at what vegetables actually taste

[07:18] like. Starting with sweetness. Sweetness

[07:21] usually comes from sugars like fructose,

[07:23] sucrose, glucose, and maltose. And both

[07:25] the amount of and type of sugar matter.

[07:28] And you might be surprised to learn that

[07:30] in the United States around 55% of sugar

[07:33] production actually comes from a

[07:35] vegetable, sugar beets, because they are

[07:37] high in sucrose. However, in order to

[07:40] extract that sucrose, they are first

[07:41] cooked with hot water before being

[07:43] evaporated and concentrated down into

[07:45] table sugar. And that's because when

[07:47] raw, most vegetables don't taste

[07:49] especially sweet. However, when we cook

[07:51] with them, that sweetness can become

[07:54] much more noticeable. And if you've ever

[07:55] wondered why, there are usually four

[07:57] mechanisms at play. First is

[08:00] evaporation. As the water cooks off,

[08:02] everything else will become more

[08:03] concentrated, including the sugars. So

[08:05] even though the total sugar doesn't

[08:07] change, it tastes sweeter because

[08:08] there's less water diluting it. Second

[08:10] is structure breakdown. When vegetables

[08:12] cook, their cell walls start to soften

[08:14] and break apart. And this is going to

[08:16] release sugars that were trapped inside

[08:18] and make them easier for your tongue to

[08:20] detect. Third is chemical conversion.

[08:22] And this is a big one for certain

[08:23] vegetables. For example, in sweet

[08:25] potatoes, heat activates enzymes that

[08:27] break the starches down into simpler

[08:29] sugars like malttose. So, we are

[08:31] literally creating more sugars during

[08:33] cooking. And then fourth is reducing

[08:35] masking flavors. A lot of vegetables

[08:37] will have sugars but also have bitter

[08:39] sulfurous and other harsh compounds that

[08:41] can mask their sweetness. However, when

[08:44] we cook with them, a lot of those

[08:45] harsher compounds will mellow out,

[08:47] making the sweetness easier to detect.

[08:49] And one of the things that surprised me

[08:51] in the onion deep dive I did a few

[08:53] months ago is that sweated onions are

[08:55] actually perceived to be sweeter than

[08:56] caramelized ones because there are no

[08:59] masking flavors. So sweetness can

[09:02] definitely play a role depending on the

[09:04] vegetable and how we cook them. But what

[09:06] about the other for taste? And in

[09:08] general these tend to play a smaller

[09:10] more supporting role in the grand scheme

[09:12] of things. Sour taste comes from organic

[09:15] acid things like citric malic and oxylic

[09:18] acid. And when we think of sour

[09:19] vegetables, usually tomatoes or

[09:21] toatillos may come to mind, but those

[09:23] are technically fruits, which raises the

[09:25] question, are there any true vegetables

[09:28] that taste sour? Well, there are a few.

[09:30] And one of the best examples is rhubarb.

[09:32] It kind of looks like red celery, but if

[09:35] you take a bite, it has a distinctly

[09:37] tart flavor due to a mix of oxylic and

[09:39] malic acids. And that combination gives

[09:41] it that slightly rich sourness, which is

[09:44] why it's commonly used in things like

[09:46] pies. That said, sourness just isn't

[09:48] very common across vegetables, which is

[09:50] why when we're cooking, we often need to

[09:52] add it ourselves in the form of vinegar

[09:54] or citrus juices. Bitterness, on the

[09:57] other hand, is a completely different

[09:59] story and one that you need to be

[10:01] careful with while you're cooking. A

[10:03] bitter taste in vegetables often comes

[10:05] from a wide range of defensive

[10:06] compounds, and these are chemicals that

[10:08] plants produce to protect themselves

[10:10] from being eaten. And these are very

[10:12] common in vegetables, especially leafy

[10:14] greens and things in the brasica family.

[10:17] You'll find bitterness in kale, arugula,

[10:19] broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage,

[10:21] mustard greens, and ridiculio. But the

[10:24] intensity can vary quite a bit. And this

[10:26] is something you need to be aware of

[10:27] because most humans generally do not

[10:30] prefer dishes that are overly bitter.

[10:33] Cooking can help mellow out the

[10:34] bitterness, but many times we'll also

[10:36] balance it by pairing bitter vegetables

[10:38] with things that are salty or sour to

[10:40] help mask that taste and make it more

[10:42] enjoyable. And this brings us to our

[10:45] next taste, salty. Saltiness primarily

[10:48] comes from sodium, which is why we use

[10:50] salt all the time when we're cooking.

[10:52] However, vegetables themselves naturally

[10:55] are very low in sodium. While they can

[10:57] technically absorb some trace minerals

[10:59] from the soil, the amounts are usually

[11:01] pretty minimal. So, they're not going to

[11:03] get much saltiness from them naturally.

[11:05] And this brings us to our final taste,

[11:07] umami. Umami comes from compounds like

[11:09] glutamates and nucleotides, which can

[11:11] create that deep savory flavor. And some

[11:14] vegetables that are naturally higher in

[11:15] these molecules include things like

[11:17] seaweed tomatoes mushrooms corn and

[11:19] spinach. However, similar to sweetness,

[11:21] you usually won't notice much umami in

[11:23] vegetables until they're cooked down or

[11:26] combined with other ingredients, which

[11:27] is why MSG is a popular seasoning added

[11:30] to so many different dishes. So, really

[11:33] what we're doing when cooking with

[11:34] vegetables is trying to balance these

[11:36] five tastes in different ways, but taste

[11:38] is just one piece of the puzzle here.

[11:41] What actually makes vegetables quite

[11:43] distinct from one another is their

[11:44] aroma. And as Harold McGee points out in

[11:46] on food and cooking, most of what we

[11:49] experience as flavor is actually the

[11:51] odor or aroma. So let's talk about the

[11:55] second flavor property of vegetables. At

[11:58] a high level, aroma comes from volatile

[12:00] compounds. And these are small

[12:01] lightweight molecules that can easily

[12:03] evaporate and become airborne, which is

[12:04] how they travel from the food up into

[12:06] our noses. And unlike taste, which is

[12:08] limited to just a few core categories,

[12:10] aroma is incredibly complex. There are

[12:13] hundreds and even thousands of different

[12:15] aroma compounds, and this is where most

[12:17] of the unique flavors in our food

[12:19] actually come from. Now, we could spend

[12:21] 10 hours going through what every single

[12:22] vegetable smells like and how it changes

[12:24] when we cut and cook with them. But for

[12:26] purposes of this video, it's helpful to

[12:28] think about the aroma of vegetables into

[12:29] broad categories. Because once you start

[12:32] seeing these categories, you're going to

[12:33] notice two things. First, many of the

[12:35] dishes we cook are often a combinations

[12:37] of two or three broad aroma types that

[12:39] complement or contrast each other. And

[12:41] second, it makes substitutions a lot

[12:44] easier. For example, instead of needing

[12:46] to run to the store for an onion, you

[12:47] can ask yourself, do I have something

[12:49] that plays the same role as an onion in

[12:51] this dish? And maybe reach for some

[12:53] shallots or leaks instead. So, let's

[12:56] quickly walk through these categories.

[12:58] First are sulfurous and alien based

[12:59] vegetables, which includes things like

[13:01] onions garlic leaks scallions and

[13:03] shallots. Second are green grassy and

[13:05] fresh aromomas which includes things

[13:07] like celery, spinach, green beans,

[13:09] zucchini, snap peas, and green bell

[13:11] peppers. Third are kind of earthy

[13:13] vegetables. Think of potatoes, mushroom,

[13:15] beets, parsnips, or sweet potato. Fourth

[13:17] are sweet and nutty aromomas, which

[13:18] includes peas, corn, squash, and

[13:20] carrots. Fifth is fruity and floral,

[13:22] which includes tomatoes and certain red

[13:24] and orange chili peppers. And then the

[13:26] last group is what I'd call the

[13:27] herbaceious category, which includes

[13:29] things like parsley, cilantro, basil,

[13:31] dill, and fennel. And herbs aren't

[13:33] technically vegetables, but they are

[13:34] plant leaves that we use in very similar

[13:36] ways to provide aroma to many dishes.

[13:39] And if you want to see a practical

[13:40] example of me swapping in a ton of

[13:43] different aromomas into a dish, the low

[13:45] main video I just made is a great

[13:47] example. I made three different versions

[13:49] where I swapped out the aromatics using

[13:51] only garlic in one, garlic and ginger in

[13:54] another, then adding Thai chilies to a

[13:56] third, while also changing up the bulk

[13:58] of the vegetables. And each version

[14:00] tastes and smells quite different

[14:03] because of the vegetables I use. But all

[14:05] of them work because I'm maintaining a

[14:08] similar balance of the aroma. Now, there

[14:10] is another reason why that dish works so

[14:13] well. And that is also because I'm

[14:15] balancing the textures. And this is our

[14:18] next flavor property and one that's very

[14:20] often overlooked. And a great example of

[14:22] this when it comes to vegetables is

[14:24] iceberg lettuce. Because iceberg lettuce

[14:27] barely has any taste or aroma. But we

[14:29] still use it all the time in salads,

[14:31] sandwiches, tacos, and more because of

[14:33] that crispy, refreshing crunch that it

[14:35] brings to a dish. So, let's talk about

[14:39] texture. At a basic level, texture is

[14:41] how food feels when it touches your

[14:42] lips, tongue, and teeth. And one of the

[14:45] great things about vegetables is that

[14:46] they have a really wide range of

[14:48] textures. You can think about categories

[14:50] like crunchy, crispy, snappy, tender,

[14:54] soft, creamy, fibrous, juicy, and chewy.

[14:56] Though there are definitely more. And

[14:58] when it comes to texture, there are two

[15:00] big things to keep in mind. First, many

[15:02] vegetables actually have multiple

[15:04] textures at once. For example, a

[15:05] cucumber is both crunchy and juicy, and

[15:08] a roasted vegetable might be crispy on

[15:09] the outside, but soft in the middle. And

[15:12] secondly, these textures will change a

[15:14] lot depending on the ripeness and how

[15:15] you cook them. And a big part of what

[15:17] makes food enjoyable is the contrast

[15:20] between the textures, which is why lain

[15:22] works so well. The protein is tender,

[15:24] the noodles are chewy, so you balance it

[15:26] out with vegetables that bring crunch

[15:28] and crispness.

[15:30] Now, what if I told you there was a

[15:31] vegetable in one of those lain dishes

[15:34] that I didn't choose for its taste,

[15:36] aroma, or texture, but for how it

[15:38] physically feels when I eat it. And

[15:41] those were the Thai chilis. I chose Thai

[15:44] chilis because they are spicy and wanted

[15:46] to feel a little bit of pain while I was

[15:48] eating it. And this brings us to our

[15:51] next flavor property, the physical

[15:53] element. Now, the physical element is a

[15:55] little bit different because it's not

[15:57] technically a taste. Think about it. Why

[15:59] do raw onions or garlic make your nose

[16:01] sting? And why do chili peppers feel

[16:03] like they're burning your mouth? These

[16:05] aren't tastes like sweet or salty, and

[16:07] they're not aromomas either. They're

[16:09] sensations. Your body is literally

[16:11] reacting to the food. And when it comes

[16:13] to vegetables, there are kind of four

[16:15] main physical elements to think about.

[16:17] First is temperature, which is pretty

[16:19] straightforward. It's literally just the

[16:20] temperature of the ingredient. Pairing

[16:23] something like a chilled cucumber salad

[16:25] next to hot salmon creates contrast

[16:27] that's way more enjoyable than if those

[16:29] cucumbers were also warm. Next is

[16:32] pungency. This is that sharp stinging

[16:34] sensation you get from things like raw

[16:35] onions, garlic, radishes, or mustard

[16:38] greens. And these foods create reactive

[16:40] compounds that irritate our eyes and

[16:42] nose. Third is aringy, which is that

[16:44] dry, slightly rough, puckery feeling in

[16:46] your mouth. It's most commonly

[16:47] associated with wine, but you'll also

[16:49] find it in some vegetables, especially

[16:51] leafy greens. And finally, we have

[16:53] spiciness. My favorite. This sensation

[16:55] comes from capsation, which activates

[16:56] your pain receptors and creates that

[16:58] burning feeling. And it's exactly why I

[17:00] like that spicy beef lomain so much.

[17:04] Okay, so I'm going to pause here for

[17:06] just a second because we've covered a

[17:08] lot of information so far as it relates

[17:10] to the taste, aroma, texture, and

[17:12] physical element of vegetables. And let

[17:15] me know if some of this is starting to

[17:16] click down in the comments below. Maybe

[17:19] something is making a bit more sense

[17:21] now, like why certain vegetables get

[17:23] sweeter when you cook them, why carrots,

[17:25] onion, and celery are often used

[17:27] together, or why you prefer certain

[17:29] vegetables because of their texture or

[17:30] spicy elements. And while you're

[17:32] thinking about that, I'm going to

[17:33] quickly walk through our remaining two

[17:36] flavor properties, sight and the human

[17:38] element. And these are interesting

[17:40] because they shape how we experience

[17:43] food before we even take a bite. The

[17:46] fifth flavor property is sight. And

[17:48] vegetables play a large role here

[17:51] because they bring a wide range of

[17:53] colors, shapes, and visual contrast we

[17:56] can see with our eyes. Think of bright

[17:58] pink pickled onions, adding scallions to

[18:00] braze meat, or choosing a number of

[18:02] different colored vegetables, which all

[18:04] will shape our perception of a dish

[18:06] without needing to take a bite. And our

[18:08] final flavor property is the human

[18:11] element. We experience food through our

[18:13] emotions, memories, and cultural

[18:15] associations. And this is why the same

[18:17] vegetable can feel completely different

[18:19] from one person to another. For example,

[18:22] if you had a bad experience with a

[18:24] certain vegetable as a kid, you might

[18:26] still avoid it to this day, no matter

[18:28] how it's prepared. And on the flip side,

[18:30] certain flavors can feel incredibly

[18:32] comforting because they're tied to

[18:34] something familiar or nostalgic. So, now

[18:37] that we've gone through these six

[18:38] properties, you should start to see that

[18:40] flavor really has so many different

[18:42] layers to it, and every vegetable is

[18:44] going to contribute to those in slightly

[18:45] different ways based on the molecules

[18:48] they are made up of. However, as I've

[18:50] been hinting at, these molecules don't

[18:53] stay the same. They are going to change

[18:55] based on how we cut the vegetable and

[18:57] how we cook them. Which brings us to

[18:59] mistake three. Because if you've ever

[19:01] wondered why cutting changes the flavor

[19:04] of vegetables, it's quite simple. The

[19:06] more we change the structure of the

[19:07] vegetable through cutting, the more we

[19:09] change how these flavor properties are

[19:11] going to show up. And to test this,

[19:13] we're going to run a simple experiment.

[19:15] So, I took 3/4 of an onion. One I left

[19:18] whole. The second I cut into a large

[19:20] dice. And the last one I grated so it

[19:22] would completely disperse into a tomato

[19:24] sauce. And the question we are asking

[19:26] here is how much does the onion flavor

[19:29] actually change when we use the same

[19:31] cooking method but cut it in three

[19:34] different ways? So I'm going to let

[19:36] these sauces cool down just a bit and

[19:38] then get them set up for our taste test.

[19:40] So while I do that, let's break down

[19:41] exactly how cutting changes the flavor

[19:44] of vegetables.

[19:48] There are a lot of different ways that

[19:50] you can cut a vegetable. For example, in

[19:52] The Professional Chef on page 622, they

[19:55] list eight standard vegetable cuts and

[19:56] then there are five more on the next

[19:58] page. However, even if you memorized and

[20:00] knew how to perfectly execute all 13 of

[20:03] them, the real question still remains.

[20:06] How does the flavor actually change? And

[20:08] how do I decide which of these cuts to

[20:10] use at home? And as it turns out, all of

[20:13] these fancy knife cuts are really just

[20:14] changing three things that can influence

[20:16] the flavor. First is how many cells

[20:18] you're breaking open. When we cut or

[20:20] slice a vegetable, it ruptures the cell

[20:22] walls, which will then release the

[20:23] water, sugars, aroma compounds, and all

[20:26] the different molecules that we talked

[20:27] about where they can then change and

[20:29] react during cooking. Second is how much

[20:31] surface area is created. So, the more

[20:33] surface area will change how quickly

[20:35] something cooks, generally meaning more

[20:37] evaporation, faster browning, more

[20:39] caramelization, and also more places for

[20:41] sauces, fats, and seasonings to stick

[20:44] to. And then third is the overall shape

[20:46] and structure of the vegetable. This is

[20:48] going to change the texture, the visual

[20:50] appeal, and how it feels when you

[20:52] actually eat it. And really, all these

[20:54] cuts are just slight differences in the

[20:56] flavor outcome. And this is why when

[20:58] you're deciding how to cut your

[20:59] vegetable at home, the question you

[21:00] should not ask is what is the right cut

[21:03] to use, but instead a more useful one is

[21:06] what flavor outcome am I trying to

[21:08] create? Because sometimes it's not going

[21:11] to matter all that much. For example, if

[21:13] a recipe calls for a medium dice and you

[21:15] go for a larger dice, the difference is

[21:17] going to be fairly small. But what I do

[21:19] want to do is show you three different

[21:20] examples that make a difference in how I

[21:22] decide to cut my vegetables at home. not

[21:24] because it's the correct way to do it,

[21:26] but to explain my thought process behind

[21:28] them. And the first one is cutting

[21:30] vegetables to match the size of the

[21:32] other ingredients. And a good example of

[21:35] this concept was a cucumber salad I made

[21:37] on the Cookwell channel a few weeks ago.

[21:39] And when I cut up the cucumber, I chose

[21:41] these larger kind of cube-like pieces.

[21:43] So, why did I do this? Well, I wanted a

[21:45] shape that would let me scoop up the

[21:47] salmon and cucumber together with a

[21:49] spoon and get everything in one bite.

[21:52] And this is the same exact thought

[21:54] process that I use for these tomatoes in

[21:55] the pesto pasta, the vegetables I

[21:57] chopped for my fried rice, or finally

[21:59] mincing the red onion and tomato to

[22:01] match the size of the corn in this

[22:02] roasted salsa. This cucumber salad and

[22:05] salmon still would have tasted fine if I

[22:07] finally minced the cucumber or sliced

[22:09] them into thin coins, but I wanted to

[22:11] ultimately match the size of the salmon.

[22:13] And additionally, this shape holds its

[22:15] crunch for a few extra days in the

[22:17] fridge rather than getting soft and wet

[22:19] with really thin slices. Now, the second

[22:22] example is cutting vegetables for big

[22:24] texture contrast. And a great example of

[22:26] this is the tomato in this breakfast

[22:29] sandwich I made. So, I cut the tomato

[22:31] slice very thick and a lot of people

[22:33] were trying to flame me in the comments

[22:35] for this. But hey, it's my kitchen and

[22:37] there was a very intentional flavor

[22:38] outcome that I wanted to create because

[22:40] I'm trying to layer in the textures. So,

[22:43] on the bottom, I've got the chewy

[22:44] English muffin, then the creamy cream

[22:46] cheese, thin, salty, and crunchy bacon

[22:48] underneath. Then on top of that, I

[22:50] wanted that beautiful summer tomato to

[22:52] be a big, juicy, substantial bite,

[22:54] almost imagining that I'm biting into a

[22:57] big burger patty. And when I bite into

[22:59] this sandwich, my tongue hits those

[23:01] layers in order. The bread, the

[23:03] creaminess, the salty crunch of the

[23:04] bacon, and then that tomato really comes

[23:06] through with its juicy, sweet, and sour

[23:08] bite that balances everything together.

[23:11] Could I have sliced it thinner?

[23:13] Absolutely. But would it have been as

[23:14] memorable? Definitely not. Then the

[23:18] third example is cutting aromatics based

[23:19] on whether you want their flavor to stay

[23:21] concentrated or spread throughout the

[23:24] dish. And this is exactly what we're

[23:26] testing with our onion experiment. So on

[23:28] one end, I left the onion in one large

[23:30] piece. We broken the fewest amount of

[23:32] cells, released the least amount of

[23:34] aroma, and the onion flavor is going to

[23:36] stay concentrated in that individual

[23:38] piece. Then on the complete other end of

[23:40] the spectrum, I've grated the onion into

[23:42] a pulp. We've broken open the most

[23:44] cells, release way more aroma compounds,

[23:46] and that onion flavor is going to be

[23:48] spread evenly throughout the entire

[23:50] sauce. So, instead of having one big

[23:52] sweet onion, the whole dish will kind of

[23:54] start tasting like that more intense

[23:56] onion flavor. But let's see how big of a

[23:59] difference this really makes. Okay, so I

[24:02] have the three different sauces. Let's

[24:03] give them a taste and see how different

[24:06] the flavor really is.

[24:10] Good. pallet cleanser,

[24:14] man. Started with the grated and then

[24:16] what I like to do is go to the opposite

[24:17] ends first. So, we'll do a normal just a

[24:21] spoonful of sauce first.

[24:24] That is so cool.

[24:26] I'll tell you why in a second.

[24:30] Man, this is truly a test I think you

[24:32] all should recreate at home because it

[24:34] totally drives home all of what we've

[24:37] talked about so far. So, right away, the

[24:40] sweetest sauce here is going to be the

[24:42] grated one. Why? Well, it makes a lot of

[24:44] sense. Onions, again, we talked about

[24:46] water and sugar. So, all of that

[24:48] sweetness is evenly dispersed in this

[24:51] first sauce. So, right away, you can

[24:53] tell when you get down to here, when

[24:54] it's in the big onion pieces, that the

[24:56] sauce on the end is much more sour. A

[25:00] lot of sugar is still in these big onion

[25:02] pieces, which helps perfume the sauce,

[25:04] but it doesn't actually disperse the

[25:05] sugars that are inside them. So you can

[25:07] take these out, blend them up, or just

[25:09] eat them as a snack.

[25:11] So obviously there's a clear difference

[25:13] in terms of the pure taste, but

[25:15] additionally there's big differences in

[25:17] terms of aroma and the texture. So in

[25:20] the grated onions, remember we crushed

[25:22] up all of those cells. None of that ever

[25:25] happened in the big onion pieces. So we

[25:27] get those really nice kind of mellow

[25:29] onion aromomas all throughout every bite

[25:31] of this first sauce. compared to the

[25:34] whole onion. It kind of tastes lightly

[25:36] perfumed of onion, but it's definitely

[25:39] not as kind of onion forward, if you

[25:41] will. And then from a texture

[25:43] perspective, too, obviously, you know,

[25:45] the the grated onion is kind of

[25:47] integrated within the sauce. The middle,

[25:49] there are these big chunks that you can

[25:50] kind of still feel, and then you have

[25:51] the bigger onions on the end. And all of

[25:53] this ultimately is just down to

[25:55] preference. But it just goes to show

[25:56] that how you cut your vegetables really

[25:58] does matter. And ultimately what you're

[26:00] trying to do is control the flavor

[26:02] outcome. Okay, so we've seen a clear

[26:04] example here of what happens when you

[26:06] keep the vegetable and the cooking

[26:07] method the same, but change how it's

[26:09] cut. So the next natural question is how

[26:12] much does the flavor change when we keep

[26:14] the vegetable the same, change how it's

[26:16] cut, and also change the cooking method?

[26:19] And that's exactly what we're going to

[26:21] test with nine different cubes of

[26:23] potatoes. And this brings us to mistake

[26:25] four. So let's break it down.

[26:30] There are so many different ways you can

[26:32] cook a vegetable. And here are 15 quick

[26:34] examples. Bake, blanch, boil, char, deep

[26:37] fry pickle poach sauté sear shallow

[26:39] fry, smoke, steam, stir fry, and roast.

[26:42] And looking at this list, it seems like

[26:44] all of them are completely different.

[26:47] However, what if I told you they have

[26:48] way more in common than you think?

[26:51] Because every cooking technique is just

[26:53] triggering different physical and

[26:55] chemical reactions. things like cell

[26:57] wall breakdown, evaporation,

[26:59] dehydration, gilation, the mayor

[27:02] reaction, caramelization, and pyrolysis.

[27:05] And most people completely ignore these

[27:06] or don't even realize they're happening.

[27:08] But it's these reactions that are

[27:10] actually driving the changes in the

[27:12] flavor of the vegetables when we cook

[27:14] them. And when we switch cooking

[27:16] techniques, we're really just

[27:17] controlling four things. First is what

[27:19] types of reactions can happen. For

[27:21] example, if you boil a vegetable, it's

[27:23] never going to get hotter than the

[27:24] boiling point of water at 212°. So, no

[27:28] mayar reaction or browning is able to

[27:30] occur. Second is how much those

[27:32] reactions happen. So, if you only sear

[27:34] or char a vegetable on one side, this

[27:37] means you're only getting the mayar

[27:38] reaction and pyrolysis on that single

[27:40] side. Third is where they happen. So, if

[27:43] you roast a vegetable, the outside can

[27:45] brown and develop flavor, but the inside

[27:47] is going to stay soft and relatively

[27:49] unchanged. And then fourth is how fast

[27:51] the reactions happen. If you sauté a

[27:54] potato on low heat, it's going to

[27:55] evaporate slower compared to dropping it

[27:57] into hot oil. And if you want a more

[28:00] detailed and specific example of this, I

[28:02] actually broke this down in an onion

[28:04] video of mine a few months ago where I

[28:06] took onions through six different levels

[28:08] of cooking. So in that I compared things

[28:10] like evaporation, cell wall breakdown,

[28:13] aroma development, the mayor reaction,

[28:15] caramelization, and even pyrolysis,

[28:17] showing how each one of these changes as

[28:19] you cook them in different ways.

[28:21] However, for today, I thought it would

[28:23] be kind of fun to do a little test with

[28:25] nine cubes of potato. So I have nine

[28:28] equal-sized potato cubes, and I'm going

[28:30] to cut them in three different ways.

[28:32] First, I'm going to leave three as a

[28:34] cube. Second, I'm going to cut three of

[28:35] them into thicker, evensized planks. And

[28:38] the last one I'm going to cut very thin,

[28:40] almost like square potato chips. Then I

[28:42] took those three cuts through three

[28:45] different cooking methods. First, I

[28:47] boiled them. Then I sauteed them. And

[28:49] lastly, I fried them to create this

[28:51] matrix of different flavor outcomes. All

[28:54] by changing the cutting and cooking

[28:57] method. So, let's take a look at what

[28:59] these taste like. So, we can clearly see

[29:02] how changing the cut, but also the

[29:04] cooking method will dictate how these

[29:06] potatoes are going to be used in

[29:07] different dishes. For example, we've got

[29:09] kind of our potato chips down here.

[29:11] We've got French fries. The sauteed

[29:14] potatoes you can maybe use for kind of

[29:15] like a breakfast potato. And then the

[29:18] boiled ones you can kind of mash them up

[29:20] for mashed potatoes. And the big picture

[29:22] takeaway throughout this entire video is

[29:23] that there are so many different ways

[29:25] you can experiment with vegetables. And

[29:27] this brings us to mistake five.

[29:32] So, we covered a lot of information in

[29:35] this video. However, everything we

[29:37] learned can really be summarized into a

[29:40] single sentence. When you're cooking at

[29:42] home, there are three main decisions you

[29:43] need to make. First, what vegetable you

[29:46] choose, second, how you cut that

[29:48] vegetable, and third, how you cook it.

[29:51] And as we've seen, those three things

[29:52] are what can create thousands of

[29:54] different flavor outcomes. Think about

[29:56] it. If a typical grocery store carries

[29:58] at least 40 different vegetables year

[30:00] round and you have eight different ways

[30:02] to cut them and 15 different cooking

[30:04] techniques, that's 4,800 possible

[30:07] outcomes. And that's before you even

[30:08] start adding sauces, spices, fats, or

[30:11] different proteins, which can feel a bit

[30:14] overwhelming. However, I think the

[30:16] bigger issue for a lot of home cooks is

[30:18] being afraid to experiment. A lot of us

[30:20] may think that there are right or

[30:22] correct ways to cook something and just

[30:24] always want to follow what the recipe

[30:26] says. However, cooking isn't something

[30:28] you can truly master. It's something

[30:30] that needs to be explored. So, the next

[30:33] time you're at the grocery store or

[30:35] farmers market and see a vegetable

[30:36] you've never used, buy it. If you want

[30:38] to cut something in a way that feels a

[30:40] little unconventional, do it. If you

[30:43] want to try a cooking method that sounds

[30:44] weird for the vegetable you chose, go

[30:47] for it. Worst case, it's a little off.

[30:49] And best case, you might discover

[30:50] something you really like. And you can

[30:53] tell other people about it. And this is

[30:56] where I would love to hear from you down

[30:58] in the comments. Let me know some

[31:00] vegetables that I should try. Let me try

[31:02] some weird ways you've cut things or

[31:04] cooked things because that is what

[31:05] cooking is all about. So, that's going

[31:08] to wrap it up for me in this video.

[31:10] Thank you again to Made in for

[31:12] sponsoring this video. Seriously, if

[31:14] you're ever looking for any cookware out

[31:15] there, the griddle I use all the time,

[31:17] but I've got a bunch of their other

[31:18] stuff, stainless, it's all great. So,

[31:20] that'll be linked down below. And then

[31:21] the very last thing is our Cookwell app,

[31:24] which we launched a few months ago and

[31:26] recently did a new feature that we're

[31:28] calling guides. So, there's a meal plan

[31:30] on top. There's also some dedicated

[31:33] ingredient guides that you can kind of

[31:34] learn about the ingredient and then a

[31:36] few different recipes to try out if you

[31:38] want to go that route. So, that'll be

[31:40] linked down below as well. But

[31:41] seriously, thank you guys for watching

[31:42] these videos. They're really fun to

[31:43] make. I love going for these big

[31:45] overarching topics and just yeah, I

[31:48] mean, cooking is so cool. There's so

[31:49] much to be explored. So, that's going to

[31:51] wrap it up for me in this one. I'll

[31:53] catch you all in the next one. Peace

[31:55] y'all.