Parcooking is the technique of partially

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

foods so that they can be finished later. This technique allows foods to be prepared ahead of time, and quickly heated prior to serving. Since the second reheat finishes the cooking process, foods are not overcooked as

leftovers Leftovers are surplus foods remaining unconsumed at the end of a meal, which may be put in containers with the intention of eating later. Inedible remains like bones are considered ''waste'', not leftovers. Depending on the situation, the amoun ...

often are. Parcooking is typically used in the processed food industry, and most frozen and

ultra-processed foods An ultra-processed food (UPF) is a grouping of processed food characterized by relatively involved methods of production. There is no simple definition of UPF, but they are generally understood to be an industrial creation derived from natural ...

are prepared this way. Parcooking also allows one to take advantage of different cooking techniques. For example, one method of preparing

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

involves first boiling, then frying the potatoes, so they have a crisp exterior and fluffy interior. In stir-fries or other mixed dishes, meats, root vegetables, and other foods that take a long time to cook, will be parcooked, so they finish at the same time as other foods.

References

Cooking techniques Culinary terminology {{cooking-stub

See also

References