How to make wet food?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Devil

Assistant Cook
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
2
Location
Toronto
Hello,

I'm a novice at this.
But here's a dilemma that is one too common for me.

For example, I have square cuts of chicken breast marinated as spicy piri piri bought from the market in the oven at 400c for 20 minutes. When it comes out, it'll be perfectly tasty chicken cubes.

On the side, I have quinoa cooking in a pot. My problem is, I prefer wet food instead of dry food which my example will come out to be.

How can I make saucy food in scenarios like this?
Thanks so much!
 
If you put chicken in the oven as you described, it will cook dry.

If you cook the chicken in a skillet then add the piri piri you used in the marinade and some chicken stock/white wine, it will cook down to a sauce.
 
Wet food Vs. Dry food sounds like something I'd seek for my cats. :rolleyes:

Please define what you mean by wet food.

Is your meat not moist enough for your taste?
 
If you put chicken in the oven as you described, it will cook dry.

If you cook the chicken in a skillet then add the piri piri you used in the marinade and some chicken stock/white wine, it will cook down to a sauce.

Unfortunately, I bought the chicken pre-marinated, so no piri piri sauce :( Any other way?

Wet food Vs. Dry food sounds like something I'd seek for my cats. :rolleyes:

Please define what you mean by wet food.

Is your meat not moist enough for your taste?

Please take a look at this image. You'll see there's more liquid. I want my food to have sauces/liquid. :)
 
If you want sauces, you have to add ingredients to make sauces. Just cooking meats doesn't do it.

For that specific dish, you could buy/make your own piri piri sauce or use complimentary ingredients to make a sauce.

In general, you can make a sauce separate from the meat, such as Hollandaise or Bearnaise, or you can make a pan sauce that takes advantage of the flavors the meat leaves in the pan and build on that.
 
Last edited:
To build on what Andy said, you can also create a sauce and cook your meat in it. Here's a very simple recipe that illustrates this idea:

Saucy Italian Style Chicken Thighs - Crock Pot Recipe - Italian.Food.com - 256099

pic4Cwsut.jpg
 
If you want your food to have some sauce on it (wet) you'll have to make a sauce or add enough liquid for the sauce to happen. All the moisture in the prepackaged chicken is evaporating and the water in quinoa is being soaked up.
 
You can make sauces from scratch, or you can buy all kinds of sauces in the grocery store. Some people use canned soups and bottled salad dressings as sauces.

We can help you better if you give us some ideas of the types of recipes you're looking for. Looking at these might give you some ideas: Search Yummly Recipes: Quinoa and Sauce
 
It's also very easy to make a simple pan sauce to deglaze a pan after sauteing or frying. Some appropriate stock or broth, red or white wine depending on the dish, cream or starch for a thickener if desired. Season with salt, pepper, any complementary herbs, garlic, onion - I also like balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce or hot peppers or pepper sauce in some pan sauces. It's fun to play around with them and try different mixes.

They don't all come out perfectly, but they can make or break an otherwise uninspiring chicken breast or pork chop, or accent a good steak, and as you practice you'll get better at it.
 
Back
Top Bottom