Top Adelaide chefs share their favourite cooking hacks
What’s the secret to perfect pork crackling? How do you peel a tomato in 20 seconds? And what’s the best way to devein a prawn? Find out as Adelaide’s top chefs share their favourite cooking hacks. Watch the videos.
Lifestyle
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Sometimes it’s the little things which can make all the difference in the kitchen - and separate the amateur cook from the professional.
Thirteen of Adelaide’s top chefs have opened the doors to their restaurants and revealed some of the secrets behind their culinary success.
From simple tips on how to peel a tomato, devein a prawn or deseed a chilli, to the best way to make delicious pork crackling or gooey mac and cheese, here are some easy cooking hacks for you to try at home.
Sashi Cheliah
MasterChef winner and Gaja by Sashi owner
Sashi’s cooking hack: How to make an easy curry chicken pie
“The tip is to always cook more curry than you need, it makes amazing leftover curry for pies. Start with my Malaysian Chicken Curry home chef kit, it has all the ingredients needed to curate a delicious curry at home and is easy to prepare. For the Curry Chicken Pie hack, all you need is puff pastry, egg wash and some leftover curry.”
Katie Allen
Aurora Restaurant chef
Katie’s cooking hack: How to peel and shred an egg
“Speed up prep time in the kitchen - without a knife or chopping board.
“Place gridded cake rack over any bowl that sits comfortably. Use your hand to push boiled eggs or peeled avocado through the grate and into the bowl – the cake rack will finely dice your eggs/peeled avocado.
“I discovered this trick overseas during my time on super yachts. I had a crew of 16 to feed among lunch and dinner service for guests. This little trick helped me get sandwiches out of the galley and to the crew much quicker.”
Michael Weldon
Farm to Fork co-host and Coles ambassador
Michael’s cooking hack: How to make cracking pork crackling
“Buy your pork a couple of days ahead of time. Give it a pat dry, put it on a tray and put it into your fridge for a couple of days, even 24 hours. Then take your pork out an hour before you want to roast it, score it with a sharp knife and season it generously with sea salt. Now your pork is ready to roast - about 240C fan forced for about 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 160C and keep cooking it until your pork is cooked all the way through.”
Anthony Giardina
Arkaba Hotel head chef
Anthony’s cooking hack: How to make more than one burger at a time
“In the time it takes a chef to roll and mould one burger patty, I can make 10 or more identical shaped patties. Instead of squishing and rolling mince balls individually, my hack involves putting bulk mince into gladwrap and rolling it together. He can then cut the roll into even burger size patties.
“The hack dramatically cuts prep time which helps take the pressure off a busy kitchen. And also preserves the quality of the meat and patties hold their shape better. One roll can make over 10 patties at a time, even more depending on the meat used.”
Josh Lansley
East End Cellars executive chef
Josh’s cooking hack: How to peel a tomato in 20 seconds
“Score the top and bottom of tomato skin. Drop into hot boiling water and spell out ‘t-o-m-a-t-o-e-s’. Place tomato straight into ice-cold water for a few seconds. From here skin will easily peel away. Dress your tomatoes with salt, pepper and good quality olive oil.”
Raj Kumar
SkyCity Adelaide’s Madame Hanoi head chef
Raj’s cooking hack: How to de-seed a chilli
“I learned the hack from a very close friend who is also a chef. Deseeding chillies is great fun - especially when you need a few kilograms to make sauce in batches – which we often do at Madame Hanoi! It speeds up the process a great deal using this technique.”
Michael Henderson
Anchovy Bandit head chef
Michael’s cooking hack: How to devein a prawn
“Prawns are a staple Australian ingredient but when it comes to getting out the dreaded poop shoot or “vein” I’ve got a quick and easy hack . This is perfect for family BBQ or special occasions. A hack learnt in the anchovy bandit kitchen out of necessity as our ferment chilli butter prawns have ever evolved but stayed on the menu since opening . And when there this popular your going to want to do it quick!”
Rose Adam
The Middle Store owner and former MasterChef finalist
Rose’s cooking hack: Always salt your onions
“If you’re anything like me dinner time cooking is on the fly, you’re chopping, sauteing and frying all at the same time so it’s super easy to get distracted and when that happens the first casualty is the onions and garlic that are meant to be slowly sauteing end up a dark sticky mess.
“So, my food tip to prevent this is to pop your onions in the pan, hold off on the garlic they take half the time, with your oil and a generous pinch of salt. The salt draws out the moisture in the onions and stops them from cooking too quickly. Once they are ready then pop in your garlic for another minute to two and you’re good to go.
Joel Tisato
Africola chef and SHARE Dinners co-founder
Joel’s cooking hack: Magic Mushroom Powder (MSG without the MSG)
“It’s instant umami for any vegan or vegetarian dish and for a wicked stock powder. I discovered this hack a long time ago making a former colleague a vegan staff meal and it has been apart of many of my dishes since. Not excluding meat dishes.”
Tony Carroll
Fishbank executive chef
Tony’s cooking hack: How to peel ginger with a teaspoon
“Using the teaspoon as you normally would, begin to peel the ginger in a sweeping motion toward you. Benefits include no wastage, efficiency, and no cost. I learnt this trick in Bangkok as I watched a local prepare food.”
Kane Boase
Seafire on the Marina head chef
Kane’s cooking hack: How to make the perfect Mac & Cheese
“Firstly, bring water and butter to a simmer, before adding parmesan cheese and corn flour. Mix all together and stir to combine. To get your favourite consistency, simply add hot water. Once you get your preferred consistency, add pasta, a slice of cheese and stir until all combined. Season and serve – it’s as simple as that.”
Lewis Marro
Farina 00 Pasta & Wine head chef
Lewis’s cooking hack: How to make the perfect cooking oil
“A little trick I always use in my cooking is confit garlic oil. I use this as my base oil for most of my dishes, creating, in my opinion, much more depth in the flavours. I make the oil by using fresh garlic, and to peel, I always find it easiest to peel by pressing down on the garlic with the back of my knife.
“This garlic is then added to oil with rosemary and thyme, which is kept on the stove for a few hours, keeping the temperature at about 95 degrees Celsius - allowing the flavours to infuse and the garlic to tenderise. We then strain the oil and blend the garlic which has become almost sweet, making for the perfect base to some of our pizzas.”
Owen Andrews
Seppeltsfield Events executive chef, Barossa Contemporary’s Hunter Gather Chef
Owen’s cooking hack: How to make perfect crispy chicken skin
“I discovered this when I was running late making the kids their favourite bacon and eggs. Thought I’d try popping the bacon in the flat press, and it cooked in no time, and best of all it was the crispiest, most delicious bacon I’ve ever had. Which made me think…. I wonder what else could be pressed in the same way!”
Paul Baker
Chefs on Wheels founder
Paul’s cooking hack: How to make dishes extra tasty
“Nutritional yeast is something you should always have in the pantry. Firstly, it’s an excellent way to give a rich creaminess if you are dairy free, but it’s also the secret weapon in taking a Mac & Cheese, Carbonara Sauce or a Béchamel Sauce from good to bloody amazing. And did I mention it’s really good for you?”
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