Food can be quite a controversial topic sometimes. It's all about preference, you see: some might want a steak well-done, and others want their meat to be practically mooing on their plate.
Hana Zickgraf, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Psychology who specializes in eating behavior and disorders, claims that about 30% of the population identifies as picky eaters. But is it possible that sometimes people just like food done a certain way?
Some food snobs would have you think that there's only one way to cook pasta, sear a steak, or cook an egg. But these people would like to prove you wrong. At the risk of becoming enemies of the foodie world, these folks were brave enough to share the foods they prepare differently on purpose. So, when one user asked: "What food do you intentionally cook 'incorrectly?'", over 2,000 home cooks rushed in with their hot takes.
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I break my spaghetti and other long pasta in half before putting in boiling water. I still have no problem picking up the pasta with my fork. This "rule" about not breaking pasta is super gatekeepery and absurd. Come at me, Italians.
Ramen noodles. I never leave it like soup. I leave just enough water to let the seasoning be able to spread around and then say goodbye to the rest of the water.
Mashed potatoes with skin on. I love potato skin and refuse to peel them and throw them away. Luckily most of time I’m making it just for myself anyway.
I use salted butter for everything. It has a longer shelf life at room temperature (where butter is most useful) and the extra salt has never meaningfully changed a recipe aside from making baked goods a million times better.
Eggs. I grew up eating overcooked eggs and somehow settled into that modality?
I hate hate hate eating out for breakfast because it doesn’t matter how many times I tell the staff that I want them OVERCOOKED, nor how many different ways I order them, I always get soft, somewhat liquidy eggs.
Sorry to everyone that may be offended, but there is absolutely nothing appealing about a clear snot/mucus that surrounds a barely cooked yolk. “Fluffy” scrambled eggs that still jiggle and have the texture of hot jello? Absolutely not.
Please, just please scramble the eggs until they’re browned. I want texture and no snot.
I cook rice the way most people cook pasta: Boil it it a big pot of salted water, and drain in a colander.
I have been absolutely *pilloried* online for admitting this. One person actually called it "sacrilege."
But my rice comes out perfect every time. Cooked to a turn, lovely discrete tender grains, no starchiness, no gumminess.
When I tried to cook rice the "right" way, for years, it seemed to always come out either crunchy in the center or tapioca.
Now I never worry about my rice.
Broccoli! I love steaming it until it's very soft and tastes buttery! I don't want my broccoli to be a lil crunchy, it needs to melt in my mouth.
The ‘experts’ say sausages should be cooked in a frying pan over a low heat. But it’s impossible to get an even colour and you end up with brown stripes mixed with pale wobbly skin. I like my sausages cooked in the oven and dark brown all over. No trace of pale wobbly skin thank you.
I dont peel potatoes and carrots. That's where the flavor lives. Nutrition too.
I agree! Instead of peeling, I like to use a scrubber set aside for veggies only. It can be hard-core, like one of those copper Chore-Boys, or just the scrubber side of a sponge. Use it to get the guck and dirt off of carrots and potatoes. But I do cut off any parts which don't look like they'll taste good.
Bacon. I like more of a chew to it than a crunch.
Intelligent_Break_12: Crispy bacon is fine for a topping but if I'm eating it as a side or even on a sandwich of some kind, I don't want it so crispy that it falls apart. I want to chew through that fat and have a crisp edge
I don't wash my rice. I've literally done it batch washed/unwashed side by side when arguing this point with my wife, she finally agreed. I must be missing something, but I can't figure out what it is.
Yet there are so many sources that say wash your rice, and so folks even do it like half a dozen times because they want the water to perfectly clear.
I like to slightly char some things, like veggies. I justify it by saying it’s a real cooking method, but actually I am just intentionally burning things a little bit. I like my sausages like that too.
My family's chocolate chip cookie recipe is a masterclass in what not to do. I overbeat the sugar and butter, add way too little flour, and bang the trays on the counter (mid-bake and as they come out of the oven). The entire goal is to collapse them and ruin any internal structure so they become super thin and chewy.
I love to make pizza at home from scratch. Make the dough, too. But I do one thing wrong intentionally. Italians, cover your ears. I use a rolling pin to roll out my pizza dough. It works, it’s fast, and I can get it to fit the pan pretty easily. I’m sorry.
I use heavy cream in my carbonara. I'm sorry to all that might feel offended, but I just like it better that way. Just the cheese and eggs is too acidic for me.
I hate this new trend of serving crunchy green beans. I want mine soft, and preferably with some ham or bacon in to season them.
When I make scrambled eggs, I salt them when I beat them. The "don't ever salt eggs before cooking" is some kind of old wives tale. A reasonable amount of salt doesn't affect the texture or make them "tough". If you want really fluffy eggs, use a fair amount of fat (butter, back grease) and cook them slowly over low heat.
I put beans in my chili.
Edit so I don't have to keep answering the same couple of things:
* I'm in Texas and beans / no beans is a very big deal among chili purists. The definitive book on chili history, by Joe E. Cooper, is even called 'With or Without Beans'. * [This is a good all around, no-beans-included, traditional chili con carne recipe.] It's like a spicy pot roast, usually more *warm* spicy, not Hot Ones Last Dab spicy. The ancho / poblano chile peppers that usually make up most of the chile flavoring are not terribly spicy though they are delicious and pungent!
(As I understand it, the chili queens - that's what they called them! - of San Antonio served frijoles as a standard side dish with chili con carne. When cowboys and other folks were out on the trail, the chuck wagon cooks would do the same, but since the cowboys weren't eating off of cafeteria trays, the beans and chili would just get all mixed together and lots of them learned to prefer it that way! That's almost certainly apocryphal in whole or in part, of course, but it makes as much sense as anything.)
* Cincinatti chili is it's own separate thing, and is just a name that an otherwise tasty meat sauce got saddled with.
Ratios for vinaigrettes - I’m not doing 3 to 1 oil to vinegar. Depending on other factors it could be anywhere from more vinegar than oil (in sweet dressings) to equal parts to at max 2 to 1 oil to vinegar. I also love adding a little water to vinaigrettes instead of more oil to bring out the water soluble flavors and temper acidity.
I pan-fry my gnocchi although this is becoming an acceptable thing now. And i also like my pasta on the softer side!
Popcorn...just slightlyyyyyy burnt is the best.
