Dry-fry

To dry-fry is to cook food in a hot pan without adding oil or fat. The food either needs no fat, like whole spices and nuts, or brings its own, like bacon and ground meat (mince in the UK). In Sichuan cooking, gan bian or dry-fried green beans are cooked until their skins blister and wrinkle, often with only a little oil. The word covers all of these.

How to do it

For spices, seeds and nuts:

1. Heat a heavy, dry pan, such as cast iron, over medium heat.
2. Add the spices or nuts in a single layer.
3. Stir or shake the pan often.
4. Take them off the heat as soon as they smell toasty and darken slightly, usually 1 to 3 minutes for spices and 3 to 6 for nuts.
5. Tip them onto a plate straight away. The hot pan keeps cooking them.

For fatty meat:

1. Put bacon or ground meat in a cold or medium-hot pan.
2. Cook slowly so the fat melts out before the meat browns.
3. Pour off extra fat if the recipe asks for it.

How to tell it is done

Spices are done when they are fragrant, a shade darker, and cumin or mustard seeds start to pop. Nuts are golden inside when you break one open. Meat is browned and sitting in its own fat.

Why it works

Without oil, the food touches the hot metal directly, so heat reaches it fast and the surface toasts. Heat also releases the aromatic oils in spices and seeds, which is why ground toasted spices smell stronger than raw ones.

Common mistakes

• Walking away. Spices and pine nuts can burn in seconds once they start to color.
• Using a pan that is too hot. The outside scorches before the inside warms.
• Grinding hot spices. Let them cool first so they grind cleanly.
• Dry-frying in a nonstick pan on high heat. Most coatings should not be heated empty.

In recipes

"Dry-fry the cumin seeds" means toast them in an empty pan. "Dry-fry the ground meat" means brown it without oil. You will also see "toast in a dry pan" and "dry-roast", which mean the same thing.