Cold Pressure Frying (CPF)

Cold Frying

Traditional recipes call for adding ingredients only after the oil is hot and smoking. In OPOS we add ingredients to cold oil. You will see that most of the oil we add is got back. How is this possible? Because of an age old cooking technique called Cold Frying.

The amount of oil absorbed by fried food is directly proportional to the moisture lost from food. When raw food is added to hot oil, lots of moisture is lost instantly and is replaced by oil. This is why hot frying uses up more oil.

There are two ways around it:

1. Use ice cold ingredients

The Japanese make the batter from ice cold water in their tempura to ensure that the moisture loss is minimised when food hits the hot oil.

2. Use Cold frying

Italians use the Cold fry technique in their Caponata where food is added to cold oil and both are heated together.

There are various advantages to cold frying:

1. Less oil is absorbed by food

2. Splatter is minimised

3. Achieving a crispy exterior and a soft core is possible

4. Fuel consumption is lesser

5. Oil does not break down fast and can be repeatedly used 4-5 times, as both food and oil remain at the same temperature.

6. Very less oil needs to be used as compared to hot frying.

7. Food is juicier as compared to hot oil fried food.

Does cold frying make the food soggy?

Nope. Oil cannot move into food unless the water in it is evaporated out. At low temperatures very little water is evaporated out of food. So, very little oil is absorbed. You can check this by adding a piece of potato into a bottle of oil. The potato can absorb no oil, irrespective of how long it is steeped in oil, because there is just no space. When it is heated, the water in it evaporates and makes space for oil to move in.

In cold frying, the frying temperature is lower, which evaporates lesser water, which in turn leads to less oil moving into food to take the place of water.

Many chefs now advocate Cold frying due to its friendlier nature, tastier food and greener promise.

CPF is a new and advanced technique in OPOS. Please make sure the following are in place before attempting these recipes.

1. CPF needs to be tried ONLY using a 2L Stainless steel MAGIC POT.
2. CPF involves usage of hot oil under pressure and therefore extreme caution needs to be exercised.
3. Do not try CPF recipes without getting comfortable with basic techniques.
4. When trying a CPF recipe, make sure you follow every instruction to the letter to avoid disasters.
5. Do not change anything in the recipe the first time - including the quantity of oil, timing, type of meat, ingredients as mentioned in the recipes.