This is a fantastic way to cook, using a shallow hot pan with a little fat: oil, butter, lard and dripping, even things like coconut oil and avocado oil can be used. Apart from being quick and direct, frying caramelizes the natural sugars in food, which gives an amazing golden colour and a lovely sticky sweetness you can only get from pan-frying and roasting. The best thing is that you’re in constant contact with the pan. You smell it, you see it, you hear it — all your senses are going. It’s a very exciting way of cooking. Remember, you’re in control — if it’s too hot turn it down, too cold turn it up. Generally for shallow-frying you use thin first-class cuts of meat or fish that will cook through fast. If the cuts are bigger you may want to slow down the frying process or finish them in the oven — this is called pan-roasting (see page 211).
This method of cooking requires good clean oil, a consistently hot temperature, and generally coating fish or vegetables in some kind of batter, flour or breadcrumbs — apart from the good old chip, of course. Batters were originally developed to encase meat or fish so that they could be cooked quickly, having been steamed inside. People soon cottoned on to the idea that a crispy outside and a steamed centre were a delicious combination.