If You Are Draining Your Pasta In The Sink You Should Stop Now, And Here Is Why
Growing up, the first set of meals I learned to prepare were basic meals such as pasta and rice. After perfecting the traditional method of preparing them, I began experimenting with other ways to prepare them. Despite all the different techniques, one can use in preparing pasta, there is a step which doesn’t change, and that’s the draining step. Everyone drains pasta the same way by pouring the content of the pot in the colander to drain the water out of the pasta.
Now the thing is, if you have been using this method for draining your pasta this way, you need to stop it! It doesn’t matter if you’ve been doing it for years.
Why should you stop draining the pasta water? Bon Appetit has revealed that the pasta water shouldn’t be wasted but can serve other cooking purposes!
For instance, the pasta water can be used to prepare the sauce for the pasta. This is how – When boiling your pasta in a hot pot of water, the starch contained in the pasta seeps out and thickens the water. Often times we take this to mean the water isn’t fit for use. Well, that isn’t true. Apparently, the murky liquid provides emulsification in your sauce, giving it a very soft and silky texture when put in the mouth. While some people are okay eating their regular pasta and sauce, a lot of other people already know this secret of emulsification and won’t prepare their sauce without the pasta water. This is because there is a big and obvious difference between how the sauce tastes and looks with the pasta sauce. Using the pasta oil mixes oil and water together, making sure they don’t separate on your plate or in your mouth.
Also, the addition of pasta water to your sauce will make the sauce thicker. A thicker sauce will definitely make the meal taste better as it won’t run through the food, down to the bottom of the plate. This way you also won’t need to add thickeners like flour or cornstarch because these additions might have a negative impact on the taste of your sauce.
To give you the perfect pasta sauce, here are some helpful tips you should follow.
Tips to follow while cooking and using your pasta water
1. No oil: When filling your pot with water for the pasta, don’t add oil. Adding oil makes the pasta slippery and sometimes mushy. The common misconception with adding oil when boiling pasta is that it stops the pasta from sticking, but this isn’t so.
2. Adequate water: In order to get the right liquid consistency, ensure you’re making use of the right amount of water. Not too much and not too little. In order to get it right, use 3 liters of water when cooking 25 grams of pasta.
3. Use pasta forks: To separate your pasta from the water, you can make use of a pasta fork. This way you won’t have to drain the liquid into the sink.