Tips and Tricks for using butter

There are many secrets to using French butter to elevate your dishes. Chef Nobu Lee of The Orchid Restaurant in Taipei adds seaweed, particularly the green and red varieties, to add depth of flavor and color. Executive chef Wenyuan Zhu of Shanghai’s Borage restaurant chooses soy sauce to add a dark brown color to his dish, describing it as the emerging seasoning in Western food. He’s also taken his love of the sauce as color inspiration for his restaurant interiors. Whatever the color of the buttery sauce, the future on our plates is looking bright!

Preparation

Tip #1: Soften it.

To make it easier to spread, remove the butter from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for at least 1 hour and 15 minutes. To quickly soften butter that is too cold, just cut it into pieces, wrap it in a damp cotton cloth and knead it for a few seconds.

Tip #2: Give it a bath.

If the butter has absorbed smells in the refrigerator, an ice water bath will give it a second youth. Just dry it afterwards. This can be done as many times as necessary.

Tip #3: Freeze it.

Not using it right away? Butter can be frozen for one to two months.

Techniques

Tip #4: take it off the heat.

To make a butter sauce, the butter must always be incorporated by whisking it off the heat.

Tip #5: avoid the splatter.

Calm down crackling in the the pan by adding a pinch of salt before melting the butter, then a pinch of flour when it is melting.

Tip #6: make your sauces glossy.

To prevent the formation of a skin on the surface of bechamel sauce, coat it with a little melted butter.

Secrets of Flavor

Tip #7: add a little interest.

Mix some unsalted butter with a little horseradish or wasabi from a tube, melt gently and serve with grilled meat. Or mix your butter with hazelnut powder and cover a fillet of sole with it.

Tip #8: use it in place of oil.

Replace the oil in a dressing with melted butter, perfect on steamed baby vegetables.

Tip #9: let it take the main stage.

Mix some unsalted butter with a piece of Camembert and add toasted almonds. Spread on lightly grilled croutons. Serve as an appetizer.

Tip #10: let it shine in a simple sauce.

Butter sauce with salted butter: Melt the butter over a low heat. Using a whisk, mix in the juice of a lemon over a low heat. This sauce is perfect to accompany pasta or a skate wing.