Looking back at the online recipe, the photos are much more explicit than the written recipe.
He explains why he doesn’t want you to microplane the garlic, just mince it.
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I know, but I’m pretty lazy sometimes, and getting lazier as I age, and grating is just sooo much easier than mincing. So I pretty much either grate or thin-slice garlic (not Goodfella’s razor-blade thin slices, though).
So far, I haven’t noticed the “gas attack” aspect that Daniel mentions. Maybe my oil is not hot enough?
That’s just as well. It’s odd to read “high heat” combined with “extra virgin olive oil” in 2024 in any case.
I try to start garlic in cold oil so it doesn’t burn before the oil infuses (can’t recall if someone taught me that or I read it somewhere) and I don’t have the gas issue either, so maybe it’s more sautéing technique than the microplane that’s the issue.
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Whenever I Microplane garlic I get mostly mush that burns almost instantly in hot oil. If you don’t want to mince with a knife, use the FP. If you don’t have a FP, you can pick up an electric mini chopper (which works great) for around twenty dollars.
I do this too. It works.
I’m careful not to burn garlic so I just ignored that high heat part of the recipe.
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Any thoughts about using Shaoxing instead of vermouth or white wine?
That’s what I have and I don’t want to buy white wine. If not, what non-alcohol subs might work?
I’m no expert but I think it’d be just fine.
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You’ll probably get more tannins/more oxidized flavor. Closer to sherry than the fruitiness of a white wine. Buy a small boxed white from TJ’s/Target instead maybe?
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I think you’d be absolutely fine - in fact, I often use a dry vermouth instead of white - although we always, always have plenty of white wine in the house.
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Thanks all! I don’t have a palate for alcohol in cooking.
This could probably be a subject for another thread about cooking without alcohol, but for the purposes of this recipe, the author says
“The answer was to re-create the oxidized-wine effect by switching to dry vermouth, a more flavorful fortified wine with pleasant aromatic and oxidized flavors.”
How would that effect the choice of substitutions? Also, this recipe calls for just 1/2 cup. Would the small quantity make a difference in your choice of substitutions?
Oh right, I forgot they found that desirable. I think it’s worth trying!
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If it were me, and I didn’t have any white wine, I’d just use a reduced amount of white wine/rice vinegar.
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