Top chefs share 26 kitchen facts and fiction

After all is said and done, does putting salt on the cover of a rice cooker prevent rice from being undercooked? Does mixing squash and chicken in one dish cause leprosy? Does holding matches between your teeth ensure tear-free onion chopping?

I was often fooled into believing some of these kitchen myths when I was a kid. In fact, I would cringe whenever my classmates would order sautéed squash with chicken during lunch at the school canteen. One day, I noticed tiny blisters on my seatmate, Mary Jane’s, arms. So I asked her if she ate the “forbidden” dish. I panicked when she said yes. Nope, she didn’t have leprosy. “It’s just chickenpox!” Jane assured me.

Some of these kitchen myths are absolutely fascinating, and in a strange way, upsetting. So I asked the country’s top chefs — Gilbert Pangilinan, Gaita Fores, Florabel Co, Claude Tayag, Vicky Pacheco, Jessie Sinsioco, Heny Sison, Roland “Mac” Macatangay, and Melissa Sison — to set the record straight and separate kitchen facts from fiction.

1. Fiction: When grilling burger or steak, it’s best to flip just once, halfway through cooking.

“It’s best to flip meat multiple times as it will reduce chances that the meat will be overcooked,” chef Gilbert Pangilinan, co-owner of Kai, Manila’s Home of Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, and Cerveseria, points out. “In doing so, the meat will cook evenly.”

2.  Fiction: Adding oil to the water when boiling pasta will prevent the pasta from sticking.

According to Gilbert, it’s the process of boiling that prevents the pasta from sticking because of the constant movement. “The oil will prevent it from boiling over. But the oil also makes it harder for the pasta to absorb the sauce.”

3. Fact: Pasta waits for no one.

“The best way to enjoy pasta is to enjoy it immediately after it is prepared ... when the noodle is just done and strained from the pasta water and merged with its sauce, then served immediately on the table,” explains chef and restaurateur Gaita Fores.

4. Fiction: It is difficult to find Filipino ingredients and produce abroad, making it difficult to produce our cuisine in an authentic way.

“This is not true at all,” objects Gaita. “In Italy, for example, we were amazed to find a bountiful supply of our fresh vegetables, grown on Italian soil, when we were tasked to cook Pinoy food there last June. Our own saluyot, okra, ampalaya, kalabasa, sitaw, talong, even upo were available in the markets in Rome.”

5. Fact: The global spotlight is now on our own Filipino cuisine, and we must waste no time in taking advantage of this.

“There has been much attention all over the world on our cuisine and much has happened to prove this. Anthony Bourdain has declared our lechon as the best in the world. Enzo Lim’s Maharlika in New York City has gotten much attention and accolades from the New York Times critics, New York magazine, and more. It is up to us Filipinos to be deliberate ambassadors of our cuisine and our culture,” adds Gaita, a passionate foodie and advocate of Pinoy food. 

6. Fact: Shellfish (a.k.a. mollusks or bi-valves) such as clams and mussels that don’t open during cooking should be discarded.

“The ideal time for cooking shellfish is not more than 10 minutes, otherwise it tends to be rubbery when overcooked. However, unopened cooked shells should really not be eaten and thrown away, and they will not open by cooking them longer,” explains artist, writer, and chef Claude Tayag of Bale Dutung.

7. Fiction:  Junk food (including chips, French fries, chocolate candies, ice cream, cakes, etc.) is fattening.

“Nothing per se is inherently fattening. It boils down to the amount of calories that one consumes and the amount one expends (through physical activity) that counts. If you can’t avoid indulging in junk food, make up for it by exercising more or eating less on your next meal,” advises Claude.

8. Fact: Buffalo wings have nothing to do with the buffalo animal.

“Buffalo wings were invented by Frank and Teressa Bellissimo at their Anchor Bar in downtown Buffalo, New York, in 1964,” explains Claude.  “The wings are deep-fried pieces of breaded chicken, then coated in a hot tangy sauce,” he adds.

9-10. Fiction/Fact: Putting a fork (or spoon) at the bottom of a stockpot will shorten the cooking time of meat.

“This is one of the most ridiculous cooking practices I’ve seen locally. I don’t see any logic in it,” Claude stresses. “Does having metal underneath the pile of meat make the temperature higher, hence hastening the cooking time? Even in using a pressure cooker, a perforated steel plate is placed at the bottom, but this is to prevent the meat from burning or sticking to the pot.”

Well, chef and restaurateur Jessie Sinsioco begs to disagree: “I think the additional heat generated by the additional metal (ladle or spoon) inside the pot helps speed up the meat’s cooking time.”

11. Fact: Pineapples tenderize meat. Just like chef Jessie, chef Florabel Co also believes that putting fork in a stockpot helps tenderize meat fast. But those who want to do it the natural way can rely on pineapple peels. “What I normally do is put pineapple or pineapple peels when cooking bulalo or beef nilaga. If it’s beef steak, I would rub (massage) the meat with it. Pineapple has can enzyme called bromelain, which helps degrade the meat’s tough fibers. I still do that until now so it has been tried and tested,” explains Florabel, chef patron, Crisostomo, Elias, Felix, Florabel, Market on the 5th, Sweet Pea, Florings, Johnny Chow, and Dragon Chef.

12. Fact: Putting a little salt and oil in the rice mixture helps prolong its shelf life.

“We also do catering and one of the challenges is how to prolong the shelf life of the dishes, especially rice,” relates Florabel. “I got this tip from my mom and it actually works.”

13. Store unripe fruits in the rice box to speed up ripening.

To prove this chef Jessie Sinsioco did an actual trial. “We kept mangoes that were 75-percent-ripe inside our rice container (a big plastic drum that can hold a sack of rice) and left some of the same mangoes on our kitchen counter on a tray. After just a day, the mangoes that were kept and stored inside the rice box were already fully ripened,” enthuses the amiable chef.

14. Fiction: Fill your containers of rice, sugar, and salt to the brim on New Year’s Eve and you will never run out of food for the whole year.

“Love your job, work hard, and persevere so you won’t starve,” advises Jessie, chef and owner of Chef Jessie Restaurants.

15. Fact: When cooking with vinegar, don’t stir at once. Let it boil for a couple of minutes first. Or else, it will taste hilaw.

According to chef Vicky Pacheco, COO/executive chef of the Chateau 1771 Group of Restaurants, letting the mixture boil first moderates the astringency of the vinegar and during the process, the molecules should not be disturbed. “This is true for all the Pinoy dishes we love: paksiw, escabeche, tocho, dinuguan, and adobo. We use a lot of vinegar and I’ve experienced this hilaw theory firsthand.”

16. Fiction: Canola oil doesn’t have cholesterol.

“We have heard all the good vs. bad regarding canola oil, but the fact remains that it comes from rapeseed, a genetically modified seed. Ergo, if it’s not natural, it’s not good,” explains Vicky.

17. Fact: When you use top-quality ingredients and the freshest produce, you don’t have to do much to come up with truly delicious food.

“I thought this was just hoity-toity gourmet speak, but it happens to be so true,” Vicky reiterates. “Well, that is, if the cook has great taste buds and handles the top-notch ingredients with respect, care, and skill. But with better ingredients, half the battle is won from the start.”

18. Fiction: You need to be a culinary graduate to become a chef.

“False! There are many accomplished chefs who did not attend culinary school. Having gone to culinary school just gives you the edge. You still have to put in the hours and have self-discipline,” stresses Vicky.

19. Fiction: The kitchen is not a place for everyone.

“Everyone is welcome to try their hands in the kitchen,” says Manila Hotel executive pastry chef Roland “Mac” Macatangay. “As the saying goes, ‘There’s no harm in trying.’ Just don’t forget to bring along your heart and head.”

20. Fact: The kitchen is a battleground.

“And to survive, you need to work hard and persevere. In a big kitchen, it’s work 24/7. Everyone has to be on the move and the biggest challenge is to make sure that we can serve the food in the shortest possible time without compromising the quality of the dish,” shares Mac.

21. Fiction: The kitchen is a glamorous place to work.

“When one chooses to be a chef, he/she must be prepared for everything: the heat, smoke, cuts, and out-of-this-world food requests from diners,” Mac adds.

22. Fiction: When you cry while chopping onions, you will not be on good terms with your mother-in-law.

“My mom used to tell and kid me that whenever you chop onions and you cry, this means that you will not be on good terms with your mother-in-law,” relates pastry chef and certified culinarian Heny Sison. “So before I got married, my mother gave me this tip: Put a tablespoon of salt on one side of your chopping board. You know what? Up to now I still follow her advice and it really works. I still have the best mother-in-law in the world and I love her dearly.”

23. Fact: Chopping onions really makes you cry. According to Heny, chopping onions releases a chemical irritant that affects a gland in our eyes that causes tears. “This gas is called Propanethiol S-Oxide that when mixed with certain enzymes in the onion becomes a sulfur gas, which is an eye irritant. To avoid this, refrigerate onions for 30 minutes before chopping. Chilling the onion before cutting will lessen the chemical irritant that the onion emits,” she adds.

24. Fiction: When cooking pasta, adding salt to the water will stop the boiling process. “If you plan on adding salt to boiling water for pasta, you must wait until the water boils before adding it. Salted water takes time to boil. Salt changes the molecular composition of the water, causing its boiling point to go up, which is why it takes longer to boil. Therefore, if you have added the salt in water prior to boiling, it will still boil but will take time,” Heny explains.

25. Fiction: Do not wash raw mushrooms because they will absorb water. This makes them difficult to sauté because they release too much water and end up becoming a stew. “Mushrooms are porous. They absorb water fast. Some water gets stuck in the gills but shaking them off and draining them before cooking will help. You do not want to eat dirty mushrooms — soil and dirt,” Heny points out. “Yes, you can wash them by using a mushroom brush with soft bristles. Wet the brush with water, then carefully slide it over each mushroom to get rid of dirt.”

26. Fiction: Potatoes are fattening.

“Potatoes don’t make you fat as long as you don’t fry or make mashed potatoes out of them,” clarifies chef Melissa Sison, academics program manager, CCA Manila. “In fact, potatoes are an important source of carbohydrates and is also a good source of vitamin C, potassium, iron and vitamin B.  Try boiling your potatoes and mix with honey-mustard dressing and freshly sliced red onions — this will give you the ‘fill’ without the calories.”