Frying facts for kids

Frying is a way to cook food using hot butter or vegetable oil. You can fry food in a small amount of butter or oil in a pan or in a lot of oil in a pot. Some restaurants also have large deep fryers to cook lots of food at once.

How Frying Works

Tofu being fried

Fried polenta, French fries, and fried chicken in Brazil

Fats like oil or butter can get much hotter than water. This is why frying cooks food very quickly. When you fry, the outside of the food gets a nice crispy crust. Sugars in the food can also turn golden brown, which is called caramelizing.

The hot fat makes the food cook fast and gives it a special crispy texture. The oil or butter soaks into the food a little, making it taste richer and adding flavor. It also adds calories, which give you energy.

Different Ways to Fry

There are different ways to fry food, depending on how much oil you use and what kind of pan you have. Some common frying methods include:

• Sautéing: Cooking food quickly in a small amount of fat over high heat.
• Stir-frying: Similar to sautéing, but you keep stirring the food constantly in a wok or pan to make sure it cooks evenly and doesn't stick. This is often used for Asian dishes.
• Pan-frying: Cooking food in a thin layer of fat in a frying pan.
• Shallow frying: A type of pan-frying where you use enough fat to cover about one-third to one-half of the food. The fat used for shallow frying is usually only used once.
• Deep-frying: This is when you completely cover the food in hot oil. The oil is usually heated in a deep pot or a special deep fryer. This oil can often be used several times before it needs to be changed.

Deep-frying is a huge business around the world. Many people love fried foods because they are quick to make and taste great. Foods like potato chips, french fries, doughnuts, and instant noodles are often deep-fried. They can be easily packaged and stored for a long time.

Images for kids

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  Potato Latkes being fried

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  A painting by the Russian artist A. I. Morozov showing frying outdoors

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  Pakora is a fried snack, popular in India, shown here in Jaipur, India.

See also

In Spanish: Fritura para niños