Delicious in a mug
Microwave recipes show that no-fuss cooking for one can actually be great fun, writes Nancy Baggett
THE idea of a “fast and fabulous” microwave mug recipe is irresistible: there’s little waiting or washing up, you don’t heat up the kitchen, and the mug is the perfect size when you’re cooking for one. It’s also an easy way to eat more homemade food and less takeaways without spending a lot of extra time. Until recently, almost every mug recipe I’d tried was a let-down.
The reason: microwave ovens typically cook by steaming – energy waves heat up the water in foods and steam them from the inside out. And steaming doesn’t develop much flavour.
I decided to try to think outside (or inside) the box to figure out how to make something better. It took an “aha” moment and lots of follow-up experimentation but I eventually came up with some quick breakfast, lunch, supper and dessert mugs that passed my taste tests.
Here’s the how-to behind tastier mug recipes: microwave ovens cannot only steam food but in some situations can toast, fry and even caramelise – and that makes all the difference.
All sorts of dry or low-moisture ingredients – flour, sugar, nuts, uncooked rice, onions, celery, bacon and many more – can go from raw-tasting to mellow, aromatic and even crisp with a minute or two of “micro-toasting” or “micro-frying”.
Just as slow-cooker recipes turn out better when you add a searing or sautéing step, microwaves produce better food when you do a little bit more than just dump in the ingredients and walk away until you hear the ping. – The Washington Post