Reduce a sauce until it turns sticky and coats the food
After mixing in sweet and salty liquids, simmer until the sauce boils down and looks sticky to concentrate flavour and help it cling to the meat and veg.
Once your liquids and seasonings are in the pan, keep it cooking so it boils down. Stop when the sauce visibly thickens and looks sticky/coating rather than watery.
The short version
- Use appearance (sticky/coating) as the doneness cue for reduction.
- Boiling down concentrates flavour and thickens the sauce.
What you need
- frying pan/Wide surface helps reduction happen faster./
How to do it
- 1
Mix the sauce ingredients into the pan with the cooked meat/veg.
/Stir so everything is evenly coated./
Watch this step - 2
- 3
Stop when the sauce looks sticky and coats the food.
/If it still looks watery, reduce longer./
Watch this step
What goes wrong
Stopping reduction while the sauce is still watery
Keep simmering/boiling until it looks sticky and coats the meat.
Why it works
/Reducing evaporates water, concentrating sugars and salts so the sauce thickens and clings./
Put it to use
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