how to be a better home cook

No air fryers or garlic presses here.

Cooking is like writing — to improve requires practice. You can read countless cookbooks, eat at a bunch of restaurants, and bookmark recipes. When really, the only way to get better is to actually get in the kitchen and cook.

Although I’ve been cooking since I was a kid, I’ve noticed a significant difference in my skills in recent years. It’s because I’m more active in the kitchen, cooking not only for myself, but for friends and family. I stand over the stove almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day, making mistakes often and growing from them.

It doesn’t hurt that I occasionally cook alongside someone that does it for a living. A professional whose skillset far exceeds my purview. Each time we make dinner together, I gain a little bit of confidence. Last night I discovered how to glide my knife under a filet of fish to remove its skin. The other week I realized that slicing delicata squash into oblique cuts is visually more interesting than the traditional half-moon rounds.

I thought it would be helpful to aggregate the most fundamental and transformative learnings that I’ve gathered over the years. These tools and techniques helped me become a better home cook, and they’re simple practices anyone can implement into their kitchen.

Get nice dishes. My cabinets are filled to the brim with dishes, most of which I found at various thrift stores for a couple bucks a pop. Using nice plates and bowls helps to make even my simplest weeknight dinners look like they came from a restaurant kitchen. My favorite place to scour for a good find is the Housing Works in Chelsea. I know this is technically a higher-tier secondhand store with more variety than you can find in the suburbs. However, I’ve also found some of my favorites at Goodwill, resale shops in Florida, and after raiding my grandmother’s China cabinet. I stay away from the trendy dishes, like the deep plates with high sides that look like you’re eating out of a dog bowl. I prefer old-school styles such as the wide-rimmed plates with decorative designs or rustic bowls that were probably made at intro to wheel throwing pottery classes. When it comes to plating, I try not to load up all of the food on the dish at once. I start small, placing down salads in a single layer and cutting up one piece of meat with a drizzle of sauce. I don’t overwhelm the eye with too much on the plate. If it’s not enough food, I either create two plates or just top off the dish with the leftovers later on.

Use kosher salt. Sea salt, Himalayan, Celtic, iodized salt — I’ll call them what they are: scams. To me, salt is salt, a simple tool used for seasoning. That’s why I only keep two basic salts on-hand: kosher and flaky salt. Kosher is the least salt-y of the salts (in terms of volume), offering more control when seasoning. Unlike traditional table salt, I can aggressively cover an entire chicken with this stuff and it still won’t be too salty. On the other hand, I use a flaky salt for finishing dishes — it adds a nice texture and the big crystals look pretty too. Similar to the seemingly endless varieties of salt, I’ve never understood the purpose of salt grinders. Salt is a mineral, not an herb or seed like pepper, meaning no aromatics are released when it’s freshly ground. I forgo the salt and pepper mill sets, and opt for a pepper mill alongside two small bowls — one for kosher salt and one for Maldon.

Dry proteins in the fridge. The first thing I do when I get home from the grocery store is remove my proteins from its packaging and let them breathe. It may seem odd to leave raw chicken out in the fridge amidst fresh produce, but in actuality, air drying draws out moisture, develops flavor, and won’t cause a Salmonella outbreak (as long as raw chicken isn’t physically touching the greens). As a result, steaks sear up nicely, chickens get crispy skin and juicy flesh, and fish filets become more firm yet tender. I place steaks and most fatty fish (besides light, white fish) in the fridge, uncovered overnight, on a paper towel-lined sheet tray. Chickens tend to draw out a decent amount of moisture, so I usually cover them in kosher salt before resting on a rack-lined sheet tray in the fridge. I plan ahead and dry out proteins the day before I want to cook with them, but even a couple of hours of rest in the fridge will make a substantial difference before cooking.

Add a splash of wine. Until recently, cooking with wine wasn’t something I’d do often unless a recipe called for it. Though subtle, wine brings complexity to dishes, a depth of flavor that’s not too on the nose. Just a few tablespoons are needed to heighten a dish and take it to the next level. I collect the almost-empty wine bottles leftover from dinner parties and stash them in my fridge. In my pantry, I have Shaoxing wine for Chinese-esque dishes, sake and mirin for Japanese and Korean, white and red wine for French, Italian, and American. Most of these wines can be subbed in and out for one another. Whatever I add it to, I just make sure to cook off the alcohol first when using it in sauces and stocks.

Taste your food. This may seem intuitive, but actively tasting my food throughout the cooking process has helped me become a better cook. I stop every step of the way and check in to see what’s missing — more salt, acid, maybe a hint of sweetness? When I’m making a salad, I try the dressing on its own then again when mixing in the greens to adjust the oil, salt, and vinegar levels. For pastas, I taste the sauce multiple times while cooking, the pasta itself, and again as I stir it together. I see if more salt is needed, a squeeze of lemon juice, or more cheese. I’ve also started using smell, especially when making tahdig. Because I can’t physically see the bottom of the pot, I rely on the scent of toasted rice to gauge when it’s ready to flip.

Season with MSG and dashi powder. MSG has slowly begun making its way into many of my meals, bringing an umami-rich flavor to anything I add it to. More recently, I sprinkle a few granules in my Korean-style steamed eggs for breakfast. Like MSG, instant dashi powder has become another indispensable ingredient in my kitchen. It’s amenable to a variety of applications, from salad dressings to sauces. My preferred use is in a quick stock as a base for soups and noodles. I bring a pot of water to a boil, add in a quarter teaspoon of dashi powder, season with salt, and within minutes, have a light broth with serious depth.

Diversify your pantry. As I have become more familiar with foods from different countries, I’ve learned about the flavors that are integral to them. This has opened up my perspective and changed how I approach cooking. I’m not saying I’m well versed in all food from all over the world, but I know the building blocks of certain cuisines. Like how gochujang, sesame oil, and garlic are necessary to Korean cooking, similar to how kelp, miso, and soy sauce are for Japanese cuisine. Or how fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice are the main ingredients that make up the foundational sauce of Vietnamese cooking called nuoc cham. My pantry is stocked with more than just red pepper flakes, hot sauce, and mustard — though, I definitely use these ingredients often. There’s a variety of peppers, from Aleppo to gochugaru and Szechuan peppercorns. I have dried herbs like fenugreek and fennel pollen. There’s black rice, sweet potato noodles, black limes, sherry vinegar. It’s an ever-evolving pantry, one that changes as I eat and learn more. With it, I can tap into different cuisines at any given time through my home cooking.

— Rayna