Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here. If you're unfamiliar
Speaker 1: with G, buckle up because it's not quite like any
Speaker 1: other type of cooking fat and you may fall in love.
Speaker 1: It's delicious, It has a high smoke point, so it's
Speaker 1: ideal for most types of cooking, and its shelf stable,
Speaker 1: which means you can make it or buy it to
Speaker 1: keep it in your pantry and pull it out anytime
Speaker 1: you want. But let's back up a bit. Uh. Simply put,
Speaker 1: G is simmered strained butter, similar to clarified butter, but
Speaker 1: cooked longer to deepen the flavor. The process removes the water, sugars,
Speaker 1: and proteins that butter contains, leading to a final product
Speaker 1: with a higher concentration of fat. How much higher? We
Speaker 1: spoke via email with Alyssa Lavy, a registered dietitian based
Speaker 1: in Connecticut. She said when comparing the amount of calories
Speaker 1: and fat, there is not a significant difference between butter
Speaker 1: and G contains on average, slightly more calories and fat,
Speaker 1: including slightly more saturated fat, compared to the same serving
Speaker 1: of butter. GE's history extends thousands of years in South
Speaker 1: Asian cultures, with uses both in the kitchen and an
Speaker 1: iravetic medicine. Though it's only recently become trendy in the
Speaker 1: United States. It's a pantry staple in Indian, Pakistani, and
Speaker 1: Bangladeshi cuisines because gee doesn't spoil in warm weather and
Speaker 1: has that long shelf life we already mentioned. Thanks to
Speaker 1: its lack of water and milk solids, it can also
Speaker 1: provide a suitable butter replacement for those who are lactose
Speaker 1: intolerant or following low sugar or no dairy diets. It's
Speaker 1: easy to make your own ge or clarified butter for
Speaker 1: that matter at home. Here's the basic recipe. You want
Speaker 1: to start with at least a couple of sticks of
Speaker 1: unsalted butter. A full pound or around half a kilo
Speaker 1: is recommended. Butter is composed of up to twenty water
Speaker 1: and milk solids, those sugars and proteins, so when you
Speaker 1: prepare ghee or clarified butter, your yield will be about
Speaker 1: of what you start with. Place the butter in a saucepan,
Speaker 1: one with a light colored bottom will help you see
Speaker 1: what's happening in there. Melt the butter over medium low
Speaker 1: heat until it begins to simmer. Skim the foam from
Speaker 1: the top as needed. As the water begins to evaporate,
Speaker 1: the milk solids will sink to the bottom of the
Speaker 1: saucepan and the butter will begin to turn more clear. Eventually,
Speaker 1: the butter will turn translucent and the foam on top
Speaker 1: will completely disappear. At this point, if you've stopped and
Speaker 1: strained it, you'd have clarified butter, but for gee. Continue
Speaker 1: to cook the butter gently until the milk solids at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the saucepan have browned about forty five minutes.
Speaker 1: They'll give off a warm, nutty fragrance. This will add
Speaker 1: flavor and a bit of color to the finished product.
Speaker 1: When you're done, remove the saucepan from the heat and
Speaker 1: let it cool for a few minutes, and then strain
Speaker 1: the golden liquid through a cheese cloth lined sieve to
Speaker 1: remove the milk solids. You'll be left with the pure
Speaker 1: fat goodness, otherwise known as g G. Can be stored
Speaker 1: on the counter or in the refrigerator that it will
Speaker 1: typically last longer. When stored in the fridge. Use a
Speaker 1: jar or container with a tight lid and avoid getting
Speaker 1: water in it. Without water, germs can't grow. Also, removing
Speaker 1: the water and the milk solids from butter is precisely
Speaker 1: what makes ge so ideal for high heat cooking. It
Speaker 1: won't start smoking, which is bad, until it hits around
Speaker 1: four hundred and eighty degrees fahrenheit or to fifty celsius.
Speaker 1: It has a much higher smoke point than butter, which
Speaker 1: will begin smoking it around three hundred fahrenheit or one
Speaker 1: and fifty celsius, and has an even higher smoke point
Speaker 1: than common cooking oils. The only ones that beat it
Speaker 1: are saff flour and soybean. So how do you cook
Speaker 1: with ge? Lave said, you can use gee in place
Speaker 1: of butter from a culinary perspective, so I recommend starting
Speaker 1: by incorporating it into dishes that you would typically prepare
Speaker 1: with butter. She suggests using it to cook eggs, pasta,
Speaker 1: and pan fried foods, and drizzling it over popcorn and fish.
Speaker 1: You can also use gee to sautee veget bowls with
Speaker 1: garlic and ginger for a quick side dish, or in
Speaker 1: a golden milk latte with turmeric and cardamom. It can
Speaker 1: be used for baking, but you might want to check
Speaker 1: a couple of recipes. Sometimes the water, sugars, and proteins
Speaker 1: in butter play a role in the flavor or texture
Speaker 1: of the final product. Lava does warrant to not go
Speaker 1: overboard with key because, like butter, it's high and fat. Quote.
Speaker 1: While all foods can generally fit into a balanced, varied
Speaker 1: nutritious diet, ge is still similar to butter in terms
Speaker 1: of calories and fat content and should be used as
Speaker 1: butter would be used in moderation, though, of course no
Speaker 1: less than Julia Child once said everything in moderation, including moderation.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Muriel Vega and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clay. For more in this and lots of other topics,
Speaker 1: visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of
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