Roux
posted by recipe
Roux is a classic thickening agent for soups and sauces, with roots dating back more than 300 years in French cuisine. Here's
Ingredients:
Roux takes just a few minutes to make. Whether you are making just enough for a single dish, or a batch to divide and freeze for later, the proportions of ingredients are the same:
1 part oil or fat and 1 part all-purpose flour, by weight.
If you have a kitchen scale, this is easy to measure. If you do not have a kitchen scale, use measuring cups or spoons to measure 1 part oil or fat and 1-3/4 parts all-purpose flour.
Directions:
Silky smooth roux (prounced roo) not only thickens sauces, soups, and stews, it also adds a subtle nutty flavor to the dish. It's an essential building block of recipes that range from macaroni and cheese to gumbo.
Begin by heating oil or fat in a saucepan over medium heat until a pinch of flour sprinkled into the oil will just begin to bubble.
Do not allow the roux to bubble too vigorously, or it will burn rather than brown.
After cooking roux, you'll usually add a liquid ingredient to make a sauce (milk added to white roux, for example, makes white sauce).
Cold or room temperature roux is simply whisked into a simmering soup or sauce until it dissolves. These methods ensure the roux is incorporated slowly and the mixture will not form lumps.
Roux begins to thicken soon after it is combined with a liquid, but it must be simmered for 10 to 20 minutes in order to reach its full flavor and thickening potential.
This additional cooking time allows the flour to soften and absorb the liquid, resulting in a silky smooth soup or sauce. If the simmering time is too short, the flour in the roux will remain grainy.
Source: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-make-roux/