the.com/breading
The crispy lie that convinces you fried food is basically a vegetable.
means The coating of crumbs or flour clinging to food before it's fried or baked, meant to add crunch and seal in moisture.
from From 'bread,' rooted in Old English 'bread' meaning a piece or fragment of food (related to 'breotan,' to break). The verb 'to bread' — meaning to coat with crumbs — is a much later kitchen-specific sense, emerging as cooks started literally crumbling bread or crumbs to crust meat and vegetables before frying.
- the trick
- flour, egg, crumbs — the trinity of crunch
- science bit
- maillard reaction browns it, not the frying alone
- fun fact
- panko stays crunchier because it is shaped, not crumbed
- honesty check
- adds calories while pretending to add texture only