robrambles.com
Default

Ingredient

water

Also known as: Enough water to cover

The neutral liquid base used for boiling, steaming, thinning, and diluting whenever a dish doesn't need the flavor that broth, wine, or another liquid would add. It isn't actually neutral in effect -- the amount used controls concentration, hydration, and texture, so treating it as an infinite, flavorless filler is a common source of watery sauces and gummy rice.

Buying guidance

Plain tap water is fine for nearly all cooking; switch to filtered water only if the tap has a strong chlorine or mineral taste that would come through in something delicate like bread, rice, or a simple broth. Very hot tap water can harm yeast in a bread dough -- use lukewarm, not hot, whenever warm water is needed to activate it.

Substitutions

  • Broth or stock -- adds savory depth in place of water's neutrality; good wherever extra flavor would help, not just liquid volume.
  • Reserved pasta or vegetable cooking water -- starchy and lightly flavored, useful for loosening a sauce instead of plain water.

Tips & common mistakes

Too much makes rice gummy or a sauce thin and washed-out, while too little leaves dough or grains dry and underhydrated -- add it in stages rather than all at once, especially in bread dough and rice, where flour humidity and grain age change how much liquid is actually needed.

Used in 37 recipes