FWIW trying a braised pork recipe. May simplify at some point to see if I can make it easier.
Both the beef burgundy recipe I follow and this one advise frying the meat chunks before cooking. I was wondering if that's strictly necessary. Especially as, with any kind of stew, "sealing in the juices" isn't really a thing that's needed anyway. I mean, you want the meat to take on the flavor of the sauce and vice versa right?
Now, add to that that the consensus is that frying meat does NOT seal in any juices, and... it just seems unnecessary.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/does-searing-meat-seal-in-juices-995432 claims it *is* necessary, and comes up with a slightly convincing argument: that the meat won't brown during its time cooking, and the browning - called, apparently, the Maillard reaction - adds all kinds of new flavors to the meat that aren't there if you don't brown it. That said, most of the pork last night went from pink to white in the frying plan and then other than a few marks, stayed resolutely white for the remainder of the frying process, regardless of how long it went for.
Perhaps it would have been better to broil the meat? A clue is in TFA: despite the recipe suggesting I need to fry it in oil, TFA says "Since you're not adding oil to the skillet, you don't have to worry about smoke points. This means if you can heat the surface of your skillet to 500 F or hotter, you'll get a better sear on your meat. "
So maybe I shouldn't fry in oil? That'll ruin the non-stick frying pan though. Again, maybe I should broil the meat next time?
Thoughts?