Sauté

To sauté is to cook food quickly in a small amount of fat in a hot, shallow pan, turning or tossing it so it cooks evenly and takes on some colour. The word is French for "jumped", from the way chefs flick food in the pan.

At home it mostly means frying chopped onions, mushrooms, sliced chicken or greens in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. It is close to a stir-fry, with a bit less heat and a flat pan instead of a wok. Get the pan and the fat hot before the food goes in, and don't crowd it: too much at once and it steams instead of browning.

Recipes also use "sauté" loosely for the gentle first step of softening onions, garlic or celery before adding liquid. If the recipe says "until soft but not coloured", keep the heat lower.

Without the accent, "saute" is the same word. American recipes use it the same way.