Okuzeka
Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Cooking Methods & Techniques

Sear

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/sɪr/verbCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, sear means: To brown the surface of meat or fish quickly in a very hot pan or on a grill, creating a dark, tasty crust.

In Turkish: mühürlemek, yüksek ateşte yüzeyini kızartmak

How it is used

Used for steaks, scallops, tuna and joints of meat before roasting or braising. Chefs ask for a hard sear or a good sear, and the pan must be smoking hot. Seared tuna is cooked outside and raw inside.

Example sentences

  1. Sear the scallops for one minute on each side.

  2. Your pan isn't hot enough to sear the beef properly.

Common collocations

  • sear the meat
  • pan-seared
  • hard sear
  • seared tuna
  • sear on both sides
  • sautéTo cook small pieces of food quickly in a little hot fat in a pan, moving or tossing them so they brown evenly. From French sauter, "to jump".
  • grillTo cook food over or under strong, direct heat, giving it brown marks and a smoky flavour. As a noun, a grill is the equipment used for this.
  • braiseTo brown food first and then cook it slowly in a covered pot with a small amount of liquid, so that tough cuts become tender.
  • frying panA shallow, flat-bottomed pan with a long handle and sloping sides, used for frying, sautéing and searing.

More terms: Cooking Methods & Techniques

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: