Fried Sage...A Worthy Obsession
My November article about perennials emphasized fried sage as a garnish for pasta. This Thanksgiving, I picked an abundant handful of sage from my shrub and fried it up to use as a topping for our potatoes and turkey. It added both flavorful and textural dimensions to our food. Got some leftover fresh sage from your Thanksgiving cooking? Give this a try.
- Wash a large handful of sage well. This recipe is very forgiving when it comes to actual amounts, so you don’t have to sweat the proportions too much. Pull the whole green leaves from the stems.
- Heat ~2 tbsp. avocado or canola oil (or any other oil you like) in a medium fry pan over med-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, toss in the sage leaves.
- Keep stirring the sage constantly to move the leaves against the bottom of the pan up to the top. Don’t walk away! I’m often tempted to do something else while I’m waiting, and if I do, I end up with burned sage, which no one wants to eat. Instead, I use this as an opportunity to slow down and meditate on the wonder of cooking for transforming food.
As you continue to stir, you will notice that the leaves become darker in color with light mottling, and you will feel them start to stiffen. When they seem crispy, transfer them to a bowl lined with a paper towel to soak up the extra oil. If you see them start to brown as you are stirring, remove them immediately so they don’t burn.
Taste a leaf! Though sage is rather pungent as a fresh herb, frying releases the more volatile chemicals leaving the product with a mellow flavor and crunchy texture. Frying also does not likely damage the nutrition of the sage much if at all. In fact, studies have shown that the antioxidants in sage have a protective effect on the quality of the oil its cooked in by inhibiting the oil’s transformation to more harmful oxidized forms1. Frying meat with sage decreases the amount of cancer-causing products produced by the frying process2. It’s also possible sage’s antioxidants reduce oxidation in our bodies, making it a target for research on its use as a treatment for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer3. Regardless, it will certainly do you no harm, other than make your friends annoyed because you can’t stop talking about it.
References
1 Che Man, Y. B. and Jaswir, I., 2000, Effect of rosemary and sage extracts on frying performance of refind, bleaches and deodorized (RBD) palm olein during deep-fat frying; Food Chemistry, vol. 69, no. 3, p. 301-307.
2 Dana, D., and Saguy, I. S., 2001, Frying of nutritious foods: obstacles and feasibility; Food Sci. Technol. Res., vol. 7, no. 4, p. 265-279.
3 Hamidpour, M., Hamidpour, R., Hamidpour, S., Shahlari, M., 2014, Chemistry, pharmacology, and medicinal property of Sage (Salvia) to prevent and cure illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, depression, dementia, lupus, autism, heart disease, and cancer; J. Tradit. Complement. Med., vol. 4, no. 2, p. 82-88.
