Various sauté methods exist. Ingredients for sautéing are usually cut into small pieces or thinly sliced to provide a large surface area, which facilitates fast cooking. The primary mode of heat transfer during sautéing is conduction between the pan and the food being cooked.
To sauté a dish means to cook it in a small amount of fat over high heat, making sure that the food doesn't stick to the pan by making it "jump" in and out of the heat. The term comes originally from the French word for jump, "sauter." Sautéing is ideal for browning or searing food, especially vegetables./saute-2500-56a2101b5f9b58b7d0c62aba.jpg)
The word sauté (pronounced "saw-TAY") refers to a form of dry-heat cooking that uses a hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook food quickly. Like other dry-heat cooking methods, sautéeing browns the food's surface as it cooks and develops complex flavors and aromas.
While you can use a frying pan to sauté, the best option is a real sauté pan. To be considered a sauté pan, it has sides steep and higher than the sides of a frying pan. This helps keep food from spilling out as it's shaken, stirred, and flipped. Sauté pans come in a variety of materials, including aluminum, stainless steel, and enameled cast iron.