whats the difference (if any) between food that is “blackened” and just straight up burnt?

Question

sometimes at restaurants i see food that is called something like “blackened chicken” and to me it just looks charred? whats the dealio

In: 19

Answer 1

Blackened is a buzz word. It’s just *seared.* What searing means is to *char* it very quickly by cooking it at a very high temperature (using a device that heats it at 1-2k degrees) while leaving the inside at optimal eating temperature. All steakhouses do this to a properly cooked steak using a device called a Salamander.

When you’ve “burnt” your food, it’s done because you cooked it at any temperature too long, so the whole thing is **overcooked**.