Shadowing Practice: Science hacks for crispy snacks - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
77 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
If you aren't getting that sound in your own kitchen, pull up a stool.
2
Because we are breaking down the science of crispy.
3
This is Minute Food.
4
There is nothing more disappointing than a limp spring roll or a soft french fry.
5
Crispiness makes or breaks these foods.
6
But in order to achieve crispy, you need to understand what it is.
7
Scientists test and quantify crispiness in all sorts of ways.
8
But it pretty much comes down to how loudly a food fractures.
9
There's disagreement about how different crispiness is from crunchiness, and we can debate that somewhere else.
10
But here, I'm going with crispy.
11
Anyway, there are two main qualities that make food more likely to do that loud, fracture-y thing we love so much.
12
The first is that the food, at least the surface of the food, has been dehydrated.
13
It's dried out.
14
And the second quality is that it's porous.
15
There's some space inside.
16
If you want to get ultimate crispiness at home, you need to consider and maximize these qualities.
17
Now, crispy foods can take lots of different forms.
18
I mean, here's a tiny subset of the crispy-liciousness out there.
19
But most often, they're fried, like my go-to guilty pleasure, fried pickles.
20
There's a reason we associate fried stuff with crispiness.
21
See, when you drop your food in hot oil, the bubbles that erupt from the food aren't the oil boiling.
22
They're moisture in the food that's gotten so hot that it vaporizes and escapes.
23
And as it escapes, it creates tunnels and pockets and crevices.
24
So with each bubble, you're dehydrating the surface of the food and creating spaces.
25
The two crisp-making qualities.
26
This is why frying is so good at making stuff crispy.
27
Or why it can be if you keep those crisp-making qualities in mind.
28
Like, say you're using batter.
29
Use it to boost that airspace.
30
You can add a leavener, like baking powder, or even some frothy beer to help form a network of beautiful airy bubbles.
31
And while we're talking booze, throw a little vodka in your batter too.
32
Alcohol is really volatile and will basically explode when it heats up, leaving behind big airy spaces.
33
If you're on team breading, choose large irregular shapes like panko.
34
Those flakes will form a big loose complex, giving you tons of nooks, crannies, and spaces.
35
And panko itself is full of nooks, crannies, and spaces, compounding its airiness.
36
Now once you're ready to fry, come in hot.
37
Because hot oil makes water evaporate more quickly, dehydrating the food more efficiently and creating more and larger air spaces.
38
So wait until your oil is nice and hot.
39
Use a pan that holds heat well, like cast iron.
40
That way the temp won't drop too much when you add the food.
41
And don't crowd the pan.
42
Fry in small batches.
43
And if you've ever noticed that your second batch is crispier than your first, you're onto something.
44
As you use oil, it breaks down and creates surfactants.
45
Essentially, molecules that help oil make better contact with food.
46
And more contact with food means more dehydration and more airy spaces.
47
So you'll actually get crispier food with oil that's already been used.
48
Up to a point.
49
Food that's been used too many times, say six or so, will have too many surfactants.
50
Food will get too dried out.
51
At that point, get rid of the oil.
52
But save a little bit to break in your new oil.
53
About a tablespoon of old stuff per cup of new stuff will help replicate that second batch sweet spot.
54
Now your food is cooked.
55
But your quest for crispiness isn't over.
56
Almost immediately, moisture inside the food will start creeping outside, rehydrating that surface you worked so hard to dehydrate.
57
That's one reason lots of restaurants fry their foods twice.
58
A second bath in hot oil removes additional moisture and adds even more air space, doubling down on crispiness.
59
If you've got the time at home, a double fry is worth a try.
60
Alternatively, until you're ready to serve, put the food on a metal rack in a low oven to drive away any of that creeping moisture.
61
That's assuming you can actually wait.
62
Because by maximizing these crisp-making qualities, you're going to have some gloriously loud, fracture-y food.
63
Of course, crispiness isn't the only thing that makes fried food awesome.
64
And maybe we'll chew on some of the other important stuff another time.
65
But for now, I'm gonna go eat these pickles.
66
Mmm. So good.
67
When we make minute food videos, we spend a lot of time making sure we're representing stuff in a way that clearly conveys what's important.
68
Like here we wanted to focus on the bonds within molecules, but here we wanted to emphasize structural similarity.
69
So we chose to represent the molecules in different ways.
70
The folks at our sister channel, MinuteEarth, have actually spent lots of time thinking about molecular representations, so much that they created an entire course about it over at Brilliant.
71
In this course, like all the other great courses at Brilliant, you can learn interactively at your own pace in a low-pressure environment.
72
is my first stop when I'm working on a video and need to get up to speed on new concepts.
73
You can get started there for free.
74
Just visit brilliant.org slash minute food or click on the link in the description.
75
The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant's annual premium subscription.
76
And make sure to check out the awesome molecules course.
77
It'll change how you think about chemistry.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B21
61 sentences
The Best Fried Eggs You’ll Ever Make | Epicurious 101
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B215
43 sentences
Candy Corn In Space
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
46 sentences
Finger Food vs Chopsticks vs Fork & Knife | The Science of Touch
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
151 sentences
SLEEP BETTER with these evening snacks 😴
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
189 sentences
Crumbl: How We Built A Cookie Company That Brings In $1 Billion A Year
Business EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B210
33 sentences
Why 350°F is the magic number for baking
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
275 sentences
Trying Clickbait Clothing "Hacks" From Instagram
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
415 sentences
I Crushed Every Chip Into One Chip
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
98 sentences
how to make Coca Cola
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
327 sentences
I Studied Nutrition for 30 Years. Here’s What Actually Matters.
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
16 sentences
How to cook Pork Belly Crackle #porkbelly #catering #cateringservice #sydneycatering #hospitality
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
114 sentences
How To Make The Best Croissants At Home
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Science hacks for crispy snacks”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: oil, crispiness, space, crispy, hot. This video has 77 sentences and 942 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:09. The speaker talks fast, about 183 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| crispiness noun | The state of being crispy | |
| crispy adjective | /ˈkɹɪs.pi/ | Having a crisp texture; brittle yet tender. |
| fry verb | /fɹaɪ/ | To cook (something) in hot fat. |
| dehydrate verb | /diːhaɪˈdɹeɪt/ | To remove water from; to dry up. |
| molecule noun | /ˈmɑ.lɪ.kjul/ | The smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by… |
| moisture noun | /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃɚ/ | That which moistens or makes damp or wet; exuding fluid; liquid in small quantity. |
| airy adjective | /ˈɛə.ɹi/ | Consisting of air. |
| fracture noun | /ˈfɹæk.t͡ʃʰəː/ | An instance of breaking, a place where something has broken. |
| crisp noun | /kɹɪsp/ | In full potato crisp: a thin slice of potato which has been deep-fried until it is brittle and crispy, and eaten when cool; they are typically packaged and… |
| batch noun | /bæt͡ʃ/ | The quantity of bread or other baked goods baked at one time. |
| bubble noun | /ˈbʌbəl/ | A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid. |
| cranny noun | /ˈkɹæni/ | A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance. |
| nook noun | /nʊk/ | A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove. |
| panko noun | /ˈpæŋ.koʊ/ | Coarse, dry breadcrumbs used in Japanese cuisine. |
| pickle noun | /ˈpɪkəl/ | A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| dry out verb | To cause moisture to be completely removed from; to make dry. |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| drive away verb | To force someone or something to leave |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. |
| get up to verb | To do something, especially something that is forbidden or improper. |
| heat up verb | To heat, to cause to become hotter. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been dehydrated · you've ever noticed · that's already been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been dehydrated · is cooked |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dehydration /dihaɪˈdɹeɪʃən/, subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, structural /ˈstɹʌk(t͡)ʃəɹəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: dehydration /dihaɪˈdɹeɪʃən/, evaporate /ɪˈvæp.ə.ɹeɪt/, similarity /ˌsɪm.ɪˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/, disagreement /dɪsəˈɡɹiːmənt/, irregular /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like crispiness, crispy, fry.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.