Mine probably isn’t that secret these days, but almost every sauce I add nutritional yeast to. Curry, chilli, bolognese, it just makes them all better.
A splash of milk (probably any dairy?) in stews and meat based sauces just before serving.
Coffee: just put like a 16th or 32nd of a teaspoon of cayenne in the grounds, gives a depth of flavour people love. Just a miniscule amount, they should never spot it for what it is.
Specifically cayenne?
I’ve used a dash of salt in french press when I have very few options over how its made, it takes off the bitterness and adds no saltiness.
Yes, for a specific effect. It gives a smoky depth of flavour and much improves some shitty coffees. The dude here saying a pinch salt, that works too but a different effect.
Use a real fucking measurement Jesus christ
About a quarter of a millilitre.
It is a “real fucking measurement,” just not one you use. 1 US teaspoon is approximately 5 ml.
I recognize that US measurements are stupid and don’t make any sense to those who don’t use them, i.e. the entire rest of the world, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t real measurements.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally wish I didn’t have to have a chart giving me conversions between teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups on my fridge, but recipes in the US are all in our dumb measurements so it’s what we’re used to. I also wish everything would be measured by weight instead of volume, but here we are.
expressing a 16th of a teaspoon in mL is just awkward. I’m Canadian, believe me, i understand both systems perfectly well and use what works best situationally.
A (1) teaspoon might be used as a measurement. 1/32 of a Teaspoon is asinine.
They literally make the spoons for measuring it.
what the fuck are you talking about? They didn’t make teaspoons for measurement purposes… It’s right there in the name.
is this a joke or are you just retarded?
Admittedly, yeah. Technically in the US’s stupid system that should be “a half pinch.”
A pinch being 1/16 teaspoon.
Lol, of course they have a name for it
Are all those recipes that call for a “pinch of this” or a “dash of that” suddenly making more sense to you?
I just thought it meant “a bit”, and it basically does because noone can really measure a 16th of a teaspoon
found the chemical technician
My ex used to go insane following her mother’s recipes for things, which she had to “feel”. Write an SOP or GTFO was usually her motto
“…and then just add .03 pounds of coffee per .0005 tons of cayenne and you’ll be the toast of the town!”
Are fractions upsetting?
A “table spoon” is already not a proper unit, fractions of it are just abhorrent
Americans use sticks and tablespoons to measure butter and it does my fucking head in. A tablespoon of oil, however, is perfectly acceptable.
learn to cook
Balance acidity, that’s pretty much how to make every sauce delicious. Per OP’s suggestion, that free glutamate punch also helps.
I recently started grinding spices by hand with a mortar/pestle and salt/pepper mills, and it really made a difference. Now everything smells very nice, which really made all of the food I prepare much better. Less of a secret ingredient, but it’s usually better to always have fresh spices / ingredients on hand (if possible)
I grow and dry my own herbs, jar the whole leaves, and grind them as needed. It does help.
Dry sherry in tomato sauce, soups, or anything with beef in it.
Sherry is good stuff. I use a lot of port in savory dishes too.
Black salt. Pair with any fruit.
MSG. It’s amazing.
what’s MSG?
Metal Sear Golid
Make Shit Good
Monosodium glutamate. Makes things taste more savory. Also causes furries to make in-jokes about family unfriendly topics.
My sugary gonads
Mobile Suit Gundam
Basically a salt that triggers pure umami flavor. It’s an easy add for dishes where you don’t want to use another umami booster like worcestershire or fish sauce.
I really need to grab a pack next time I hit the local Asian supermarket.
Honestly improves everything I add to any type of meat or sauce.
Put it on your popcorn too!
Along those same lines: Chicken bullion powder with MSG.
Dry yellow mustard powder in mac and cheese. Not the fiery English or Chinese stuff, just boring American yellow mustard.
I just add a bit of bottled mustard, about half a teaspoon to a box of mac I find to be good, too much more and you start to taste the mustard distinctly.
Adding a bunch of black pepper to it also does good things in my opinion
Nah man, Coleman’s is the one and only.
I use about 2 teaspoons of dijon, and then also something spicy, like Cayanne Pepper.
Citric acid. It’s like adding lemon juice, except without any added moisture, so it works where too much moisture could pose a problem, like when you are making a pizza, nachos, or frying something in oil. It also never goes bad and is incredibly cheap, I use it all the time and am not even halfway through the $15 bag I bought like 8 years ago.
You can also add citric (and malic and tartaric) acid in the right proportions to turn a sweet juice like orange or pineapple into the equivalent of lime or lemon, and then use that juice like you’d use lime or lemon in cocktails or other recipes
This one’s a bit of a preference and not much an ingredient, but a topping. I tend to put molasses on pancakes over syrup or honey. I still occasionally use maple syrup or honey, but I love the bitterness of molasses.
On the topic of syrup, I put maple syrup in coffee instead of just sugar! The “earthiness” of the maple syrup goes really well with coffee.
(I do it with cold brew so I honestly don’t know how it is with hot coffee.)
Interesting. I drink black coffee, but I have tried with molasses… it’s not bad by any means, but not something I would drink every day. Never once have I tried maple syrup (and I’m Canadian). I’ve tried maple flavoured coffee, but it didn’t taste great. I’ll have to give it a shot.
100ml espresso
45ml maple syrup
200ml of iceShake well, then top with 200ml of full-fat or creamy oatmilk.
Enjoy!
I made a coffee cake recently and made maple syrup icing for it. They go together deliciously well.
Do you use fresh or dried curry leaves?
Good to know since dried are much easier for me to get hold of.
Half a teaspoon of mustard to any creme-based sauce. People dont think it will taste good but once you try it… Doesnt matter if you dont like mustard on its own. But it just adds that different flavor, similar to how salt changes it, without wanting the dish to taste like salt.
And it helps the emulsion! Keeps everything thick and creamy.
I do a similar thing but with horseradish. Just a hint of it is enough to improve the sauce
This thread is fucking awesome and I’m gonna try lots of these.
My Ukranian mate showed me the ways of vegeta. No, not the anime character, the seasoning. Put that shit on fried eggs and never look back.
Actually you can add it to lots of stuff. But eggs were the first thing I experienced it with.
I had no idea that was a real thing! I saw Vegeta mentioned in another comment and thought it was a typo lol
Actually my friends recipe.
Root beer float: Ingredients: Root beer, vanilla ice cream and just a touch of Kalua.
My favorite nothing to do today coffee is coffee, shot of Grind espresso rum, and kahlua as creamer
Sounds delish.
Coffee and Baileys 🥰
