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.
Sriracha on my cereal.
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)
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As a filling?
Asafoetida and curry leaves. Not exactly secret, but skipping these will make my food taste bland. Also chopping curry leaves will add more flavour.
Do you use fresh or dried curry leaves?
Both. Although dried ones stay longer and are easier to crush by hand.
Good to know since dried are much easier for me to get hold of.
Unsweetened cocoa powder in my chili. I’m not sure how common/uncommon that is, but everyone I’ve ever told looks at me like I’m crazy, right before asking for a 4th bowl. At least Alton doesn’t think I’m crazy.
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.
Use a real fucking measurement Jesus christ
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.
“…and then just add .03 pounds of coffee per .0005 tons of cayenne and you’ll be the toast of the town!”
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.
A (1) teaspoon might be used as a measurement. 1/32 of a Teaspoon is asinine.
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
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?
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.
learn to cook
Specifically cayenne?
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.
LSD My cookies are wild man
Note that LSD is heat sensitive so it should be added after they cool.
Butter - I use it in pizza dough, taco meat, stir fry…
I know what brands of garlic powder to use. Nothing beats fresh garlic, but a pinch of the good stuff is worth 10 shakes of supermarket brand crap.
I had a phase where I was really into making rice “the authentic way”. Wash it, soak it, boil it in exactly proportioned amount of water, etc. Then I realized that I can instead just add a shit ton of butter and turn the side dish into the main dish
MSG.
🥰
MSG. It’s amazing.
I really need to grab a pack next time I hit the local Asian supermarket.
what’s MSG?
Metal Sear Golid
Monosodium glutamate. Makes things taste more savory. Also causes furries to make in-jokes about family unfriendly topics.
MSG is the king of flavor!
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.
Make Shit Good
Mobile Suit Gundam
My sugary gonads
Great minds… ;)
Honestly improves everything I add to any type of meat or sauce.
Put it on your popcorn too!
Why have I never thought of this? I use MSG everywhere I can and this never occurred to me - thank you!
Along those same lines: Chicken bullion powder with MSG.
Butter. Butter. More butter. More butter, more better
The taste differential between basic sliced bread bought at Aldi vs basic sliced bread bought at Carrefour is surprisingly measurable.
Butter. Not bread. Butter
This will blow your mind, but bread can be made with butter
Cum
I heard about this on Milk Street Radio.
Adding half a bag of butterscotch chips sprinkled on the top of box brownie mix. I get tons of compliments like it’s the best thing in the world (and it is arguably much better than without the butterscotch).
If the recipe calls for ground beef I’ll usually swap it for ground sausage.
Hungarian paprika and MSG
