There’s something about swirling around the kitchen that makes you instantly channel your inner Gordon Ramsay. Because cooking is an adventure where a bit of creativity and, let’s face it, running out of key ingredients is usually the start of the mouth-watering creations that follow. Whether you’re a cooking newbie or a seasoned pro, it’s satisfying to take your gastronomic skills to the next level.
One thing that can up your culinary game right away is an added bit of deliciousness and extra flavor that instantly elevates your dishes. So today, we will talk about the unfailing components enthusiasts use to enhance their meals. People on the ‘Cooking’ subreddit have been sharing their pieces of wisdom after user PhilipLynott asked: “What is one ingredient that completely changed the way you cook and now you use it all the time?”
The Redditor kicked off the thread by saying that miso paste is “absolutely fantastic for vegetables, soups, spuds, the way it makes things taste is unbelievable!” We have gathered some of the most illuminating responses to share with you. So grab a pen and a notebook, and enjoy scrolling through this list. Keep reading to also find our interview with food and travel blogger June d’Arville. Then be sure to upvote your favorite replies and let us know about your own “secret weapons” in the comments!
#1
Acid. Almost any dish will benefit from at least a touch of some kind of acid.
Image credits: Zack_Albetta
#2
Smoked paprika.
Image credits: RoslynLighthouse
#3
Sesame oil!
Image credits: C1nnamon_Apples
#4
I love how simple you can go with your food if you just add a few fresh herbs. It really elevates anything.
Image credits: janbrunt
#5
Mushroom powder. I often find large boxes of discounted gourmet mushrooms and dehydrate them, then reduce the smaller bits into a powder I can then add to many dishes that needs a bit more of umami and depth of flavor.
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#6
Nutritional Yeast. Add to eggs before scrambling. Add to chicken noodle soup. Add to.. whatever. Its umami time!
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#7
Shallots. You can use them in any recipe that calls for an allium. If garlic would be too pungent or overwhelming they are perfect. They’re often more delicately flavored than onions. Fried crisp and they make an amazing garnish. Pickle them and serve them with salads. They are an essential ingredient in dressings. You can grate them into sauces (especially yogurt based ones) for a great oniony depth.
Hell, you can bake them up on their own and eat them too.
Image credits: AbortedWalrusFetus
#8
For me it’s Miso paste. Absolutely fantastic for vegetables, soups, spuds the way it makes things taste is unbelievable!
Image credits: PhilipLynott
#9
Does pasta water count?
Image credits: TheSalsaShark
#10
Capers. Kinda ignored it for a long time, till lately. It’s a nice added zingy touch to my Italian cooking and I’m liking it
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#11
Salt. I had to learn how to use it with purpose so that flavors are enhanced and not overwhelmed by it.
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#12
Relatively basic, but. Crushed red pepper flakes. A decade ago they’d never *been* in our house. Now I use them basically every day.
More recently: those little tubes of tomato paste. Being able to add just a small amount of tomato to a dish that would benefit from it is a godsend.
Image credits: chronolynx
#13
Vinegar, lemon, any kind of acid. Years ago I read or saw some cooking show saying that if your dish is tasting kind of meh or it tastes like it needs more salt but you already added plenty, you add some sort of acid and it brings out the flavors.
#14
For me it’s ghee. Ghee is clarified butter and when I went to Ayurveda school, I did my thesis on ghee as I am also a biochemist and in Ayurveda it is considered the “best of all oils” for health reasons. It also has a high smoke point for cooking and I use it a lot for things like scrambled eggs and sauteed vegetables. Ghee made from butter from grass fed cows has heart health benefits as well!
Image credits: femsci-nerd
#15
If you like ramen at home, a splash of fish sauce is a force multiplier.
Image credits: SCP-173-Keter
#16
Fresh, non-chinese, garlic.
Early on, I used to use pre-minced garlic and then I transitioned on to the whole, but cheap, rooster garlic from China, which is everywhere. Now, finally, I have learned to appreciate fresh local garlic. My god, does it make a huge difference.
Image credits: 75623
#17
Sorry to sound mundane but mustard and mustard seeds did it for me.
#18
Tabasco Chipotle sauce. Adds a smokey flavour without any real heat to so many sauces. Its my new secret ingredient and transforms so many dishes by just adding that something extra
Image credits: Hairy-Motor-7447
#19
Might sound really strange as I am European, but wine. I never liked drinking it so the thought of cooking with it was strange to me. Until I made my first authentic Bolognese. Went to buy some more bottles, a wine opener and reusable plastic corks to reseal a bottle that same week.
Image credits: Yorudesu
#20
Dill. Y’all need to add a little dill to more things. Game changer
#21
Sour cream, even just a small dollop, makes gravies and sauces richer and creamier (if you add a lot, you wind up turning all your food into stroganoff, so be judicious). This is particularly useful when you’re reheating leftovers and the texture is off, or if things are overly seasoned because sour cream dilutes the intensity, especially when it’s salty or spicy. I also like to add a hefty spoonful of sour cream when I make casseroles without going the “use cream of whatever soup” route — you get a creamy texture, but without so much heaviness and salt.
A small amount of sour cream (like, 1 tablespoon for 2-3 eggs) is also terrific blended into scrambled eggs before you cook them. The eggs get fluffy and silky as a result.
Image credits: oregonchick
#22
Kimchi. I honestly put kimchi in everything: soups and stews, with eggs, sandwiches, on grilled cheese, in burritos…! I love it the spice + fermented bite + crunchy cabbage is just perfect for me in a lot of dishes.
Image credits: SnooCrickets7159
#23
Balsamic Vinegar.
I’ve never been a fan of sour food (salads, cakes, soup, citrus, ect.). I would just never ate more than three bites of any sour foods. That was until my mom brought a bottle of balsamic vinegar to recreate a salad we ate at a restaurant once. That bottle changed the way I approached salad/bread.
Now I have a bottle on my dinning table. I put it on any salad I ate. I put it inside of my sandwiches for the flavor. I toast bread just to eat it with the balsamic vinegar. I even dipped potato chips in them just to get some more. I ate literally anything that have hot bread/cold vegetables with the vinegar. My family doesn’t really like the taste (maybe because I used it way too much and way too frequently and prob not in the proper dishes) but after I moved out that became less of a problem. I have a problem. Please help.
P.S. Tried Miso paste. Was mid. Not for me (prob because our cooking used a lot of fish/oyster sauce + MSG so the flavor isn’t needed)
#24
Cumin
#25
White pepper. It adds a unique ‘je ne sais quoi’ to anything you put it in, it’s my secret ingredient in so many things.
#26
Nothing crazy – oregano. But growing up no one put seasonings in sandwiches, just mayo and the like. Oregano goes great in ham sandwiches, turns out. Now I use spices in all my sandwiches, p. much, haha
#27
Gochujang has changed my life. I don’t find the one I’ve bought all that spicy (sometimes I add gochugaru for some extra kick) but the flavor is just so unique and delicious. This is kind of sacrilege, but I like the make a mayo out of it for a spread or dip that makes everything better.
Image credits: mycophyle11
#28
Berbere is an Ethiopian spice mix that I now believe the be the finest mix available. It can be quite hot but the depth of flavor is incredible. A simple corn and cheddar quesadilla gets transformed into fine dining with a quick dusting of this stuff!
Image credits: D_Malorcus
#29
I don’t know if it changes the way I cook, but I recently started adding Szechuan peppercorns into my pepper mill along with tellicherry, roughly 1:3, and that’s been really nice
Image credits: SingAlongBlog
#30
Anchovies (in oil) – great umami boost to almost everything, and they absolutely ‘disappears’ in most foods, so don’t worry about the texture.
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