What’s something you add to (most of) your dishes that gives it a signature taste or a special kick?

I like to throw a pinch of chicken bouillon in a lot of different dishes, sometimes in lieu of salt or in addition to. The bouillon I use also has onion, garlic, and paprika so it gives everything a subtle but welcome kick.

  • Ramenator
    27·
    2 days ago

    Straight up MSG. If you taste a savory dish and something’s missing it’s most likely umami. And a pinch of that stuff will add it without any other flavors. Sure, you can also use mushroom powder, nutritional yeast, bouillon cubes or fish sauce, but all those introduce additional flavor notes that I might not want in my dish.

    • immutable@lemmy.zip
      71·
      2 days ago

      This.

      Bought a big thing of msg, put it in a salt shaker, add it to any savory dish and it’s amazing.

      Also theres no good evidence that MSG has any ill effects. One doctor wrote into a magazine once saying he got a headache after binging on Chinese food and thought that maybe MSG was the reason and a huge panic happened.

    • AngryCommieKender
      3·
      2 days ago

      An alternative that brings an umami punch to a full soup pot full of sauce or stew is a single anchovy fillet that you have chopped into paste. There won’t be any fishy flavor at all, and people will BEG you to tell them your secret, and then refuse to believe you when you tell them. It’s a truly enjoyable bit of chaos.

      Oh, and I am talking like 1 fillet for 2-3 gallons of sauce/ stew.