Food and Cooking

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All things culinary and cooking related. Share food! Share recipes! Share stuff about food, etc.

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The ingredient that changed your life (www.beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by newtraditionalists to c/food

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Tell me about that one ingredient, that when discovered, it opened your mind to a whole new world of flavor possibilities!

For me, the first to come to mind is Worcestershire sauce. I'm talking about way back in my youth. It was my first introduction to what we now call umami. When I noticed my mom put it in her meatloaf I began experimenting. At the time I was just blown away by how much it changed things. I even used to put it in my Top Ramen I was so obsessed lol. More recently, dukkah. Trader Joe's is correct when they say to take bread, dip it in olive oil, and then dukkah. So tasty!!

What about you?

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[–] Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

Tofu! I never got a chance to try it growing up, but when I started reducing my meat I decided to give it a try. It is possibly the most versatile ingredient in my kitchen, and by far the easiest way to get protein.

You can whip up a tofu scramble, throw it in smoothies/shakes, cube it and toss it in soup, fry it and serve with sauce over veggies, bake it with an herb coating to toss with pasta, even bread it to make katsu sandwiches! It takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with, so it isn't hard to make the dish taste the same as if it had meat, and it is much more forgiving.

The trick is to get firm or extra firm tofu instead of medium or soft. Some people like super smooth tofu, but I find more people prefer the more solid versions.

An honorable mention also goes to nutritional yeast. It is often that 'something extra' missing from dishes that have a cheesy taste to them, and is a great option to add depth to dishes if you are concerned about MSG for some reason. I like to toss some on my popcorn to make it taste like white cheddar, but you can use it in any savory dish. It is also an excellent source of B12, which a majority of people are deficient in.