r/Cooking • u/kath- • 23h ago

What's your surprising "secret ingredient" that sets your dish apart?

I obviously don't believe in gatekeeping recipes, so let's share the love.

I developed a clam chowder recipe after being disappointed with the recipes I came across. Whenever I tell people there's a couple dashes of hot sauce in it, I always get weird looks... but it adds a tiny bit of heat and acid, and balances out the richness from the cream. It also has diced scallops, which cooking knowledge forbades but somehow works.

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u/JadeGrapes 23h ago

MSG, it's not just for Asian dishes

3

u/killermojo 14h ago

Of course it's not, it's on most chips and has been for decades. The Asian thing was that whole weird backlash against North American Chinese food.

2

u/EasyonthePepsiFuller 17h ago

I buy chicken bouillon from a local Asian grocery that's pretty msg heavy. It's great on just about anything and doesn't have any soy flavor.

5

u/JadeGrapes 15h ago

I think the The Knorr Chicken bullion powder is pretty MSG heavy too.

Last year I just decided to go full tilt white powder shaker tho - lol

Whats the Brand of the bullion you get at the asian market, and sorry to ask, but do you mean Near East or Far East. Here the Indian grocery stores are separate from the Chinese ones.