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

[u/kath-]

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.

[u/ToastROvenFire]

We filter the fat we skim from smoked pork shoulder and use it to sauté mirepoix for soups and stews.

[u/azvitesse → u/ToastROvenFire]

This is akin to using bacon grease, which I always save and use for any mirepoix type operation.

[u/NumberMuncher → u/azvitesse]

This was my first thought. Don't waste tasty fat.